By April Chapple

In girls volleyball especially, lack of communication on the volleyball court is like playing blindfolded. When volleyball players talk about what's going on there are very few surprises and very little confusion. Here we break up the volleyball skill of how and what to communicate to your front row players so you learn to how to become a team leader.

1. Where to Hit--what's open.

One of the best things you can communicate to your front row hitter (s) is what part of the court is open. This can be combined with letting them know what the block is NOT taking away. This can be done in two ways. You can wait between plays and after the ball is dead you can tell your hitter "Hey they keep blocking you line just keep cranking it hard cross court. " Or you can do what I do and what elite beach volleyball players are taught and trained to do and that's to yell to the hitter what is open as the play is developing. It takes practice...so do it in practice but get used to watching for what the block is taking away then call the opposite OR call the open area on the court. Use one syllable commands and Say them loudly just before your hitter makes contact with the ball at the height of his spike. Call "LINE", "CROSS", "TIP".

2. The Block.

You can choose to tell your hitter whether the block is UP or not. I yell "Nobody" which lets my hitter know that she can swing away and hit the poop out of the ball with no worries. This often happens on a ball that has come back over unexpectedly and the opposing team's block doesnt have time to form but your hitter is looking UP at a high ball unable to see whether he/she has a block or not. By calling out "nobody" you are being your hitter's eyes. Another option to help out your hitter is tell them how many blockers he/she has. I learned in Italy to communicate as much as possible how many blockers my hitter had just before they hit. "Y' got ONE" or "Y' got TWO" let's my hitter receive information that they have ONE or TWO blockers up...that helps them decide how and where they want to hit the ball.

3. Who the hitters are on the opposing team's front row.

Call out where and who the front row hitters are on the opposite team. Say it out loud and if you want to point with your fingers like I do....Do it...that's always fun it just adds a little emphasis. Let everybody know on your team whether the setter is front row which means it's possible for her to turn and hit or to tip it over to your court. Let everybody know especially her...that YOU know where she is. Say It LOUD. Trust me usually setters are less likely to sneak attack a tip when they know that YOU know that they are front row.

4. Characteristics of the opposing hitters.

Sometimes the back row is the best place in the house to see what is happening in the front row. If there is a particular hitter that your block can't seem to stop...watch to see exactly How that spiker is being successful then communicate that to your front row. Here's what I mean. If the same hitter has gotten points by spiking the ball on your side its your responsibility to give your blockers the information needed to stop them. Are your blockers jumping too soon against a hitter with a slow armswing. Then tell them to "Wait" and time their block so they go up later. Is the hitter beating your block by hitting inside the middle blocker's internal hand? Tell the outside blockers (with the coach's approval) to take one more step to the middle of the court-taking away more of the cross court.

5. "Cover".

I have seen many balls that were easy to recover that were blocked and deflected right back to the feet of the off blockers who forgot to cover their hitters. These are easy opportunities for your team to replay the ball and either sideout or make a point. Why waste the opportunity when it's as easy as reminding everybody including and especially the off hitter/blockers who didn't get set to come and "cover" the hitter.

By April Chapple

Okay some freshmen girl volleyball players CAN rely on pure physical raw talent when it comes to being considered for the Varsity team but there are some things you can do if you are a little less physically endowed to get the volleyball coach to notice you. Just check out these tips and apply them to your next volleyball practice.

1. Come Early, Leave Late to Practice.

For girls volleyball practice I use to come to my high school gym one half hour before practice and lay in the middle of the gym and just visualize that the court was mine. Seriously, I convinced myself that anything that happened on that volleyball court, any ball that came on my side I was personally going to be responsible for. Nothing was going to fall in defense and no one was going to dig my hits.

I think something worked because we made it to the California State Championships for the first time my senior year. I chose to to come early and/or stay late to exercise my mental skills but I also did it to practice serving and perform individual wall drills for setting and passing as well.

2. Become the most effective server on your girl's volleyball team.

Read the article the "Girl's Volleyball: Top 5 Places to Serve After a Team Timeout" to learn how to become your volleyball team's most effective server.

3. Okay its not a movie about girl's volleyball but still GO rent the DVD movie "Rudy" starring Sean Astin...Watch it...then adopt his "never quit" attitude. Period.

Yeah, it's a football movie - but it's the best one you will ever see AND you'd be surprised how many conditioning drills in football are similar to the ones we do in girls volleyball. Just watch the movie.

4. Go After EVERY volleyball in defense.

For your girls volleyball practice adopt the "Rudy" attitude in defense and make any ball in defense YOUR ball. Decide that nothing falls around you or in your immediate area. Take pride in TRYING to get every ball up so your team has another chance to play it and make a point or side out. You may not get it the first or second time but you'll get closer and closer each time and most importantly your coach will notice your effort.

5. Become the backrow quarterback for your girl's volleyball team.

Talk to your teammates before, during and after the game and give them valuable information about what you see happening. Direct traffic by calling out plays you see developing.

This isn't difficult because many times a backrow player - if she's concentrating can see a play developing just like the front row player or sooner. So if you see the Right Front player sliding over to run the "X " Don't keep this information to yourself! Call it out "Watch the X" Watch number 15 coming around" Say it Loud enough so everyone can hear it. If you see the fake "X" developing which is what a lot of setters call after running the X "Call it out" out loud..."watch number 15 coming around for the fake X".

Let the blockers here you, let your defense hear you...just commentate. Secrets?
There are no secrets on the volleyball court. Let your teammates know what to expect.

If a player goes through the front row rotation and all the points she made were by wiping off the block or hitting cross court, the next time she rotates up to the left front YOU go up and out loud and tell YOUR front row blockers in a LOUD voice "Hey that #15 the last time hit everything Xcourt. Be ready for her Xcourt attack."

Besides this being a very good way of "getting inside" your opponent's head it let's your coach know that you are a smart volleyball player, making yourself aware of what is going on in the game and you're doing what it takes to help your team win.
Question: How Tall do you have to be a good Backrow Quarterback? Answer: Size just doesn't matter!