Ready Position & Platform

The key to successful forearm passing is getting into a stable, balanced, consistent pre-contact position.

* Ready Position: Keep hands in front of you, at chest height. Have a 90-degree bend in your elbows. Keep your hands in front of you so you can efficiently get into a forearm passing position OR an overhand passing position. (If you start with your hands below your hips, you will tend to swing on your forearm pass or you will tend to have your hands up too late for an overhand pass.) * Bend at the ankles and have your weight on the balls of your feet (heels should still touch the floor). Your platform should be parallel to your thighs and your back should be parallel to your calves. Feet are shoulder-width apart.

Grip and Platform

* Grip: thumbs together, even and flat. Rotate wrists out so they are as flat as possible.

* Externally rotate elbows out and as close together as possible, thumbs should point down. Shoulders should be rolled forward. Elbows will be fully extended (not bent).

* You want to comfortably get your forearms as close to each other as possible. Here are 3 different platforms. Depending on your individual anatomy, you may or may not be able to get your forearms together. Here you see a progression, with the most desireable platform at the far right (although all 3 girls are outstanding passers!).

Forearm Passing Movement

* Always face and make sure your hips are square to the server/attacker.

* Move in the ready position by shuffling your feet. You want to make sure that you stay low, balanced and as stable as possible. You should not be moving up and down with each shuffle step. Keep your head in and track the ball with your eyes the entire time.

* ANGLE OF DEFLECTION = TRAJECTORY OF PASS: Angle your platform by dropping your shoulder to deflect the ball to the setter (do not move your hips or body to face the setter... this will result in a shanked ball!). Present your platform EARLY (LONG before the ball reaches you)! * CONTACT: Contact the ball on your upper wrists/forearms (not your thumbs or lower wrists). When you contact the ball, you will NOT swing with your arms. At most your platform will move up 2". In some cases, you should actually move your platform down to absorb some of the energy so that the pass isn't too high on a hard hit ball. On contact, maintain that same ready, stable position. Mistakes I see often are girls that push their butts out on contact, stand up on contact, lift their head or bend their elbows when they pass. You should move the ball to the target with your LEGS & HIPS (not your arms), by shuffling through the pass. * AFTER MOVEMENT: After the ball touches your platform, KEEP SHUFFLING THROUGH THE PASS! This gives you much better accuracy and prevents a lot of mistakes such as stabbing at balls. Aim to shuffle your feet at least 2 more steps AFTER the ball has left your arms! AND during those two shuffle steps, keep your platform out and stable, in the same position it was in when you passed the ball!

Overhand Passing / Setting

Preparation: Hands begin at chest level and move up through the midline, close to each other to the touch point. Present your hands as early as possible.

Touch Point: You should contact the ball above your eyes (have your thumbs at eyebrow level).

Hand Position: Thumbs should be an inch apart, pointer fingers should be directly above the thumbs, again an inch apart. Your hands should be rounded in the shape of the ball. Wrists should be bent back (you should see wrinkles in your wrists). Your elbows should be pointing away from your midline.

Contact: Your hands should be rounded on the ball, your entire hand, including your palms should make contact with the ball. Wrists cushion the impact. At contact, you will ONLY move your elbows from the bent position to fully extended. Your hands/wrists stay in the same position.












Footwork: Quick 1-2 step, Left-Right. These steps should be heel-toe, emphasizing the weight transfer. On overhand passing you should face your target. First you are square to the server/attacker, then you step to square up to your target.

Follow Through: After the ball is passed, your wrists should still be bent back and your thumbs/pointer fingers should still be pointed toward each other, in the shape of a triangle. Your hands should still be in the shape of the ball.

Hitting Approach & Armswing

For a RIGHT-HANDED hitter / / / Three Step Approach

PREP
Wait for the set in athletic stance. Shoulders are in front of hips, arms down in front of you. All your weight should be on your right foot, left toe on the floor. STEP 1
Take a small step forward with your left foot (this is your timing step), Right heel comes off the floor.
Hips open toward the right.
Your arms swing in front of your body, palms face down.
Next, arms swing back to the midline, palms face behind.

STEP 2
Pull arms straight back so palms are facing the ceiling. Step with your right foot, heel first, toe points 45 degrees to the right. Bend your left knee.

STEP 3
Weight transfer heel to toe on right foot. Step with the left foot at a 45 degree angle in front of the right foot so that feet are shoulder width apart. Both knees are bent and butt is down. Arms move forward and up into prep position.

FOOTWORK: Left----RIGHT-LEFT. The power steps are the last two. The timing is slow-quick-quick. ACCELERATE and EXPLODE into the last two steps. They are POWERFUL.

PREP POSITION:
Right arm: Elbow, wrist, hand are all at shoulder height in line with the ear and parallel to the floor. Palm faces down. Elbow has ~a 90-degree angle. Think of a slingshot or a bow-n- arrow position. Left arm: Arm is up, elbow slightly bent, palm faces forward. ARMSWING:
Right arm accelerates up toward the ball, leading with the elbow, hand trails. Arm should be close to the ear. Palm faces the ceiling and then snaps over top of the ball (arm is fully extended). Silmultaneously, the left arm drops and tucks into the stomach. As you jump straight up, the hips close and feet turn and point forward. Body pikes so the shoulders are ahead of the hips. CONTACT POINT: to find where the best place is to make contact with the ball, place your left bicep over your left eye. Now place your right hand over your left hand. Drop your left hand. This is your contact point.
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LANDING:
Soft, cushion with toe to heel action. Land on two feet, toes pointing toward net.

NOTE: If you are left-handed, please contact Coach Jessie for detailed instructions for a left-handed attacker.

Blocking

Power Position: Ankles, knees, waist bent. Abs tight. Elbows in. Hands by face and palms facing forward. Your fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders and abs should be very tight and strong.

Stand at the net approx. 1/2 arms length away. Stand tall, in athletic stance, on the balls of your feet. Hands big and strong. Imagine yourself being 4" taller and LOOK BIG at the net. This is very intimidating to your opponent!

Footwork:
Outside/Rightside Hitters: Cross-over, hop, ready, JUMP

Middle Hitters: Step, cross-over, hop, ready, JUMP

Always keep hands above the tape.
LOAD legs with power.
Jump straight up.
Extend your hands over the net and have your hands in the shape of the ball (thumbs back!).
Shrug your shoulders UP to give you another 3" of reach height.
Land on both feet.
Never touch the net.

Serving Tips

Use the same mechanics on every serve. Make your serve a routine.

The toss is the most important part of your serve!!!
Your toss should only go up ~18" from your tossing hand. You should contact the ball on it's way UP, not after it peaks and is on its way back down. You should toss in front of your hitting arm! Toss with your left hand, under the ball, and (if dropped) it should land in front of your right toe. Do not put spin on the ball when you toss it.

Hitting hand should be locked at the wrist on contact. Contact the ball with the palm of your hand. Fingers should be spread apart (not cupped or in a fist). Contact the ball out in front of your body. Take one step with your left foot as you contact the ball with your right hand. Be aware that you do not step over the service line. Follow through after you contact the ball.

If you want to serve a topspin serve, place the valve on the bottom of the ball and snap your wrist on top of the ball.

If you want to serve a floater, place the valve on top of the ball and contact the ball directly in the middle and use your palm only (bend fingers back so they won't put any spin on the ball).

Floater serves are very hard to pass because they move erratically in the air. Topspin serves are harder in velocity, but are more predictable.

The Dive-n-Roll

We will NOT be sliding on our knees to get balls, NOR letting balls hit the floor. We go ALL OUT! Diving should still be considered a last resort. We should shuffle and run-through every ball we can. We should anticipate where the ball is going and beat the ball to the spot. However, there will be times when it is necessary to dive for a ball.

Get low to the floor. PUSH with your lead leg and lead out with BOTH arms in grip position.

Fully extend your body, including your legs.

Pass the ball while parallel to the ground.
After you pass the ball, twist to either the right or left, and slide on your upper arm/side as you roll over your back. Bend the opposite knee and roll up on that leg. Stand up and get back into ready position.