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.