Net Recovery

Articles In This Section:

· Recovery Shots

· Bounce the Ball

· Study Lines of Force

· The Two-Arm Forearm Bounce

· The One-Hand Bounce Pass

· The Foot Bounce

· Net Recovery

· Quicken Your Reactions—Here's How!

The volleyball net stands like a marker above a graveyard of lost opportunities for recovery shots. Fundamentals here are threefold. First, know your net. A ball striking near the cable at the top will drop almost straight down; a ball striking midway in the net will be pushed out by the recoiling net and will drop a foot or two out from the net; a ball striking near the rope through the bottom of the net will be held by the net and will be gently tossed or rebounded well out from the net before dropping. A player should experiment to become familiar with this pattern and know it well. Second, if the net recovery shot is only the second contact, then the ball should be bounced back away from the net and high. This will guard against the common failure of hitting the ball back into the net and will also place the ball high where a team mate can be deliberate about spiking it or making a placement. Third, by being alert to watch the ball strike the net, the net recovery-shot artist will move to the correct position, turn one side toward the net, and, crouching, will wait until the ball has bounced as far from the net as possible before playing it. The possibility for him to make a good recovery shot increases as the distance between the net and the ball increases. Many net recoveries are made to look easy if the ball is allowed to drop almost to the floor before being played. This pause also gives the wise player more time to be ready to perform a good bounce.