by Volleyball Players for Volleyball Players

Some concepts taken from Tom Wilson's Volleyball Page

Better Passing

4/99 Nutrition and Energy

5/99 Breathing

6/99 Should I stay or go

7/99 Common Drills

8/99 The Approach

9/99 Attitude

The pass is used to receive serve or a softly contacted ball toward the Setter. The same skill is called Digging when you are receiving a downward hit spike. Passing is the one of the most important skills on the Volleyball. After All, if there isn't a good pass there will, most likely, not be a good set.

To pass a ball, you must place your body in a "ready position", Knees bent, back arched forward, arms apart and facing the net. After the ball is served, before it crosses the net, you should position your body so the ball will land on your lap. Move quickly, and use as few steps as possible. You must get your body balanced and stable before you pass the ball, Keep your arms apart until you square your body toward the ball.

As you get into position to pass the ball, create a "Platform" with the forearms. To do this, keep your arms straight as you bring them together and align your thumbshafts, pointing them downward.. What you do with your hands after that is unimportant, as you don't contact the ball with any part of your hands. For more information on creating a platform, click here. Once you've created the platform, you must watch the ball hit your arms and let the ball do most of the work. If you must give the ball some power, you should bend your knees and shrug your shoulders, lifting the whole platform as one unit, NEVER bend your elbows to swing at the ball. The ball will be traveling with enough velocity that you will never need to swing at it.

Unfortunately, not every serve will be a high lob that you can get under. In the case of a hard serve. Turn your body and face the path of the ball. If the ball is to the right, raise the right shoulder and lower the left, and tilt your hands naturally into position. Do the opposite for a ball on the left.

The key to successful passing is to move quickly before you pass and be stationary while you pass. Also, keep the body motion to a minimum, that is, body motion is subtle, moving to much will almost always end with a "shanked ball" (see Dictionary of Terms)

Hints for a good platform [Back to Top]

A few hints I have heard over the years:

1. To create a good platform, imagine your shoulders and wrists as points on a triangular piece of plywood. (This helped me visualize that bending my elbows was not an option.)
2. Place you hands along your Zipper line, in platform fashion. (This hint helped me place myself centered on the ball all the time)