Volleyball Basics: Serving, Passing and Digging

Serving

Serving is one of the more underrated skills in the game (second only to setting). Most people still think of serving as just one simple skill to start off the game. What many people fail to consider is serving is essentially an attack attempt already - albeit very much further from the front court and the net. Remember that volleyball is a rally point system, so teams should be taking advantage of any chance of scoring a point.

There are many types of service: a floater (hitting the ball in the center, causing ball flight to be erratic/unpredictable and no spin), a top spin serve (very quick ball movement, hit on top of the ball), a jump serve (usually a top spin serve but struck after a toss and jump), and others.

There are three possible outcomes after a serve is carried out:

• Service ace - if the ball lands on the opponent's court or the ball is not kept in play after the first touch, an ace (point for the serving team) will be registered. Furthermore, any violation called on the receiving team such as a player out of bounds during service or a receiving team out of rotation is counted as a service ace as well.
• Service error - if a server commits foot fault, serves out of rotation, serves out of bounds or doesn't go over the net, a service error will be counted and a point to the receiving team.
• Ball is kept in play

The standard stat to measure the serving skill of a player is computed as follows:

Passing

Passing is the first contact on the ball after a serve. Service reception is very important for the receiving team because this dictates how well they will be able to set-up their offense and how they can handle the resulting rally. There is a reason why passing is important and is analyzed outside the realm of digging (which is primarily a defense skill). A good pass (receive) is the main pivot of a team's quick transition from a good defense to a good offense.

It is important for a receiving team to get the rally point. Think of this as similar to "breaking the serve" in tennis. In volleyball, a point earned by a team from an opponent's serve is called a sideout. Sideouts are important (despite the fact that the term is an old volleyball term, it still applies and is important today) because this signals a break in momentum for the serving team, and shows how well the receiving team is running its offense [more on sideout analysis later in advance metrics].

The standard stat to measure the passing skill of a player is computed as follows:

Digging

Digging is a skill executed when a player receives an attacked ball and keeps the ball in play. It is important to note that digs only count for receiving a ball attacked by the opponent (i.e. passing a free ball is not counted as a dig attempt).

As with any other sport, the saying that 'defense wins championships' also holds true in volleyball. Digs, along with blocks, are important cornerstones in game play and are the only skills to contribute to defense. Remember, volleyball is not just about the offensive stops - the 2 other ball touches (defense and setting up) are very (if not more) important than that.

The standard stat to measure the digging skill of a player is computed as follows:

Next two skills that will be described are blocking and attacking.

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Volleyball Basics: Game play, Court and Players

Before any kind of analysis, it is important to review some volleyball fundamentals so we can all be in the same page.

What is volleyball?

As said by FIVB, volleyball is "a complex game of simple skills". Volleyball is a non-contact sport that involves 2 teams of 6 players each. Each team's goal is to score points by landing the ball on the opponent's court or forcing the opponent to commit errors.

The two teams would take turns handling the ball. Each play will start with a serve that takes the ball to the opponent's court. Once play starts, a team can only have 3 touches on the ball. The usual sequence is a pass (or dig), a set, and a spike. Some basic rules are as follows:

• Volleyball uses rally scoring. Games are usually played best of five sets, where the first four sets are played to 25 points, and the final set is played to 15 points. A team must win a set by 2 points (note that there are no maximum number of points, as long as a team gets 2 points ahead).
• Players are not allowed to touch the ball more than once.
• The ball must be struck with a quick motion by a player's hand. If the ball is "palmed" or lingers in a player's hand too long, this will be called a lifting violation.
• Touching the tape(top) of the net, stepping on the line on serve, ball going out of bounds without touching a player -- will result to an error and a point awarded to the opponent.

Court and Rotational Positions

The volleyball court is 59 feet by 29.5 feet, divided by a center line where the net is. 10 feet from the center line is the attack line, which divides one team's court into a "front row" and "back row" areas. Three players are positioned in the front row and three in the back row. Anytime a player is in the back row, he or she cannot attack or spike the ball beyond the attack line.

The areas in the front row and back row are further divided into 6 numbered areas, starting with 1 in the back right corner, then going counterclockwise. During the game, a team will rotate each time they win a (sideout) point. However, note that rotation is in a clockwise manner, so that the sequence of servers, which is usually in the 1 position, will move according to the numbers.

Playing Positions

• Outside hitters (OH) - also referred to as open spikers, these players hit the ball near the left antenna or left side of the court (Area 4). This position has the most number of sets given to the player and are usually the go-to player of the team, thus players in this position need to be consistent attackers and must have good stamina. Moreover, these players must also be good diggers as they will be the ones digging the ball once they rotate to the backrow.

• Opposite hitters (OP) - these are players who are placed opposite the setter in the rotation. Opposite hitters usually hit the ball on the right side of the court (Area 2). These players must be great blockers since they are usually the ones manning the OH of the opponent. They must also have good ball handling since they may be responsible in setting the ball if the main setter cannot get to the ball.

• Middle blockers (MB) - also known as middle hitters, these are the players who are positioned center front (Area 3) and are responsible mainly on defense via blocking the opponent's attackers. Middle blockers are usually the tallest players in the team because of this job (at least in the collegiate scene). These players move fast to hit 'quick' sets and also serve as 'attacking decoys' to confuse the opponent's blockers.

• Setters (S) - these players are responsible for setting up the attackers of the team. Think of them as the point guard-equivalent of volleyball. Setters decide the plays and tactics to be executed by the team. Because of this, setters must have good communication skills and be quick on their feet. Most importantly, they must have excellent ball-handling skills and defensive skills.

• Libero (L) - Liberos are the defensive specialists in the team, thus they must be very good passers/diggers and very quick to move. These are the only players in the team that are not limited by the rules of substitution - they can freely replace any player in the court as long as they are in the back row. Liberos usually replace the MBs once they rotate to the back row.

A team usually has 2 outside hitters, 2 middle blockers, 1 setter, 1 opposite and 1 libero (a 5-1 rotation, meaning there are 5 attackers and 1 setter). These players will have specific formations inside the court.  There are many other kinds of formations/rotations but this is the most used in collegiate volleyball:

Next up, we will be discussing the skills and game play rules in greater detail.

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