Volleyball Players Who “Drop Their Elbows”

“You’re dropping your elbow” is one of the most popular cues I hear volleyball coaches preach. It’s usually an accurate observation: the player contacted the ball low. But using this cue is about as useful as telling a race car driver “you crashed” as their car sits wedged into a wall. The problem wasn’t that the player's elbow was too low, it’s that she jumped from the wrong place. And she did that because she predicted the ball’s path poorly. Elbows had nothing to do with it.

Volleyball athletes who contact the ball at a high point typically fare better than those who hit it low. Obviously. But let's say our elbow-dropping vb player did hit it low, and then, on her next attempt, followed her coach's cue to the letter and reached higher. If that’s the only change she made, no adjusting her jump or her predictions, she’d just smack the ball with her forearm. (Yep, we’ve confirmed that elbows have nothing to do with it.) If she wants to hit higher, she must improve her predictions.

If our volleyball player is to make contact at a higher point, she needs to intercept the ball at a higher point. Which means she needs to improve where she chooses to jump. To do that, she needs to better predict where the ball will be when she starts her approach. So how do you actually go about making those changes?

How To Hit Higher

First and foremost, you need to know that the brain is a prediction-making organ. All skills are the results of predictions, elite athletes make better predictions than amateurs. It’s why volleyball players who are just starting out seem to be on a time delay. They see the serve coming over, watch the ball in the air, and don’t move their feet until the ball is all up in their business. Or they resemble MTV’s Daria and move after the ball has passed them. 

Coaches spout, “move your feet” in an attempt to guide athletes toward better decisions. But that cue is useless. The only things that truly tell athletes where to move and when are the things in the play, the server, the ball, the teammates, the opponents, etc. Where and when to move on the court is an incredibly complex prediction. Intercepting a ball out of the air at the right millisecond to send it to the right spot is a chain of predictions that are so difficult that even the pros can’t always put the ball where they want it to. Players can only master these predictions through playing experience. Words alone will never get you there. If you want to hit higher, or you want your athletes to hit higher, here’s what you actually need to do.

Improve Predictions

To improve predictions, players need larger sample sizes of variable data. What do I mean by that? They need to play—a lot. Not monotonous drills. Fucking play. Why? Because drills are predictable. How are athletes going to get better at predicting if coaches only give them predictable drills? Now, there are various degrees of predictability. The coach can hit ball after ball directly at their platform, highly predictable. Or a fellow athlete can repetitively serve at them, less predictable. Or, again, they could just play the game. There’s no research that I know of that says beginners benefit more from predictable and repetitive drills instead of playing the damn game. If anything, it’s the opposite. Athletes don’t even need to play volleyball by all its rules and regulations, they can play any game that results in predicting the flight path of balls. That could be small-sided and creative games on a volleyball court, or it could be three-flies-up. Just something that’s more unpredictable than most modern drills. Which brings me to my next point…

Play

Make play a priority. Especially for younger athletes. Create some specific scenarios that change where athletes intercept the ball out of the air. If they’ve played volleyball for some time, their brains have predicted what body positions result in hand meeting ball, and what those positions feel like. So play with that too, ask them to exaggerate their movements. Ask them to do silly things. I tell athletes that “we need this to feel really weird and awkward. Anything that feels normal is bad.” Play, or more specifically, the variability that comes with play is fantastic for improving predictions.

Jump From Different Places 

Next, I’m going to ask them to jump from different places. I want them to feel like they’re jumping too far from the ball and the net, too far under the ball, and any other variation I can imagine. I need them to be able to more accurately predict all possible scenarios and outcomes. I imagine I’m getting them to create a more detailed map through exploration. Only once they have some experience, and a sufficient map, can they better predict which positions create higher contact points. 

I will also dedicate time to variable sets. I will set all over the place, or I ask a player who is not good at setting to set the ball. It looks messy, which is the point, and my next one.

Make Mistakes

To get better, athletes need to make errors. Their intentions must not match the outcome. Errors will be abundant with the kinds of practices I mentioned above. Mistakes make the brain focus and learn. They are what actually change where and how athletes contact balls. It’s vital that these errors go unpunished. Not a look, not a word, no running, no push-ups. Nothing. I just need to be quiet and let them figure it out. They will, if allowed. The human brain is the most marvelous and complex thing in the known universe. It can learn how to hit a ball out of the air—if coaches allow it to. 

In summary, if volleyball players contact the ball in inopportune places, it’s a problem of prediction. They jumped from places that were less useful. If they are going to make contact in better places, they need to jump from better positions. To do that, they need to change their predictions. Predictions get changed with different intentions, anticipating different feelings, and different scenarios that demand athletes to adapt, ones that demand they make new predictions. Telling an athlete to just reach higher is as useful as rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

If you liked this post, you’ll love my book. 

If you’re interested in hosting me for a clinic where I teach coaches and/or athletes, email me at Austin@apiros.team.