Blocking

Blocking in the game of volleyball is a very important part of the defensive side of things. To really understand the concept of blocking you should understand the point of blocking. A lot of people think that a block is only efficient when the ball is stuffed and doesn't come on the defenses’ side of the court. This assumption is wrong. A block is used to take up space on the court, and to make the hitter attack to a certain spot. For instance let’s say that your setter is right back and you libero is left back. The other teams’ middle comes in to hit a 1, what side should the middle and left blocker take away? If you answered right back you are correct. You would much rather have your libero dig the ball than a setter. That is why blocking or taking away the right back zone will help funnel the ball to the libero. This works the same way on the pins. For example if your libero is left back and the other teams’ right side is attacking on the pin, your blockers should be leaving line, forcing the right side to hit to your libero.

Once you understand the concept of blocking then you can get into the mechanics of it. In my opinion, the most important part of blocking is making sure you are pressing your hands over the net to zone 6. If you are not pressing the ball will land in front of you on your side of the net a lot. If you are not pressing to zone 6 and the hitter is smart they will tool you, having the ball come off your hands and land out of bounds. Other important pieces to blocking are footwork and timing but you have to get a ton of reps to get those things figured out.

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