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Written by Sid Feldman
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Saturday, 21 September 2002 |
There are a number of ways to create a "team" defense. The three basic designs are the red (middle up), white (middle back) often referred to as a rotation defense and blue. These were created so that a person was assigned the responsibility of picking up the "tip."
In the red, a person is stationed in the middle of the court and slides back and forth behind wherever the block is established and picks up the tip. The two other back row players stand three feet in from the sidelines and back line and move three feet either way towards the direction in which the set is sent to the opposing hitter. It is excellent for lower level teams or teams whose opponents send over a large number of free balls as a person is stationed in the middle of the court and passes all the free balls. Assuming the opponent is hitting a left side (power hit), the crucial element in the red defense is the left front player must drop very deep (15') and pick up the opposition's outside hitter's cross court shot while the left back player slides to her right and picks up the shot between the blockers hands. The right back picks up the line shot.
The white (rotation) has the middle person stationed on the back line with the two other back row players standing seven feet in from the sidelines and twelve feet off the net. All three of these players "rotate" towards the ball when it is set and therefore, the one behind the block picks up the tips! The left back moves deep into the court and picks up the cross court shot while the middle back slides to her right and picks up the line shot when the opponent is hitting from the power side. This defense is used against teams that have the opponent's setter dumping the ball and are usually hitting the ball very hard. It was the most common defense for the last several years but has lost favor in the last few years....read on and find out why.
In the blue defense the left front player covers the tip by the opponent's power hitter. This leaves three deep players to dig the ball but it means the left front must be able to run all the way back to her sideline inorder to get a power hit in the counter attack. This will be the most popular defense in the future because it is excellent against a quick attack as the three back row players will be in a position to dig a quick and not have to worry about picking up tip.
Unfortunately, the description of these defenses is rather static. That is, a truly great defensive team will adjust to the play. The players are not stationed in a spot and told to move to another spot but rather are given "concepts" to follow. For example; Do you want your players to play in close and attack the hitter or do you want your players to stay deep and "read" the hitter.
In an attacking defense the concept is to stop the ball as close to the net as possible. Picture a cone from the point of attack spreading out deeper and deeper as the ball travels to the end line. Therefore, the block can stop the ball at the point of the cone; but if it gets deeper and deeper into the court the digger must play a large and larger area. Therefore, the digger stands at about fifteen feet off the net. Unfortunately, too many spiked balls will travel deep into the court over the diggers head or to the right or left of the digger and still land in bounds. Therefore, the digger must learn how to play a ball up high and to the right and left of her position. This will require learning how to dig the ball that is hit at her face. Do not use the setting technique as you will damage the fingers (!) and the referee will probably whistle the play a foul in Georgia High School volleyball. Rather, use the old fashion (thats why they call me a dinosaur!) technique of having your hands in a low digging position for the hard driven spike; then, when the ball comes at your face just bend your elbows and bring the hands to your face without separating them (at this point the thumbs should be pointed at your forehead) and open the heels of the hands up to make a "cup or circle." Have the digger dig the ball with the back of her hands. It works! The balls that are hit to the right and left will require the defensive player to go to the floor with a "sprawl" or "lateral extension."
This attacking defense can be played in two ways. As stated, I prefer the player to stand in the middle of the cone. However, Doug Beal (US Olympic Gold Medal Coach) suggests an alternative system. He believes the digger should be stationed on the outside of the area she is defending. Therefore, she will have to move in only ONE direction which would be towards the hitter.
Knowing the area you are to defend is vitally important. That area is not a spot but rather an oblong shape established by the blockers. Each digger should be able to find the ball between the blockers hands or just outside the blockers hands and BELOW THE BLOCKERS HANDS (according to Mick Haley, former national team coach). Thats important; BELOW THE BLOCKERS HANDS. For example, in the rotation defense the left front should find the ball just to the left of the middle blockers hands while the left back should find the ball between the hands of the two blockers.
Which raises the next question. How should the blockers align the block? Most teams attempt to block cross court and close the block. Blocking cross court in high school is the best system as few high school setters set the ball all the way out to the antennae and few high school hitters can "nail" the line consistently. But, why close the block? The players never do it, so why try? Why not have the middle take the cross court shot and the line blocker take the line shot and then station two diggers in the hole between the block. These two diggers are no more than a foot apart from each other. I know of at least one college team that does this successfully against some very serious competition.
Which raises the next question. Should you have two diggers standing near each other? Most high level teams have a "wall" for a block which leaves limited space in which to hit the ball. Therefore, they then have two diggers standing foot to foot on the court creating a table protecting the floor. I do not like this strategy as most high school girls will flinch when attempting to use an "emergency" skill when feeling the presence of a teammate near them because they will avoid "crashing" into their teammate at all costs. Therefore, I like to keep the players as far apart as possible and give them the responsibility of digging a huge area. I send my middle back all the way to the sideline, otherwise, if my middle back stays in the middle of the court on the back line, I find my middle back and the cross court digger rarely go to the floor for a ball in fear that they will make contact with each other. By sending my middle back all the way to the sideline my cross court digger has responsibility for 60% of the court and usually digs a ball because she plays with abandon since no one is in her way when she "flies" after the ball!
Finally, and most importantly, the latest concept in defense is for the three back row players to stay back and read the hitters (commonly called a perimeter defense). In this defense the three back row hitters station themselves deep in the court and towards the sidelines (leaving the middle susceptible to the dump) and as the set goes up they shift to a position relative to the hole in the block. This leaves absolutley no one to cover the tip. But, if the digger detemines the ball to be hidden by the block then she "releases" to cover the tip. Inorder to effectively dig a tipped ball from 20 feet back in the court the player must know how to "run through" and do a "barrel roll," otherwise the ball will never be bumped high enough for the setter to get under the ball. The "pancake" will just not work when digging a "tipped" ball.
But most importantly is the "hunger" in your players to dig a ball. Too often players allow themselves to be hit at! Instead, they should have the attitude that they are attacking the hitters. There should be a gleam in their eye that is telling the hitter, "C'mon honey, give me your best shot." If your diggers are thinking, "Oh no!, here she comes again," the match is over. Remember, "The bigger they come the harder they fall." Facing the prospect of playing against UCLA's #1 hitter Liz Masakyan with a .300 attack percentage against top twenty teams my player (Laurie Henderson) pointed to her forearms and said, "No problem." That night Liz hit -.090 and had to be subbed off the court. Its all attitude!
And now the decision is yours. Do you put your players in a set defensive pattern or allow them to read? Do you play up and challenge the hitters to hit past your defense or do you play back and read the hitters? Do you crowd your players and insure the dig of a hit through the hole in the block or do you spread your players requiring one player to have more responsibility than any human can possibly handle? Do you stand in the middle of your defensive zone or on the perimeter? Do you protect against the dump and tip or do you defend the quick attack? Do you have one defense or two different defenses depending on whether your 5-1 setter is in the front row or back row? Welcome to the world of coaching!
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