Presence

I have been working with a couple guys on my team on the art of volleyball. I have been working on this concept of "presence" when hitting the ball. Too often when people are learning to play volleyball they try to adapt to the ball rather than making the play come to them. Going up and hitting the ball needs to be a very personal thing.

When these guys go up, they are lunging forward, using their arms too much, not using their core enough. It is frustrating to see, but it takes practice to get it right. I know that I have plenty of issues myself, getting too far under the ball, leaving to early, not swinging my arms back far enough.

We worked on technique yesterday. I set them as they hit. Many of their hits went into the net. Perhaps most of my sets were terrible. My uncle first taught me the game of volleyball. We used to play at the beach and before each game, we would warm up playing pepper. Then, we would set each other to get our timing down. Uncle E was not tall, but he could jump high and he had good form. He was a great example of how to hit. Later, I learned more about technique from my volleyball coach in high school. That was when the techniques got refined.

I have been playing with this group from work for a couple years now. While there is general improvement across the board, I notice that many of the players still have no technique. They have been playing the same way for two years now. I wish I could help everyone improve their technique. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. So, these guys from my team at work get my instruction. They seem to be okay with it.

Back to the idea of "presence". Confidence is part of it. How does one convey this idea of presence. And how does that help someone hit better. The flaw that I am seeing with one guy is that he is not jumping straight up to hit the ball. The other guy has a problem with only hitting with his arm, not with his body also. Both of these guys need the full presence feel in order to take control of the ball.

We get sets and without a good setter, the ball is all over the place. When I go up to hit the ball, I am expecting a perfect set. But, we also have to be ready for a truly awful set. We do all sorts of crazy things when it comes to bad sets. We do what we have to do to make it work. So, the idea of presence comes with the confidence of a great set. That is what this comes down to. These guys do not even know what a great set is.

I know that I am very picky when it comes to sets. It needs to be perfect for me. And if it is, I can do damage. With certain setters, you can feel that confidence and then your presence takes over. I am still wondering if that is the right word...

And then, once we know what our perfect set is, we can start adapting better to the not so perfect sets. I think that is where our guys need to get to. They need to find their perfect set. Whatever is their perfect set is what they use with their hitting presence. I think that great hitters demand a specific location for their sets. And, of course, really great hitters do not have to have it in a perfect location everytime, but they still need it to be close and somewhat consistent.