Regardless of individual aptitudes and roles, all volleyball players must obviously have all the game fundamentals in their technical baggage: serve, reception, dunk, and block.
Each role, then, requires specific characteristics. For example, the setter, being the attacking playmaker and having to sort the balls towards the spikers, in addition to a high level of specific dribble technique, must have excellent coordination skills, reactivity in movements, a soft and natural touch of the ball and tactical intelligence.
A good volleyball player, in addition to tall stature, must be agile and have a good elevation, and, at the same time, have a good muscular endowment. They also have to be fast and have excellent alertness.
Like any team game, volleyball requires good harmony, and the collaboration between the players is very important for the construction of the attack and defense actions. That’s why they also need to be good teammates.
Without further ado, let’s dive in!
What Makes a Good Volleyball Player – Overview by Positions
The middle blocker must have an excellent elevation, especially without a run-up, and great speed in lateral movements.
The effectiveness of the attack from the center depends on the speed with which the dunk starts.
The role of the outside hitter is, perhaps, the most tiring because it requires both receiving and attacking and, therefore, technical completeness in the execution of all the fundamentals.
Speed, weight, and power are the physical components necessary for the dunk he must own.
The role of the opposite, so-called because in the field he occupies the diametrically opposite position to that of the setter, requires greater incisiveness in attack and not necessarily a good reception.
Generally, the opposite must have a stature greater than 6’6” and a much higher physicality than the other players.
Libero must play only in the second line and is therefore specialized in reception and defense. What he needs are quickness and stamina.
Good Volleyball Players Possess These Crucial Technical Skills
Volleyball needs a lot of practice regularly as there is always room for improvement – whether you are a beginner or a professional player.
Good volleyball players are working to improve their skills almost every day during the offseason and at least four times a week during the season.
Proper passing skills
Passing is one of the most important volleyball skills to acquire if you want to become a great player.
Great volleyball players have amazing leg balance when passing the ball because they cannot afford to wobble on their feet when they are in such an important action.
Their priority is to keep their feet firmly on the court and not bounce when you are in charge of passing the ball. To get this skill right, they work a lot on their quads.
Most of us who watch a volleyball game on TV think that passing is done only with our hands. However, as a player or aspiring player looking to make it big in the game, you should be aware that the walkthrough involves more hip and leg movement.
Setting up the ball
Learning how to set the ball is an important skill all elite volleyball players have.
They use fingertips, especially the thumb, middle, and index fingers, when serving.
To master the art of playing volleyball, elite players practice the art of holding the ball at their fingertips and catching it correctly. Then they throw the ball into the air with their fingertips and practice to get a perfect balance.
Blocking
As a blocker, players prevent their opponents from making a successful strike. They make sure they successfully block the ball and get it back into their opponent’s court so they don’t let them score a point.
To know how to block effectively, players need to know the position of the setters and hitters to predict how the ball will go and what strategy they need to adopt to defend or block the ball effectively.
Needless to say, sharp eyesight is one of the key skills to being a great blocker.
If you’re looking to become a great blocker, improve your shuffle step and crossover technique with regular practice.
Of the last two, the latter is more difficult, as it involves the corresponding movements of the hips and your legs. It is also more efficient than a random step because it gives you more agility and flexibility to get to the ball quickly.
Digging
Good volleyball players develop digging skills to give a suitable response to their opponent who has pierced the ball.
When they dive in the right direction at the right time, they can stop the volleyball from touching the ground after it hits the volleyball net.
As a digger, they are experts at most types of moves, and they can apply these moves at the last second, anticipating an opponent’s surge. Good volleyball players are always in good shape.
If you want to become a great digger, practice the digging position every day and ask the experts for help on the position you need to start in and how to keep your knees, legs, and arms so you can move in the direction you want to go.
Of all the positions, one of the diggers is highly unpredictable, as it involves the digger keeping a close eye on the opponent’s movements and then reacting each time with a new and creative move.
Physical Traits of Good Volleyball Players
If you are not in good physical shape, you will not be able to become a successful volleyball player, even if you have great tricks and brilliant strategies.
In addition to focusing on serving, setting, blocking, and digging skills, good volleyball players pay a lot of attention to their fitness. Workouts in the gym and volleyball workouts help train the muscles and parts used during the game.
In addition to improving overall speed and fitness, players practice proper jumping, make their bodies more flexible and agile, and pay special attention to their lower body and core muscles.
Volleyball players must move around the court at lightning speed if they want their moves to be correct. Therefore, they do random runs and sprints regularly so that their body listens to their heart when they need to move or jump at a certain point.
Good volleyball players tend to have strong legs to jump and withstand the impact of landing on their feet, as well as strong shoulders, which are necessary for attacking and spiking at the net.
Yes, jumping is an important part of volleyball. However, the key is knowing when to jump, how to jump, and more importantly, how to land perfectly when your legs and arms are in a well-balanced position.
- One of the essential volleyball skills players need to be great is the art of the long jump.
When they perform these long jumps effectively, players master the three basic actions in the volleyball game – hitting, jumping, and blocking.
The following positions require a particularly high level of jumping ability:
Servers typically jump when they serve to get a better angle on the ball and hit it down behind the net, and the setters are required to jump before passing the ball to their attackers.
The only situations in which time jumping is less common are when players are receiving the serve.
- A Powerful Core serves as the basis for everything else that players do. It binds the body together.
- Contrary to the widespread belief that all of the best volleyball players are exceptionally tall, you don’t need to be particularly tall to have a successful career as a volleyball player.
It is not necessary to be particularly tall to be a good libero or setter.
To be a really good volleyball player, having some physical attributes is less important than having good vision and anticipation of the game, which will give you a much greater advantage than having some physical attributes.
In volleyball, the ball moves fast. To be a good volleyball player, one needs to have a fast reaction time and good anticipation skills.
It’s all about making sharp directional shifts.
Players must move in a variety of directions in order to increase their chances of reaching the ball. They need to make sure that when they jump, they explode upwards.
A Quick Word About Team Spirit and Communication Skills
In any sport played as a team, players need to develop an understanding and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
Even if they’re good at volleyball in one particular position, they must put their team first and be ready to play defending, setting, impaling, jumping, jumping, blocking, passing, or whatever the team requires.
By doing this, players develop their overall talent and become team players, which speaks volumes about their sportsmanship and character.
Every coin has two sides. Volleyball is no exception to this rule. Playing in a team as a team has its advantages and disadvantages.
When team members don’t get along well with each other, it can lead to misunderstandings on the pitch, eventually leading to clashes and injury.
If they know they have control of a ball thrown to them by an opponent, good players yell “mine” loudly to let other team members know they’ve got it.
After winning or losing every point, good players collude with their team to discuss strategy and cheer everyone up.
