Volleyball Thought Experiment - 2 Left Handed Hitters

Some time ago I was in a practice where the team was preparing for an upcoming opponent that could have had two left handed hitters. One would probably play opposite. The other possibly at outside hitter. The team practicing had a left handed hitter, and they asked another lefty to come in and play with the scout team. It was a strange set up with two lefties in a standard rotation. The opposing team ended up only playing one of the lefties, but I often wonder if there is an effective way to play both at the same time.

As a thought experiment, I took a bit of time and looked at how it would be to put the outside hitters in zone 2 on the front row, and the opposite and setter in zone 4 on the front row. I kept the outsides in zone 6 on the back row, and flipped the libero and setter/opposite sides. This puts the left handed hitters facing the setter when hitting both front row and back row. The opposite now hits from zones 4 and 5. The real question was what the serve receive rotations would look like.

I sketched the rotations* out based on the traditional lineup ( setter in 1, outside 1 in 2, middle 2 in 3, opposite in 4, etc). They got real weird and unwieldy. The only rotations that worked out well were the ones with outside hitter 1 in the front row. The other rotations had hitters getting piled up in each other's hitting lanes, and left handed and right handed hitters hitting in the "wrong" places.

Not satisfied with that, I flipped the positions' serve order and tried again. This time it worked out. It would be a strange thing to play against, and to play within at first, but I was able to get usable serve receive rotations that are very comparable to the standard ones. There is an unavoidable rotation were outsides and opposite have to hit from the "wrong" side, but the standard rotations have that as well.

A few interesting things that became apparent with the flipped rotations. One is that a quick hit behind the setter is now the most natural hit for right handed middles. Another is that right handed setters are ideally positioned to swing for a kill on the second contact.

This setup will also be a good thing for left handed middles. Quick hits in front of the setter will be better suited to left handed middles. This makes me wonder if this is something that would only be really useful with not only 2 left handed pin hitters, but also at least one left handed middle. The unusual nature of this lineup might make it worthwhile with just the two lefty outsides. I know I would have a hard enough time trying to adapt my way of thinking to deal with the strangeness during a match. Maybe even with warning and good scouting. It would just look strange. I can only imagine what players facing this would think.

*I'm not going to include the sketches because they are ugly, and I don't think it's worth that much effort to make it look pretty. 

Set Distribution from LBSU vs BYU Feb 20, 2015

Tonight #9 LBSU played at #5 BYU. BYU won this one in 3 sets (25-22, 25-16, 25-22). I tracked stats on set distribution again because of the primary camera view from the side of the court. I did pretty much the same thing this time around, but I added side out tracking. Side out percentage (SO%) is easy to track, and I like to have SO% available to me all the time. Ideally I like having SO% by rotation, but that would be a bit much to track along with set distribution.

I basically organized the information the same as last time. There weren't any setter attacks on the second contact during this match. Both teams set zones 2 and 4 extensively. LBSU set zone 6 a lot more (about 13% vs about 5%), but still not a significant amount. Even combined with attacks by the middles, the pin hitters are still getting about 75% of sets for LBSU and 80% of sets for BYU. I can't help but wonder if Tyler Hildebrand's coaching has to do with the higher percentage of sets to zone 6. Coach Hildebrand is the acting head coach and a former setter at LBSU. He was the starting setter for a very good 2004 team that finished the season dropping a very close 5 set match against BYU in the national championship final. He led the nation in assists per set that year, and he has some international experience with the US team.

Here are the set distribution numbers along with attempts in those zones by FBSO attempts, other attempts, and total attempts. Both teams had some success setting zone 3 and BYU had some success setting zone 6, but both didn't have that many attempts in either zone. That may have to do with passing, but I don't have passing stats for the match. LBSU probably wouldn't see much of a change in kill percentage by setting the outsides more, or setting the opposite more. BYU on the other hand looks like they might have a little better kill percentage if they shift the set frequency a little more toward zone 2. Their zone 2 kill percentage was best, but zone 4 got 1 more set than zone 2 for every 10 total sets. If the zone 4 and zone 2 set distribution was swapped, they would have scored almost 1 kill per set more. Even more so if zone 2 was the primary option on FBSO attempts.

Here are the FBSO numbers alongside the SO numbers. I have heard of 70% as a SO% goal for men's college teams. A few other numbers to further break down the SO numbers. LBSU scored 17 points on FBSO kills, 13 points on BYU serving errors, and 9 points after the FBSO attempt. That leaves 28 missed SO attempts that were that were not receive errors that were either hitting errors, BYU blocks or BYU kills. BYU scored 16 points on FBSO kills, 14 points on LBSU serving errors, and 13 points after the FBSO attempt. There were 19 missed SO attempts that were not receive errors that were either hitting errors, LBSU blocks or LBSU kills.

All I Really Need to Know About Coaching I Learned From This Quote

Many years ago I read the book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum. It is a series of short essays about, well, life. It's an easy read. There are a lot of reflections and observations about life that are worthwhile. It's not groundbreaking philosophy or anything, but I like the title. The title refers to the first essay in the book. It mentions how the rules we learn playing in the sandbox at kindergarten will serve us throughout our lives. With that in mind, I present you with the best quote on coaching volleyball I have ever heard:

"Since we learn best in training situations that are basically gamelike, we should incorporate three contact drills as often as possible. I am convinced that the best hitting drills are pass, set, hit (P-S-H), the best setting drills are P-S-H and the best passing drills are P-S-H. Likewise, the best defensive drills are dig set hit combinations." - Marv Dunphy

 Marv Dunphy was the coach during the 1988 Olympics when I first watched and was getting interested in volleyball. In my naivete I thought he was the best coach in the world. I don't know if he was the best coach in the world, but he was definitely one of the best coaches in the US. He probably still is. His Pepperdine teams are regularly quality teams, and they are always strong blocking teams. I have heard opposing coaches with good blocking teams talk about how they did well to actually out-block Pepperdine.

The quote itself is great. Through repetition it drives home what we should be doing in practice. If a skill can be taught, or a drill done with the three fundamental contacts (pass, set, hit), it probably should be done that way in practice. There are times when cutting out some of the three contacts might have value, but the importance of pass, set, hit shouldn't be questioned. The quote can be adapted to other skills as well. For example: The best serving drills are serve, pass, set, hit. The best blocking drills are pass, set, hit, block. Students of motor learning should see the value here. Giving our athletes repetitions are going to give them the optimal environment for growing and improving.

Also lurking within the quote is the idea of gamelike training. We want our practices to replicate the stresses of actual competition as much as possible. This is another motor learning gem. Conventional wisdom states that a basketball player who misses free throws in games should shoot a lot of free throws. This leads to the player shooting large volumes of shots at a time, like more than 10 in a row. While this might improve the player's skill in that event, it does not replicate the conditions of the game. Often that hypothetical basketball player hits those 10+ free throws at good percentage of the time, but still doesn't perform well during competition. Shooting 1 or 2 high pressure shots periodically through practice will have a better likelihood of making the player better in shooting free throws during a game. All too often coaches like to do similar things in volleyball, like high volumes of serves without the subsequent pass, set, hit. Our players are never going to have to block (or dig) a hitter hitting self tossed sets from a box in competition.

There is a flow to volleyball. A lot of that flow is built on the pass, set, hit drum beat. Don't clip your athletes' wings by stifling that flow. Allow and encourage them to play out rallies. Give them drills that attempt to replicate the situations they might face in competition. Don't teach the skills of the game in a way they will never see. Stick with pass, set, hit.

Volleyball Basics - Ball Setter Ball Hitter

One of the most important volleyball skills for defense is the eye sequence Ball Setter Ball Hitter. This is a foundational skill for both front row defense and back row defense. It is interesting to watch the eye work of teams to see if they are following this basic pattern. Some defenders will make the play in spite of watching the wrong things. Ball Setter Ball Hitter is something that should be drilled into teams, and regularly checked for and reinforced.

The first Ball in Ball Setter Ball Hitter is to watch the ball after serve receive or a dig. The defensive player watches the ball as it travels from the passer to the setter. A number of things can be determined by the ball’s path. The defensive player should be able to know where the setter will need to be to set the ball. Will the setter be able to set from the base offensive position? Will the setter be off the net? Will the setter have to jump to set, or will the ball come over the net? Is the ball travelling in a high or low arc? Will any of these influence the decisions the setter can make? Will they be in their offensive system? With a good pass the setter is going to have a lot of options. With a bad pass, the setter may only have one solid option. The defensive players should know this about when the ball reaches the apex of its path to the setter.

As soon as the defensive player knows what can be learned from the pass, eyes go to the setter. The defensive players watch the setter for any cues as to where the set will go. A lot of setters will have different body language leading up to a front set or back set. Defensive players watching the setter can get an early idea of where the ball is going and what they will need to do to make a play. This step could gain more significance with scouting. Scouting could shed some light on tendencies and other visual cues.

The second Ball in Ball Setter Ball Hitter is to watch the ball after the set. Like the first Ball, the defensive player watches the ball as it travels from setter to hitter. Again a number of things can be determined from the ball’s path. What hitter is being set? Is the set close to the net, or even going over the net? Is the set off the net? Is it inside? Is it outside? Is it low or high? With a good set the hitter is going to be able to swing with a good approach. The hitter will have more options for ball placement. With a bad set the hitter might only be able to hit in one direction. The hitter might only be able to tip. Again the defensive players should know this when the ball reaches the apex of it path to the hitter.

As soon as the defensive player knows who is hitting, eyes go to the hitter. If there is a complete lapse and Ball Setter Ball Hitter is not fully followed, the defensive players should at least watch the hitter. Too often eyes linger on the ball too much after the pass and after the set. Too often blockers will jump to make a block attempt and their focus is entirely on the ball. Watching the hitter will tell a lot more than watching the ball. Foremost is the hitter’s approach. Hitters usually will hit along the line of their approach. Blockers getting in the line of the approach will make a bigger impact on their likelihood of getting a block touch, and to do that they need to be watching the hitter. Beyond that the hitter could give some cues with body language as to where the hit will go. Some hitters will have a different swing when hitting line and cross court. More often than that hitters will have different swings when hitting and tipping. Scouting could give an idea of hitter tendencies as well.

Players can get a better feel for where they need to be by focusing on the Ball Setter Ball Hitter eye work. Coaches should check for Ball Setter Ball Hitter from time to time. It’s a simple thing, and it should be the foundation of the defensive game.

Volleyball Basics are intended to present some of the fundamental volleyball knowledge that everyone serious about the sport should know.

The Competitive Cauldron

Some time ago the book Training Soccer Champions by Anson Dorrance was recommended to me primarily because of its mention of the competitive cauldron. Anson Dorrance is the ridiculously successful head coach of the North Carolina women’s soccer team. I found this video on youtube with Coach Dorrance talking about the origins of the cauldron.

The competitive cauldron is essentially a scoring and ranking system for practices. Players compete with each other during practice in drills that are games with winners and losers. Different things are tracked, all of it is compiled, and the players can see where they rank within the team. It attempts to put an objective value on what they do within games, and gives an incentive to get to the top and stay on top.

When I did a search for “competitive cauldron”, I came across this site with “11 Reasons Why You Should Create Your Own Competitive Cauldron”.  A couple of them stood out to me, numbers 4 and 7.

Number 4 is, “Works on developing and perfecting skills in a pressurized, game-like environment.”

This touches on the principle of motor learning, the specificity of learning hypothesis. Making game-like drills with as much game-like pressure as possible during practice is the optimal way to improve skill execution during actual game situations. Basketball players often practice free throw shots in sets of 10 or more, when they will never shoot more than 3 at a time during a game under reasonable circumstances. Some can go 10 for 10 in practice and then regularly miss during games. Shooting occasional pairs of free throws throughout practice with a set of sprints on the line for missing will have far greater transfer to performance in that skill during the game. Players still shoot them in tens and twenties.

Number 7 is, “Creates objective data and standards to guide your playing time decisions.”

I’ve used limited versions of the competitive cauldron with every team I have led since. I have ranked outsides and liberos by serve receive stats. I have ranked setters by winning percentage and side out percentage. I have ranked hitters by hitting efficiency. It is a very handy accessible way to determine starters and playing time. There is a lot that can be done. Most of what I have done is with just one or two others to collect data, sometimes just myself. With enough help, I could have all of that and more, and I could give the players a ranking chart showing where they stand on the team. It can also be used to handicap the starters in games pitting starters against backups. Depending on the level of detail in the data, you could even know what players will perform best in close games with advancing in the tournament at stake.

Volleyball Basics - Opposites

In international volleyball the opposite is an attacking specialist. The opposite is opposite the setter in the lineup. They will never be on the front row with the setter, or on the back row with the setter. They are primarily hitters and blockers. Usually opposites are not in serve receive, but they might be pulled into serve receive to receive with four passers on especially dangerous servers. Opposites hit and block in zone 2, and play back row defense and hit in the back row from zone 1. On serve receive, the opposite’s primary responsibility is to get in position to attack.

College teams in America sometimes favor the opposite as a blocking specialist. Often the opposite will play front row with a defensive specialist or the backup libero coming in to play the back row. This might be a good option depending on what skills are available within your team.

Left handed hitters are natural opposites. On a good approach and arm swing, the left handed hitter’s body turns or opens to the left before the hit. This makes looking at the set happen in a much more natural posture. Conversely, left handed hitters hitting from zone 4 will be turning their head in a more uncomfortable manner.

Offenses tend to favor hitting from zones 3 and 4. When the setter is out of position on the set, or someone else is setting because the setter took the first touch, the resulting bail-out set usually goes to zone 4. In international competition the opposite is just as likely if not more likely to get that set. I think a lot of that has to do with treating the opposite as an attacking specialist.

When looking at possible opposites, strong hitters (or blockers if you want to take the blocking specialist approach) are a good starting point. Some hitters will prefer to hit from zone 2 rather than zone 4. Take a look at them especially. If your potential opposite is a good passer, serve receive could be altered to get them passing and hide a weaker passing outside, but a non-passing attacking specialist opposite will be a nice weapon. Opposites in high school (and sometimes in college) sometimes seem to be an afterthought, or they are often just the third best middle or outside rather than an attacking specialist as in the international game. Give enough of a focus to developing a good attacking specialist opposite, and you will have a nice weapon that will force opposing blockers to think about more than just middle-outside combinations. Attacking efficiency stats tend to correlate more strongly with win percentages than all other stats, so I am more likely to take the offensive opposite approach.

See also:
Zones of the Court

Volleyball Basics are intended to present some of the fundamental volleyball knowledge that everyone serious about the sport should know.

Volleyball Basics - Setters

In volleyball with player specialization, the setter is the floor leader. Polish team rosters list setters as quarterbacks. The offense runs through the setter. The setter is the facilitator. The setter needs to have consistent overhead passing, and quick decision making ability. The setter needs good vision, being able to recognize conditions in peripheral vision while focusing on the ball.

As the ball crosses the net on a serve or free ball situation, the setter’s primary responsibility is to get into position to set (the setter has the second touch by default). The setter typically moves to a base position on the net about at the boundary of zones 2 and 3. In this position the attackers in zones 4 (OH), 3 (MB), and 6 (Back row OH) are in front of the setter. Only the attacker in zone 1 (Opposite) is behind the setter. This positioning allows most of the potential sets to be sets in front of the setter that can make use of vision to increase accuracy. Sets to the opposite will rely much more on awareness of court position at the time of the set and reps setting in practice. This may vary by team with some setter’s base position being more central on the net, others will be more to the right.

The setter’s base defensive position in the back row rotations is in zone 1. This gives the setter the shortest possible distance to travel when transitioning from back row defense to setting in the offense. On the front row the setter blocks in zone 2.

A front row setter is an eligible hitter. Either through a situation where the setter is the first contact, or the setter decides to hit on the second contact, the setter can attempt an attack. Conversely, a back row setter is not an eligible hitter or blocker. A setter jumping to try to set an overpass is an illegal blocker if the setter makes contact after the other team attacks.

When looking for a setter, the first consideration should probably be proficiency and consistency with setting. If your best setters are shorter, a 6-2 offense may be the best option. In this case the setter on the back row runs the offense, and front row player subs in when the setter is in the front row rotations. Most competitive teams will run a 5-1 offense. In this case, a short setter may be a liability blocking, but having the best setter facilitating the offense will be more valuable.

See also:

Zones of the Court

Volleyball Basics are intended to present some of the fundamental volleyball knowledge that everyone serious about the sport should know.

Expectations and Coaching

I recently became aware of a podcast from NPR called Invisibilia. The podcast "explores the intangible forces that shape human behavior – things like ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions." It is a fascinating look at what makes us tick. It takes a look at some of the things going on in psychology. The episode I most recently listened to was about expectations.

Expectations are a powerful part of our lives. The opening of the episode talked about giving people generic lab rats and one group is told the rats are smart, the other group is told the rats are dumb. The people, the real test subjects, ran the rats through a maze, and made observations. There was no difference between the rats but what the people handling them were told. The "smart" rats ended up performing better in the maze.

How this applies to coaching should be fairly obvious. Expect good things out of our players and teams and they will do better. It isn't going to be that simple, and it wasn't really with the rats, but the basic idea, and what comes with it, really are. With the rats, the "smart" rats were treated better. They were handled more gently and even affectionately. With our players we need to treat them positively as well. Expect great things from them, but also give them the encouragement and tools to succeed.

A powerful example follows in the podcast. They talk to Daniel Kish who lost his sight at an early age and instinctively taught himself echolocation. He is an example of someone who didn't have the culturally enforced expectations that blind people need our help, but discovered his world through exploration. After being able to walk himself to school and ride a bike, a new blind boy joined his class. The other boy was raised with the expectations that blind people need our help. The two boys were extremes in self reliance. One was almost indistinguishable from his classmates in ability, the other was not. Both were products of their environment.

He mentioned getting hurt a lot while he developed the ability to ride a bike. Mistakes happen, but he suggests the tendency to step in and prevent possible injury is a big hurdle to learning the skill. On the volleyball court there are a few things that can cause physical harm to our players, but trying something new is rarely one of them. Give them an opportunity to try and fail at something new in practice. Help them figuratively pick themselves up and encourage them to try again. Expect them to try, and celebrate them failing.

How expectations have helped a blind man see. Yes, see. http://t.co/pCcOoCbQSk pic.twitter.com/HBd3gR2MJ2

— Invisibilia (@NPRinvisibilia) January 26, 2015

The last season I coached, I had a team that was mostly first time players. I expected a lot out of them. Sometimes I wondered if I expected too much, but the more distance I get from that season, the more I think I would do the same thing. I might alter the methods, but I would have the same expectations. I might even push harder. At times what they did in a match was beautiful. Sometimes what they did was surprising. And amusing. One time one of the players who pushed himself in practices and matches called for a Bic when the setter was way out of position. What happened looked a lot like a quick set to the middle blocker right in front of the setter, but this all happened about 15 feet from the net. It looked funny. It wasn't quite "right". We won the rally.

When approaching a new season and team, take a look at your expectations. Are we expecting too little? Are we handicapping them with low expectations? I think we are. I'm not saying we should expect mastery too early, but teach them the basics and build from there. Push them. Encourage them. Get out of their way. Every failure in practice brings them one step closer to succeeding in a match.