Volleyball Camps Experience to Making Your High School or Club Volleyball Team

At my volleyball camps, I often talk to young volleyball players about proper technique. Is that all there is to making a team? No.....Read on.....

5 Secrets for Making Your High School or Club Team

Tryouts can be a fantastic experience. Here is a question for you: Why is it that coaches can watch you play for 5 minutes and make a decision based on what they see? Good question.....

There are three parts to being a superior athlete:

1. Athletic ability

2. The ability to change

3. How you positively affect those around you.

Let's look at these individually.

Athletic ability is easy to assess. I often tell people of the story of when Jeff Stork and I watched 129 junior boys at a tryout for a USA youth national team. We watched the players play king of the court for 20 minutes. We each made a list of the top 30 players. In the end, I looked at his list and he looked at mine. We missed each other's list by one name! It is that simple. In volleyball, athletic ability is measured by how high you jump and how hard you hit. Typically if you jump high, you hit hard. Athletic ability is the first thing coaches look at when selecting a team.

The ability to change and get better each day in practice is the Holy Grail of not only volleyball but life as well. It is the essence of sports. Why don't players change? Ego? They learned a different way? They have done it one way for so long? They are physically the best so they do not have to work hard? Reminding players to get better each day of practice is the easiest thing to say, but the hardest thing for players to do. The first couple of days of a season are coaching bliss. Players are working their tails off to make the team. They are attentive. They hustle. They what happens? They fall into a rhythm. They take practice for granted. They fail to make improvements each time they touch the ball. It is very challenging to learn how to get better each time you touch the ball. But like everything else, it just takes practice.

The ability to motivate and positively affect those around you cannot be overstated. It is a part of your personality and character. Nothing is worse than having a habitually grumpy person on the team. They often affect the ability of others to get better each day--not good. Grumpy players can undermine a coaches effort and head the team in the wrong direction. Positive players can lead the team through tough times. Positive players do extra work in practice. Positive players will hold their teammates accountable for on and off the court behavior. Positive players lead by example. It is their personality.....

Here are the five secrets to making your team:

1. Look the coach in the eye when they are talking! This is my number one rule! I can almost pick the team based on this one secret.

2. Get in shape. Find a friend who wants to get in shape or hire a plyometric coach. Want tips on what to do? Go to http://www.vbclinics.com/members.asp and download the Suggested Volleyball Workout in either PDF or MS Word.

3. Shag (pick-up) as many balls as you can when you are not playing and put them back in the cart.

4. Send the coach a very brief e-mail after the first day of practice and tell them how much you enjoy the team and the opportunity to learn. If making the team is between you and one other player-- which it usually is--this may put you over the top. Parents should not send the e-mail.

5. Go to your future coach's summer camp and do exactly what I told you to do in the first four secrets.

Bottom line: I did not make my high school volleyball team until I was a senior. In my junior year, I was the manger on the team--I washed the laundry, I set up the nets etc.....I went on to win a gold medal in the Olympics. If you don't make the team, redouble your efforts. Find a club team to play on. Play against adults.

Extra Bonus Secret

6. Look the coach in the eye when they are talking. It is that important.
Pat Powers
Pat@VBClinics.com
http://www.vbclinics.com/

2010 Volleyball Camps Schedule

Apr 24-25, Tampa, FL, $ 140, Tampa Prep School Volleyball Camp
May 1-2, Chicago, IL, $ 140, Northside College Prep Volleyball Camp
May 22-23, Fairfield, CA, $ 140, Rodriguez High School Volleyball Camp
Jun 5-6, Cincinnati, OH, $ 140, McGee's Courts For Sports Volleyball Camp
Jun 7-8, Columbus, OH, $ 135, Columbus Volleyball Center Volleyball Camp
Jun 9-10, Cleveland, OH, $ 135, Rocky River Rec Center Volleyball Camp
Jun 12-13,Boston, MA, $ 140, Bridgewater State College Volleyball Camp
Jun 19-20, St Louis, MO, $ 140, Parkway West High School Volleyball Camp
Jun 26-27, Long Island, NY, $ 150, Sport Time @ Bethpage Volleyball Camp
Jul 5-6, Quad Cities, IL, $ 135, Black Hawk College Volleyball Camp
Jul 7-8, Detroit, MI, $ 140, Elite Sports Center Volleyball Camp
Jul 10-11, Sterling, VA, $ 145, Virginia Volleyball Center Volleyball Camp
Jul 12-13, Pittsburgh, PA, $ 140, Greentree Sportsplex Volleyball Camp
Jul 15-16, San Antonio, TX, $ 145, Factory of Champions Volleyball Camp
Jul 17-18, Dallas, TX, $ 145, Volleyball Institute of Plano Volleyball Camp
Jul 19-20, Houston, TX, $ 145, Legends Sports Complex volleyball Camp
Jul 22-23, Kansas City, MO, $ 140, Parkville Athletic Center Volleyball Camp
Jul 24-25, Denver, CO, $ 140, Sports Complex Inverness Volleyball Camp
Jul 31-8/1, Phoenix, AZ, $ 145, Kingdom Courts Volleyball Camp
Aug 3-4, San Diego, CA, $ 140, Fairground Volleyball Center Volleyball Camp
Aug 7-8, San Francisco, CA, $ 145, Peninsula Jewish CC Volleyball Camp
Aug 9-10, Seattle, WA, $ 140, Kent Commons Volleyball Camp
Aug 11-12, Portland, OR, $ 135, The Hoop Volleyball Camp
Aug 14-15, Laguna Beach, CA, $ 145, Laguna Beach HS Volleyball Camp
Oct 30-31, Sterling (fall), VA, $ 145, Virginia Volleyball Center Volleyball Camp
Nov 12-13 Minneapolis, MN, $ 140, Ralia Sports Center Volleyball Camp
Nov 20-21, Cherry Hill, NJ, $ 145, International Sports Center Volleyball Camp
Dec 11-12, Seattle, WA, $ 135, Kent Commons Volleyball Camp

For more information, please go to my web site
http://www.vbclinics.com/

Have a great year!

Pat Powers
Pat@vbclinics.com

Attention Adults: Get more out of your training!

Adults volleyball players have a different agenda than today's junior player. While eighty five percent of USAV membership consists of junior players, the sport is enjoyed by thousands of adults in every USAV region. All USAV regions support adult volleyball, however a majority of the competitions are organized by private entities through recreational leagues, tournaments and the ever growing "theme events."

Swimming, Yoga (my favorite!), biking and running are all popular ways for the active adult to stay in shape. But many adults find their way into team sports as a way of staying in shape and increasing their social circle at the same time.

There are two rules that dominate participation in sports:

Rule #1 Everybody thinks they are better than they actually are.
Rule #2 Everybody wants to play against better competition.

When trying to find a team, players seek out competition slightly ahead of their own ability--we equate our skill level with the company we keep. This is a very natural process that applies to all ages. By playing with better players, the weekend warrior feels like they put themselves in optimal position to better their skills. In volleyball, getting better sets, better passes and having a good player to help out in tight spots feels great. Many USAV regions even have ratings systems that qualify your level of play. But what about if you are not one of the physically gifted? What if you have a different goal and consider volleyball something between the end of work and a good night's sleep?

Let me offer some ideas for adult play.

Don't get hurt!

Staying healthy is a key concern. Sprained ankles, sore backs and tired arms are what volleyball is all about. What you really want to avoid is being on a first name basis with an orthopedic surgeon. The most common injury I see is when a player comes under the net and tangles feet causing another player to sprain their ankle or worse. One of the valid reasons why you do want to play with good players (on both sides of the net) is you will suffer few injuries.

One of the things I stress at my clinics is the need to keep your rotator cuff strong. I suggest purchasing a five foot piece of 3/16" latex surgical tubing. You can find these on E-bay, Google or at a local surgical supply store. There are four exercises designed to isolate and strengthen the rotator cuff. If you want to see these exercises, you can watch the two You Tube videos on my web site http://www.vbclinics.com/members.asp These exercises take about five minutes to perform. I strongly suggest you do these before you play, after the first game and when you are finished playing. Not only will you hit and serve better, but your arm will thank you many times over.


Get in Shape!

The single best exercise you can do to improve your game of volleyball is to jump stairs. For men, find a spot with sixty stairs and for the ladies, forty five. If you are in decent shape with no physical ailments, start a program of doing fifteen sets of stairs. When jumping, I suggest the men jump four at a time and the ladies three at a time. The program for the first day is to run ten stairs and jump five. Wait a day or two and then run nine and jump six. Next time out, go eight and seven.... etc....Total of fifteen reps each time increasing the number of reps you jump each time. Stop when you can get to running five and jumping ten. Listen to your body when exercising and don't overdo it.

Running hills is the second best way to get in shape for the rigors of volleyball Find an accessible hill and start running series of sprints up the hill. Again, start easy paying attention to your body.

One of the main reasons attempts at getting in shape fail is because we go through different phases of motivation. We work hard for awhile and then back off vowing to resume at a later date. Two ideas come to mind: Work out in a group setting or find a personal trainer.

Play against worse players!

Sounds silly, huh? Here is a professional secret: I often tell up and coming pros to play against and with players who are not as good as themselves. An experienced professional will play at the same level against bad teams as they will against good teams. The trick for a professional is to learn how to play the game regardless of who is on the other side of the net. If they slack off while playing an inferior team, they usually experience the same variation of concentration when playing against a superior team. Personally, I often pair myself with players of lesser ability. I do it for a simple reason--it makes me play harder and it turns into a better work out. The other great part about this idea is you will bring up the level of play in your area.

Keep the game in perspective!

One of the trademarks of great players is the ability to play well at home, on the road and in practice. The ability to get better each day in practice is the single hardest thing for an athlete to do. Many players say they come into the gym with the goal of getting better each day, but my experience is few can accomplish this feat. One of the tricks to being a good athlete is the ability to accommodate two personalities. One side is extremely competitive and domineering while the other is more passive and understanding. How does this affect you? Hot tempers are a part of sports. If something was said between you and any player during a match, go up to that person after play ends and issue a sincere apology. Every time I have extended an apology to an offended party, the player acknowledges the situation and usually laughs it off. They understand.




Have Fun!

I give a twenty minute speech at the end of each clinic talking to junior players and parents about the virtues of playing volleyball between the ages of twelve and eighteen. Boys and girls who play volleyball get better SAT scores, better GPAs, enjoy better health, better self-esteem, better friends and better relations with their community. In short, volleyball is one of the best things you can do as an activity. The sport seems to draw great people and great families into the fold. The good news is this phenomenon does not stop once you graduate high school. Volleyball is more than a sport for adults. It is a close circle of friends, it is a way of life, it is a ticket to better health and well being. Along the way, all players are going to experience some sort of difficulty. It could be inflammation in your knees. It could be a difference of strategy with a teammate. Or it could be losing a two-point game to your fierce rival. Dwelling on mistakes or tough situations much past twenty minutes is not healthy. The important part is to remember to leave it on the court and enjoy all the good the game has to offer. Have fun!


Pat Powers
Pat@VBClinics.com
http://www.vbclinics.com/

Summer Volleyball Camps. How to pick a good volleyball camp this summer.

Summer Volleyball Camps: How do you find a good volleyball camp?

I am in the volleyball camp business. I have been for the last 15 years. Not all volleyball camps are the same. Given the fact there are hundreds of colleges and universities coupled with high schools and volleyball clubs, there are quite a few choices for players to further their instruction.

Before you can pick a camp, there are two rules that dictate your experience:

All players think they are better than they are. It is very common for players to think their skill level is higher than it actually is. At most university/college camps, they will watch you hit two balls, pass one and serve a ball. They put you into a group based on your current skill level. Sometimes this can be very frustrating. Which leads to the second rule of Volleyball camps….

All players want to play against better competition. We equate the company we keep with how good we are. If you play with better competition, you will get better sets, better passes and more opportunities for play. This is a common concept that parents understand better than anybody else.

Let me take you through the most common types of camps available. I will give you some pros and cons on each

University/ College Volleyball Camps
University/College camps can be a great time for young players! The experience of staying overnight with friends is very appealing. Some camps can be as large as 350 kids. The social experience equated with a university/college camp is unsurpassed! New friends are made and it is a great time to form bonds with future teammates. Two concerns: The first is much of the instruction is done by players who are learning the game themselves. While most of the instruction is fairly basic, it helps to have an experienced coach to do more than over-seeing the general direction of the camp. My other issue is the length of the camps. 4-5 days is a long time to be on a court. Many of the campers are on their feet for 6-8 hours a day. Enthusiasm wanes about half way into the second day. Soreness develops in both the campers and instructors.

High School or Club Volleyball Camps
High school and club camps can be a great way to get ready for your school season. Typically these camps can range from 20-60 participants. Some clubs even go as far as to separate out by skill level and position. Of primary importance is the chance to impress your future coach. One of the things that I like when I do camps is to have the players look me in the eye when I am talking. It shows enthusiasm and interest. Hustling after balls and watching other players play instead of talking to friends are two helpful suggestions. The one issue I have with these camps is you want to experience different coaching techniques. This can be hard at a high school/club camp. It is said you pick up three or four things at each symposium and seminar you attend. Young players should try to expose themselves to as much different ways to look at the game as possible.



Here are my choices for summer camps:

Setting
For setting, Rick Butler does perhaps the best setting camp in the nation. I know this because I have seen the setters he produces. Great coach for setting http://www.greatlakescenter.com/

Coaches
Carl McGowan is one of the great modern day minds of the sport. Coaches should listen to what he has to say regardless of what level you coach. You can find him here http://www.goldmedalsquared.com/

USAV CAP Series
John Kessel is a very entertaining and information person to listen to. All of the coaches who have attended his clinics have given two thumbs up. You can find him here http://www.usavolleyball.org/event?tag_id=3197

Experience in the sport of Volleyball

Experience

Experience in sports is one those hard-to-define concepts. We know it when we see it, but to practice and teach it is like trying to push a string across the floor. The term experience is known by many names: mental toughness, confidence, poise, composure, nerves of steel or steady play. These ideas are essentially the same—a team or person wins because they make key plays during pivotal moments of an athletic contest.
Need examples? Here are two from the world of volleyball in 2008:
Example # 1 With the USA men down 12-13 to the Russians in the fifth set in Beijing, David Lee came up with one kill and two blocks that propelled Team USA into the gold medal round. Three consecutive plays by one player. I’ve been watching volleyball for over 30 years but I cannot remember a player coming up so big in such a crucial moment.
Example #2 The Penn State women’s team, who has won every match 3-0, suddenly finds itself tied two games apiece against Nebraska in Nebraska at the NCAA semi-finals. The team eventually finds a way to gut out a 15-11 victory in front of a highly partisan crowd.
David Lee could have done his job quietly and been part of a team that had a great Olympics. Penn State could have folded up camp after losing two sets. But David and Penn State had other ideas. They took control of their own destiny and delivered at the right moment. Both examples—one by a player and the other by a team—illustrate what we define as experience; both David and Penn State played exceptionally well under pressure.
Playing well under pressure is what experience is all about. It’s a state of mind that cannot be affected by the score, venue or other external circumstances. Like passing, setting or any other skill in the game of volleyball, experience is something you can practice every day. Experience isn’t determined by age, or how much you’ve played, won or lost. It’s defined by how much you believe you always have control over an athletic contest. Recognizing the ways in which you can improve your mental game is the first step in becoming a more complete player. Here are five cases in which experience is better defined.

Experience in Dealing with Intimidation
Intimidation is one of the most common ways teams gain an advantage over an opponent. All players have been intimidated at one time or another in their careers. How do good players intimidate others? Players look at you with indifference, they intimidate you in warm-ups, they sneer and make snide remarks in hopes of belittling you. When players are intimidated they play with less physical intensity. How much less? Maybe 2-3%, but if your physical effort is compromised, that’s all it takes. Good players don’t give into mental bullies. In fact, when great players sense a negative presence, they play better. Before you learn to beat opponents, it’s crucial that you learn how not to beat yourself.

Experience in Practice
It’s not uncommon for players to give less than 100% in practice. Everybody has their off days. Some use the excitement of competition to stimulate their competitive nature. Some players miss the opportunity to learn from their mistakes in practices. They look for ways around physically demanding work. They avoid the grind that’s part of an athlete’s creed of getting better on every play. Coaches can do many things to motivate players. They can offer praise for extraordinary effort or bench them for not living up to their potential. A combination of the proverbial stick and carrot is usually employed to shape desired behavior. Consistency in practice is one of the keys to becoming a great player. Some learn this earlier than others. Learning how to work hard when the coach isn’t looking is what experienced players do. Getting in the gym before practice and staying late are signs of maturity. Experience and work ethic are closely linked. It’s no quirk of fate that players who are better prepared and in superior physical condition consistently win.

Experience in Conserving Energy
Young players can often be seen running around the court, exerting an abundance of energy. It can be a celebration of a point, or an effort to get the crowd fired up, but it still takes a lot of energy. One of the tricks older players learn is how to relax between plays. They look lazy or indifferent to what’s going on around them. But as soon as the whistle blows, they come alive and seem to be in the right place at the right time. Here are two hints for playing efficient volleyball. The first is to watch the other team and players between serves. If you watch the setter in particular, they will almost tell you where they are going to set the next ball. It’s also a good time to review what the coach said about the player’s tendencies. The second tip is to consciously relax between plays. This is much easier said than done, but it’s the reason inexperienced players feel so much more fatigued after a match than after a practice. Breathing, along with resting hunched over on your knees, can help. A suggestion would be to try this in practice, turning your physical switch “on and off,” as this may take a while to get used to.

Experience with Bad Calls
Mistakes by a referee are part of the game. Calls that seem intentional can be even more frustrating. One of the ways professional sports deal with this issue by using slow-motion video technology to confirm calls. Volleyball doesn’t have instant replay (yet!). With luck, bad calls even out over the course of a match or season. To let a referee’s decision affect your mental rhythm when playing shows inexperience. A single call by an official often turns a match around to the point where the other team gives up. Teams will use the referee as an excuse when they lose a match, whereas experienced players will voice their disagreement with an official, but not let it alter their frame of mind. Experienced players use bad calls as motivation to play harder, exerting greater concentration to better the ball and make fewer mistakes. If bad calls are expected, resolve to play each set to 27 instead of 25. The adage “Never show a mental or physical weakness” is sound advice in the age of home field advantage.

Experience Using Your Peripheral Vision
Peripheral vision in sports is everything. This is the ability to look at one thing and concentrate on another. When we pass a ball, we look at the ball but peripherally find the position of the setter. Setters are trained to “watch” the hitters and opposing middle blockers while looking at the ball. When players hit, they learn to watch the ball while thinking about the block. At my summer camps, I show players how to adjust their heads while looking at an object—usually the ball. The key is to keep your eyes on the ball and move your head in the direction you want to create peripheral vision—up, down or sideways. Experienced players are relaxed enough to be able to do this. I see young players letting balls drop in between them and their teammates (an epidemic!) all the time. Over time, these mistakes disappear and players learn when to take the ball and when to “open up” to let their teammates know when to make a play on the ball. A good way to practice this is to keep an eye on the defensive side of the net (especially the block if you are a hitter) as you are playing the ball. Learn how to move your head, but not your eyes. This single attribute is the essence of sports and offers a partial explanation of why setters are so much more experienced than the other position players.

Summary
It is tough to say whether experience is an innate part of an athlete. Consistently playing against better competition is a time honored way of achieving experience in sports. The ability to absorb and learn from your losses in practice and matches cannot be understated. The lost art of watching better players and teams play in lieu of getting out of the gym quickly is a mistake. Learning how to control your emotions and energy level is the key to becoming a complete player.
You do not need to play in the Olympics or the semi-finals of the NCAA tournament to be an experienced player. The five examples I gave you are just a few ways to think differently about the game. These examples could transcend other sports as well. The sport of indoor volleyball is played with twelve players on eighteen hundred square feet. With that many people in that tiny of space, a lot can and will happen.

2009 Volleyball Camp Schedule

March 7-8 Tampa, FL $140 Tampa Prep School
March 28-29 Phoenix, AZ $145 Kingdom Courts
May 2-3 Chicago, IL $140 Northside College Prep
May 9-10 Boston, MA $140 Bridgewater State College
June 6-7 Cincinnati, OH $140 McGee's Courts 4 Sports
June 8-9 Cleveland, OH (Evening) $130 Rocky River Rec Center
June 13-14 Las Vegas, NV $140 Durango Hills YMCA
June 20-21 St. Louis, MO $140 Parkway West High School
June 27-28 Long Island, NY $150 Sport Time
July 6-7 Quad Cities, IL $135 Black Hawk College
July 8-9 Indianapolis, IN $140 Indy Indoor Sports Park
July 11-12 Sterling, VA $145 Dulles Sports Plex
July 13-14 Pittsburgh, PA $140 Greentree SportsPlex
July 16-17 San Antonio, TX $145 Factory of Champions
July 18-19 Dallas, TX $145 Volleyball Institute of Plano
July 20-21 Detroit, MI $140 Elite Sports Center
July 23-24 Kansas City, MO $140 Parkville Athletic Center
July 24-25 Denver, CO $145 Bladium Sports Club
August 1-2 Phoenix, AZ $145 Kingdom Courts
August 4-5 San Diego, CA $140 Fairground Volleyball CTR
August 8-9 San Francisco, CA $145 Peninsula Jewish CC
August 10-11 Seattle, WA $145 Kent Commons
August 12-13 Portland, OR $135 The Hoop
August 15-16 Laguna Beach, CA $145 Laguna Beach High School
Oct 31-Nov 1 Sterling, VA $145 Dulles Sports Plex
Nov. 7-8 Pleasant Prairie, WI $140 LakeView RecPlex
Nov. 21-22 Minneapolis, MN $140 Ralia Sports Center
Dec. 12-13 Seattle, WA $135 Kent Commons
Dec. 19-20 Cherry Hill , NJ $145 International Sports Center

Tips for serving a volleyball

Serving To Win!

At the beginning of my summer camps, I often ask people what is the single most important skill. Many will answer” passing” or “setting” As I pointed out in a previous article, the correct answer is hitting. Outside hitting to be exact.
Participants who claim serving is the most important skill are close to the truth. Serving is confidence. Coaches can keep track of many statistics on their laptops: passing, blocks, hitting percentage and digs. But the one skill they can look at to determine a players’ confidence level is serving.
Coaches will do four things to disrupt the confidence of a server:
1 They will call a time-out.
2 The coach will make a substitution
3 Coaches will question or argue a call with a referee or linesperson
4 A player on the court will tie his or her shoe or call to wipe up a wet spot on the floor.

All of these have the same effect: the coach is trying to “ice” the server.
The best thing I can suggest is to establish a routine when you go to the service line. Where do you find such routines in sports? A good example is when a basketball player goes to the free throw line. They always do the same pre-shot ritual. The ritual acts as a calming force to center and focus their mechanics and thoughts. I suggest you get a pre-serve ritual going as soon as possible. It could be bouncing the ball off of the floor or slapping it on the side. Make sure it is the same each time.

There are three types of serve commonly found in today’s game. The jump serve, the float serve and the hybrid jump float.

Jump serving
I have people ask me all the time about teaching them how to be an effective jump server. My first question is “How well do you hit the ball?” “Not very well” is the response I get. Players need to learn not to put the cart before the horse. You should start jump serving when you hit the ball well. The other side of this argument is I have a team of 14 year old girls or boys, I would have them jump serve in practice as players need to hit 40-60 balls a day to build up arm strength.
With these thoughts in mind, let me give you five tips to improve your jump serve:
Tip # 1 Keep the ball in front of you as you take your approach to jump. In other words, don’t drop the ball (and your hand) down to throw it up in the air. Why? One of the most crucial aspects of the jump serve is the set. You get a much better set when you don’t drop the ball down. It takes some time to get used to, but eventually you learn how to keep the ball up on your approach. The reason we bring the ball down is because we want to…
Tip # 2 ……throw the ball high when jump serving! The number one error I see in jump serving is players throwing the ball too low. When we throw the ball high, it gives us time to generate power with our arm swing.
Tip #3 land in the court when jump serving. In the men’s game, jump servers should be landing about 3-4 feet inside of the court. For the ladies, it is 2-3 feet inside the court. Make sure you take off as close to the end line as possible. Give yourself some room for error. When you land behind the end line you have to serve the ball a longer distance, thus reducing the power and effectiveness of the serve.
Tip #4 Swing your arms back deep when approaching the jump serve. Coaches can watch a hitter hit two to three balls and know instantly how effective a hitter is based on one thing: how far they swing their arms back during their approach. Swinging your arms back when hitting or jump serving is what we call a “Two for one move.” It is how we generate power on our hitting stroke and it is how we jump high. It is why we throw the ball high to give us time to bring our arms back.
Tip #5 Use off arm as a guide and as a source for power. If you ever watch a tennis match, notice how high the sever reaches up with their “off” arm and shoulder during their hitting motion. It is how we generate additional power and it serves as a source of balance for the serving motion.

Float serving

Float serving is fairly easy to teach as you have one main objective: Indent the ball. Before I explain how we indent ball let me give you a few tips that will help your float serve.
Tip #1 Look under the ball when you go to throw it up. Again, very similar to jump serving, the toss is critical to insure proper contact of the ball. The added benefit of looking under the ball is servers will have greater accuracy on where they want to the serve to go to.
Tip # 2 Step into the ball when serving. If you are right handed, you will step into the ball with your left foot to allow the torso more power in the serve. Do not do a cross over step ending up with your right foot forward.
Tip # 3 Hit the ball at the base of your hand when serving. When we serve, we want the base of our hand—not the open palm—to make contact with the ball to insure good contact with the ball. What most of us do is to tilt our hand back to expose the two bones at the base of the wrist. It should feel like a “thud” instead of a slap when you serve.
Tip #4 Snap the ball, do not hit it. In sports, we hit out of our shoulder but we snap from our wrist and elbow. Since we do not follow through with our wrist—we keep it taught—the only place we snap from when float serving is our elbow. If you could see a good float serve in slow motion, you would notice a snap from the elbow with a follow through of the arm. The snap, not the arm, is what powers the ball. To teach this phenomenon at my volleyball camps, what I do is to over-correct what players want to do and simply have them keep their hand up after they serve the ball. What this does it to force all the action into the elbow to “indent” the ball. When we indent the ball we do several things: we take the spin off of the ball—the ball loses control and will knuckle into the passers arms. The other benefit of keeping your hand up is you get what we call extension. Meaning the distance between the elbow and shoulder is upright and used in an effective manner.

Jump float

Serving a jump float is a hybrid of a jump serve and a float serve. My guess is it originated out of jump servers who consistently threw the ball to low yet still had to hit the ball over the net. It is one of the trendy things we see in the sport. There are a couple of things I like about the jump float. What I like about it is it gets you going towards your defensive position and you contact the ball at a much higher point than a regular float serve. Similar to jump serving, start the ball high. It will help you with the control of your toss.

Conclusion

Serving is confidence. Teams that are consistently serving tough are usually winning a lot of matches. Develop a routine before you serve the ball. The game is moving more towards the jump serve as a way of over-powering the opponent. Float servers should work on indenting the ball as much as possible. Jump floaters should contact the ball as high as possible and land in the court.