Winter Wrap-Up Mailbag Pt3

2-Way Hitting; Aceball; 2 Libero System; Avoiding injury when using the scissor

Got a hefty mailbag here and the last answer, in particular, is pretty gif and picture heavy, so it may show up as too big for your mail client. In that case, just click through to the post in your browser if you want to see the images and gifs.

Winter Wrap-Up Mailbag Pt1
Winter Wrap-Up Mailbag Pt2

Here we go!

From the Comments in First Week Of Practice.

Super-Commenter Gerald M. revived a question I missed last year:

Well good thing because it’s a good question!

I like Gerald’s set up where he’s got a dual focus with half the team working on some blocking and half on some digging. And he’s doing a more blocked setup with the coaches on box hitting. I tend to use that setup more at the end of a practice for players who want to get some extra reps, etc.

It also depends on how much practice time I have. In a situation where I have, for example, only 2 x 2-hour practices per week, I likely need to maximize the hitting reps for my players. With only 4 hours of practice per week, you can almost just hit for the whole practice and it feels like barely enough attack training. So typically I would actually have the diggers toss or easy-serve a ball over to teammates on the other side and then they would dig the attack from their teammates. So almost like a double-sided hitting lines, but under control at the diggers.

So in this diagram, D1 tosses/easy-serves to H1, who passes to S1, who sets back to H1 on the left, who attacks with control at D1. And same for the 2s. And then I like to have a coach on the same side of the net as the diggers. So, “you maybe get one from a teammate, and then you definitely get one from the coach,” is how I explain it.

Because of course there’s going to be bad sets and hitting errors or inaccurate hits, etc. That’s why I say: you maybe get one from a teammate and then you definitely get a ball from the coach. And I like it when the coach-ball is something specific. For example, the ball from the teammate is going to be random and variable, but then the coach is going to give you a ball to overhand dig (or whatever) so you get a bunch of reps in that skill. I find this is a good way to unlock some of these defensive moves that players might not use as much- overhand digging, pancaking, or diving being the most common.

The best way to practice these skills is to dig a live hitter. But because they come up relatively infrequently, it’s hard for a player to be ready and focused to use those skills. Because they don’t use them, they aren’t ready to use them. So they use them less, causing those skills to continue to be undeveloped. But adding in this extra rep keeps those skills more front-of-mind, so then they are more likely to use that skill in the variable rep off the teammate, which can help start a positive feedback loop.

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Related, Alex Simons asks in the comment section of Getting Into It:

Hey Joe - For your two way hitting setup for the older athletes, where would you have balls being entered from? A player serving? A coach tossing? Thanks!

Yep, players serving. Even reasonably competent U13/14 should be able to enter balls. I also use the rule of, "our goal is to practice hitting, so serve the first ball and if the hitter doesn't get a swing (because serve error, pass error, bad set, etc), then bowl the next ball in."

I think it's worth teaching players the difference also between a "true serve" and a "fill serve" because the best way to practice attack is off a serve but sometimes a "true serve" limits your reps so just dialing that serve down to 80% or so can get you the hitting reps you need while still keeping the constraints of making a decision about pass-or-no-pass intact.

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Mike Lutz asks in the article on Aceball:

Joe, I am sorry to be dense but I do not see an exact definition of what you mean exactly by 1-way aceball. Does this mean that the team starting “up” never serves, and instead gets a point for every successful side out? Sorry if I am missing the exact definition. Thanks! Mike

You got it exactly!

Yeah, a "1-Way" drill means your "A-side" never serves and is only on Sideout. And then generally you just cycle different players through your A-side.

The disadvantage of a 1-way drill is that it has a slightly different flow than an actual game, which is, of course, 2-way. The advantage is that it concentrates work on the sideout phase, which most teams struggle with, and it makes things easier to coach because the action is going the same way every time. So if you want to coach your liberos on passing, you can always stand on the receiving side. Or stay in a consistent spot to coach your setter, etc.

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An email from a pro coach:

Do you have thoughts or seen a two libero passer libero / defensive libero system  in and out for  then defense ?  

Yeah, I've seen and actually done the two-libero a little bit. I don't love it, because ideally I'd have one libero who is just a stud and both and can help the serve receive and defense. But I also think it's the reality that