Blocking Movement on the Net with Brian Gimmillaro, Head Coach of Women’s Volleyball at Long Beach State

Regarded as one of the top volleyball minds in the country, Brian Gimmillaro will have administrative oversight of both the beach and indoor volleyball programs at Long Beach State. Honored in 2008 with induction into the AVCA Hall of Fame, Gimmillaro has led his Alma Mater to three NCAA Championships and eight Final Four appearances in women’s volleyball and will help usher in a new era as the leader of an emerging sport in sand volleyball.

Coach Gimmillaro goes over every detail as it relates to the volleyball blocking technique. This course is great for coaches and players of all ages. It is a must for players looking to play at the collegiate level and for volleyball coaches looking to successfully coach the sport.

We are providing this drill to give you ideas on how to enhance your current practice drills. The idea is not to implement it exactly as is, but rather to tweak it to make it fit your system.

There is sound with the video, so please make sure that your sound is on.

This is a Vimeo video, so you will need to be on a network that does not block Vimeo videos.

If you would like to see more information about Coach Gimmillaro’s entire presentation, click this link: Championship Blocking

More effective blocking can be accomplished by teaching these two techniques: Early Arms and Attacking the Block.

In the video below Coach Jim Miret, head coach of the Front Range Volleyball Club, uses game video to demonstrate these two key techniques.

While the natural tendency of the body is to extend the legs and arms together, to be an effective blocker you must teach players to extend the arms early.

The arms must extend first and then the body will follow.

The second technique that Coach Miret discusses is attacking the block.  He stresses that he wants his players to rotate aggressively into the block. They should not begin rotating until they make contact with the ball.

To accomplish this turn he explains that they should extend their inside leg back behind them as this will help them rotate towards the center of the court and turn away from the net.

While some would be concerned that this causes the player to land on one leg, Coach Miret discusses the proper technique for landing on one leg that will reduce ACL injuries.

The clip concludes with Coach Miret showing video of how he teaches “Early Arms”

The video below is just a segment of Coach Miret’s presentation at a recent Glazier Clinic. For more information about gaining access to the full presentation as well as hundreds of others like it click the link Glazier Volleyball Clinics

 

Like most skills effective Back Setting comes down to mastering just a few basic fundamentals.

In the video clip below University of Northern Colorado Head Coach Lyndsey Oates breaks down the fundamentals of back setting, shares some key coaching points and offers a drill to help master this important skill.

Coach Oates states that the backset has three stages: Catch, Move & Release.

She begins her instruction by saying when the ball comes the setter will “catch” the ball with hands up and then “move” the ball back along then “release” with the hands facing forward. She stresses that the setter should not allow her fingers to point backward (said another way the palms should not be facing up) and that the palms should remain facing forward.  If the palms finish up the ball will have topspin and be difficult to hit.

Other key coaching points include:

1. Shoulders should be over the knees. Do not bend backward
2. Release the ball with the head level. She uses the phrase “Chin down” which actually means keep it level.
3. Hips should be square to the left side antenna.

This video and hundreds of other video clips from clinics/camps are available at Glazier Clinics Volleyball Vault

The video has audio so please make sure that your speakers are turned. Click the arrow to play.

Keys to executing the back set with Nabil Mardini.

Coach Mardini is the Director of Operations with Los Angeles Volleyball Academy (LAVA) and is the former Pierce College Head Coach. He is a 3x CCCAA California State Champion and Back-to-Back Runners-Up. He has twice been named the AVCA National Two-Year College Coach of the Year.

According to Mardini the footwork is the same for the back set as it is with the forward set with the exception that the back set requires at left right footwork pattern and that the knee must be driven down towards the ground thus forcing the hips forward so that the ball goes backward.

He also states that he believes that the setter should watch the ball because if the setter holds their head steady and does not look back there will be tension in the shoulders and the ball will not travel.

Many coaches would not want their setter to watch the ball claiming that that takes away any deception. Mardini claims that all of the deception is accomplished prior to the set not after the set.

The last coaching point that he shares with regards to the back set is that the closer the set is to area 4 the bigger the step should be with the right foot and if necessary the setter may even kick.

This clip is taken from Coach Mardini’s instructional DVD entitled Best of Club Volleyball: Setting 

If you are interested in learning more about that DVD simply click the link above.

The YouTube video below has audio os please make sure that your speakers are turned on.