The proper positioning of the libero is critical in defending your opponents attack. In the video clip below Volleyball Solutions provides a video of breakdown from a University of Illinois practice detailing defensive positioning. The focus of the clip is the positioning of the libero. This is an excellent clip to show to your players to help the understand where they need to be when the ball is being hit. Simply put the libero needs to position herself so that she is not behind the block and so that she can see the hitter and the ball.
The clip was submitted as the AVCA Volleyball Tip of the week. For other great volleyball videos visit www.volleyballsolution.com or the AVCA Volleyball YouTube Channel.
The YouTube video has sound, so please make sure that your sound is turned on and that you have access to the site. ( Some schools block access to YouTube.)
The most important take away from the clip is that you do not want your libero to position herself behind the block. By that we mean that if you were to mark off the area of the court that would theoretically be covered by the blockers, the libero needs to position herself outside that area. This concept is illustrated nicely in the video.
The key to getting the libero in the correct position is for her to be moving her feet while the ball is in the air. Ideally she should position herself outside the area behind the block. She should be in this position with her feet stopped, her arms out and palms up. This puts her in position to defend a hit outside the block.
If the ball is opposite the position of the libero is to the inside of the middle blocker. If the attack is on her side, she should position herself outside the outside blocker. In each case the libero’s position should be such that she can see the hitter and the ball.