6 Basic Skills in Volleyball

The six basic volleyball skills are passing, setting, spiking, blocking, digging, and
serving.

Passing is often thought of as the most important skill in volleyball. If you can't pass
the serve, then you won't ever put your team in a position to score a point.

The importance of serving is often undervalued. Many coaches don't teach players to
serve aggressive and use this opportunity to give the team an advantage for scoring
points.

Blocking is perhaps the least taught skill in volleyball. Players can get away with poor
blocking skills because not blocking isn't going to hurt the team as much as being poor
at executing other skills in volleyball.

Digging is another skill that isn't focused on quite as much as most skills in volleyball.

The setter position is considered to be the most important position in volleyball. The
setter basically runs the team offense.

Five Basic Skills of Basketball

Dribbling

Top point guards dribble and control the ball as if it were on a string. Good technique is critical
for a ball handler. You should dribble with your fingertips rather than your palm. Dribble with
your head up so you can see the opposition and your teammates. Keep your body low and use
your off-ball hand to help keep your defender at bay. Work on dribbling with both hands, so
you'll be as comfortable going to your left or your right.

Passing

Great passers can see the whole court and anticipate where a teammate will go and what a
defender will do. Mastering the basics is the place to start. Develop a two-hand chest pass,
bounce pass and overhead pass so you can deliver the ball to your teammates in the best position
for them to shoot or beat their defender. Steve Nash or Derrick Rose can dazzle you with a
behind-the-back or a no-look pass. But those moves are not just for show; they provide a
teammate the best chance to score.

Shooting

It's difficult to score if you can't shoot the ball effectively. As Better Basketball Coaching
explains, shooting is something of an art form, and some players, such as Kevin Durant and Ray
Allen, have a knack for it. But everyone can improve their shooting through proper technique
and lots of practice. Proper technique includes squaring your body up to the target, shooting the
ball with your fingertips, keeping your elbows from flying, putting backspin and arc on the shot
and following through completely after letting the ball fly.

Rebounding

Although it helps to be tall and have jumping ability, rebounding is a matter of desire as well as
ability. Charles Barkley was relatively small for a forward, but he was an outstanding rebounder.
He had the ability to determine where an errant shot was likely to fall, the willingness to crash
the boards relentlessly and the strength to block out taller opponents. Blocking out your
opponent -- also called boxing out -- is one of the keys to good rebounding. To do it effectively,
maintain your concentration and focus.

Defense

Even the best scorers go into shooting slumps. But you can always play good defense if you
hustle and understand both individual and team defense. When you are defending a player, keep
you head lower than his. Stay close enough to the offensive player to bother him -- but not so
close he can blow by you with one step. Know your opponent's tendencies so you can dictate the
direction you want him to move. Be aware of the other players on the court, so you can play help
defense when a teammate loses his man.
History of Volleyball

In 2016, the sport of Volleyball is over 120 years old!

The sport originated in the United States, and is now just achieving the type of popularity in the
U.S. that it has received on a global basis, where it ranks behind only soccer among participation
sports.

Today there are more than 46 million Americans who play volleyball. There are 800 million
players worldwide who play volleyball at least once a week.

In 1895, William G. Morgan, an instructor at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA)
in Holyoke, Mass., decided to blend elements of basketball, baseball, tennis, and handball to
create a game for his classes of businessmen which would demand less physical contact than
basketball. He created the game of Volleyball (at that time called, Mintonette). Morgan borrowed
the net from tennis, and raised it 6 feet 6 inches above the floor, just above the average man’s
head.

During a demonstration game, someone remarked to Morgan that the players seemed to be
volleying the ball back and forth over the net, and perhaps “volleyball” would be a more
descriptive name for the sport. On July 7, 1896 at Springfield College the first game of
“volleyball” was played.

 1895: William G. Morgan (1870-1942) created the game of volleyball but called the game
Mintonette.
 1896: The first exhibition match of volleyball is played at Springfield College (called International
YMCA Training school in 1896).
 1900: A special ball was designed for the sport.
 1916: In the Philippines, an offensive style of passing the ball in a high trajectory to be struck by
another player (the set and spike) were introduced.
 1917: The game was changed from 21 to 15 points.
 1920s: There are unconfirmed whispers of men’s teams playing on the beach in Hawaii, but
most accounts place the sport’s origin in Santa Monica, California where the first Volleyball
courts are put up on the beach at the Playground. Families play 6 vs. 6.
 1920: Three hits per side and back row attack rules were instituted.
 1922: The first YMCA national championships were held in Brooklyn, NY. 27 teams from 11
states were represented.
 1928: It became clear that tournaments and rules were needed, the United States Volleyball
Association (USVBA, now USA Volleyball) was formed. The first U.S. Open was staged, as the
field was open to non-YMCA squads.
 1930s: The first two-man beach volleyball game is played in Santa Monica, California.
 1934: The approval and recognition of national volleyball referees.
 1937: At the AAU convention in Boston, action was taken to recognize the U.S. Volleyball
Association as the official National Governing Body (NGB) in the U.S.
 1947: The Federation Internationale De Volley-Ball (FIVB) was founded.
 1948: The first two-man beach tournament was held.
 1949: The initial World Championships were held in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
 1964: Volleyball was introduced to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
 1965: The California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) was formed.
 1974: The World Championships in Mexico were telecast in Japan.
 1975: The U.S. National Women’s team began a year-round training regime in Pasadena, Texas
(moved to Colorado Springs in 1979, Coto de Caza and Fountain Valley, CA in 1980, and San
Diego, CA in 1985).
 1976: First professional beach volleyball tournament was called the Olympia World
Championship of Beach Volleyball. It took place at Will Rogers State Beach during late summer
in 1976.
 1977: The U.S. National Men’s team began a year-round training regime in Dayton, Ohio (moved
to San Diego, CA in 1981).
 1983: The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) was formed.
 1984: The U.S. won their first medals at the Olympics in Los Angeles. The Men won the Gold,
and the Women the Silver.
 1986: The Women’s Professional Volleyball Association (WPVA) was formed.
 1988: The U.S. Men repeated the Gold in the Olympics in Korea.
 1989: The FIVB Sports Aid Program was created.
 1990: The World League was created.
 1992: The U.S. Women’s Volleyball team wins Bronze at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona,
Spain.
 1995: The sport of Volleyball was 100 years old! This Web site – Volleyball.Com goes live!
 1996: 2-person Beach Volleyball debuted as an Olympic sport.
 1997: Dain Blanton (with Canyon Ceman) becomes the first African-American professional beach
volleyball player to win a tournament on the Miller Lite/AVP Tour.
 1998: For the first time in the FIVB World Tour, men and women players are rewarded at the
same level with $170,000 in total prize money per Open event.
 1999: For the first time beach volleyball was included in the Pan American Games which were
held in Canada.
 2000: Olympic Beach Volleyball Men’s Gold medallists: Eric Fomoimoana & Dain Blanton (USA).
The women’s Beach Volleyball America (BVA) announces their inaugural season of play.
 2001: Christopher “Sinjin” Smith plays the final match of his impressive career, a 21-19 and 24-
22 loss with George Roumain to Dax Holdren and Todd Rogers in the 4th round of the
contender’s bracket at the AVP Manhattan Beach Open. Sinjin retires as the leader in
tournaments played with 416, 2nd in all-time victories with 139, and 4th in all-time winnings
with over US$1.6 million earned.
 2002: Beach volleyball court dimensions reduced to 8m x 8m per side.
 2003: Karch Kiraly becomes the first player to earn US$3M in prize money and oldest player to
win an AVP tournament at age 42 years, 9 months and 14 days. (You’re never too old for
volleyball!)
 2004: U.S. Women’s team Kerri Walsh and Misty May Win the Gold medal in the Women’s
Olympic Beach Volleyball Title in Athens, Greece.
 2005: Olympic gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor win their second Association
of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Open women’s title and the 2005 overall women’s
championship.
 2006: Elaine Youngs’ second place finish (with Rachel Wacholder) in Seaside Heights pushes her
career earnings past $1 million. She becomes the third American woman to achieve that mark.
 2006: In Seaside Heights, both Casey Jennings (with Matt Fuerbringer) and Kerri Walsh (with
Misty May-Treanor) won titles, becoming just the second husband-wife duo to win pro beach
events on the same weekend. They join Mike and Patty Dodd, who accomplished the feat four
times in 1989, but each time in different locations.
 2006: Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor win in Chicago as Walsh joins the millionaire club. She
is the 18th person worldwide to win over $1 million in her career, and did so in fewer events
(90th tournament) as well as being one of just four to reach the mark before turning 28 years
old.
 2007: Misty May-Treanor passes Brazilians Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede as the most winning
player since the women’s competition on the international beach volleyball circuit began in
1992.
 2007: Misty May-Treanor becomes the women’s all-time wins leader by capturing her 73rd
victory, surpassing Holly McPeak’s record by winning with Kerri Walsh in Hermosa Beach. She
reached this total in just 123 tournaments — winning 57.5% of her events.
 2007: In a championship match that lasted 1:41, Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs defeat
Jennifer Boss and April Ross 21-19, 18-21, 16-14 in Seaside Heights. The marathon set the record
for the longest match in rally scoring, men or women, in domestic or international play.
 2007: Karch Kiraly retires to close an impressive career on the beach, leaving as the all-time wins
leader and money earner. His longevity was marked by the fact he won a tournament in 24
different years, and he advanced to the semifinals in over 75% of all the events he ever played
and was named as the AVP’s MVP a record-most six times.
 2008: Hot Winter Nights, a series of 19 events in January and February, kicks off in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma marking the first ever indoor beach volleyball tour. Mark Williams and Nancy
Mason are the first winners in the “King of the Beach format” events.
 2008: The U.S. Women’s Volleyball team wins Silver at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing,
China.
 2008: U.S. Women’s Beach Volleyball team Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh take the Gold
medal in Volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. China placed in both Silver
and Bronze categories. U.S. Beach Volleyball’s Men’s team Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rodgers
also took the Gold in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Brazil men’s teams placed in
both Bronze and Silver categories.
 2012: The U.S. Women’s Volleyball team wins Silver at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
 2012: U.S. Women’s team Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings return to the Summer
games in London to successfully defend their Gold medal wins of 2008 and 2004 and become
the only Women’s team in the sport’s history to ever win three consecutive Olympic Gold
medals. Jennifer Kessey and April Ross of the United States win the Silver medal the same year.
 2016: The U.S. Women’s Volleyball Team qualifies to play at the Summer Olympics in Rio.
 2016: Today, people all over the world play volleyball. Research shows volleyball is one of the
top 3 most popular sports for women to play in high school. However, people of all ages find
enjoyment in recreational volleyball, as its’ popularity continues to grow.