Common Mistakes Volleyball Beginners Make During the Game
Mastering the art of volleyball can be challenging. First of all, volleyball beginners have to learn the rules of the game and develop the basic skills. At the next stage, newcomers have to join a volleyball team. After that, they will be able to play the game and participate in the competitions.
The truth is that all volleyball players make mistakes during games and practices. However, beginners make mistakes more frequently than experienced volleyball players. This happens due to the lack of experience. It’s worth noting that volleyball players get experience by making mistakes, correcting them and improving their skills.
And of course, volleyball beginners should do everything possible to avoid mistakes. That’s why it’s so important for beginner volleyball players to know the most common mistakes in the sport of volleyball and how to fix them. Today, we are going to tell you about common mistakes to avoid as beginner volleyball players and provide training tips to follow.
So, let’s get started.
Overlooking the Basic Volleyball Skills
As we’ve already mentioned, the process of learning the game of volleyball includes developing basic volleyball skills. Every volleyball beginner should develop such skills as hitting, blocking, setting, passing and digging regularly. Once a volleyball player decides what position he/she has to take on the court, he/she has to keep special focus on the specific volleyball skills.
However, some beginners choose to focus on certain skills only from the very beginning. If, for example, they play at hitter’s position then they choose to develop volleyball attacking skills only. The problem is that other volleyball skills are also required during the game.
It’s a mistake that so many volleyball beginners make again and again. Neglecting the basic volleyball skills negatively affects volleyball player’s performance and, therefore, team’s success. Therefore, all beginners should learn the basics of volleyball.
A Poor Serving Technique
A serve is the start of a volleyball game. It’s fair to say that the success of a rally in volleyball depends a lot on a serve. A good serve can contribute greatly to the success of a volleyball game.
Oftentimes, volleyball beginners find it difficult to serve the ball correctly. They position foot incorrectly, toss the ball too high, toss the ball too low or contact the ball in the wrong way. And of course, all these mistakes result in an incorrect serving technique.
A solution to a poor serving technique exists. All that volleyball beginners have to do is to practice a serve regularly. By practicing a serve consistently, beginner volleyball players will manage to correct their mistakes and develop a good serving technique over time.
Poor Footwork
Footwork is incredibly important for every volleyball player. Proper footwork can contribute greatly to volleyball player’s success on the court. On the other hand, poor footwork has a profound negative impact on volleyball player’s performance.
Oftentimes, volleyball beginners take too many steps or can’t make quick movements on the court when such a need arises. As a result, they can’t get into the right position to carry out attack hits, make a pass to teammates, set the ball, block the attacks of the opposing team, etc.
Therefore, volleyball players should constantly work on their footwork. When trying to improve footwork, volleyball players should take into consideration two important aspects such as strengthening legs and making effective movements.
Keep in mind that there are many great drills that volleyball players have to perform in order to improve their footwork. And of course, such drills have to be a part of a regular volleyball player’s training program.
Incorrect Passing
Passing is a key element of a volleyball attack. Volleyball beginners should learn how to pass the ball accurately to their teammates during the game. When passing, volleyball beginners often don’t position their hands properly and don’t focus on the ball. As a result, they find it hard to pass the ball to teammates. Incorrect passing leads to other team’s mistakes.
Passing is a skill that every volleyball player has to work on. It’s necessary to develop passing skills regularly. That’s why volleyball passing drills have to be integrated into a training program.
Volleyball players have to prepare their hands as well as arms for a pass in advance. Newcomers have to watch the game of volleyball carefully all the time and keep special focus on the ball.
In fact, you should start getting ready for a pass once the ball begins to leave the opposite side of the court. It’s crucial to select the right moment for passing and send the ball to a teammate at the right time.
Bear in mind that volleyball beginners should focus on their footwork. Volleyball players should know how to get the most out of their footwork and must be prepared to make a pass anytime.
Struggling with Ball Control
Some beginners don’t spend enough time on ball control during volleyball practices. That’s why they can’t control the ball properly during the game. Due to the lack of proper ball control, volleyball players can’t make accurate passes and find it difficult to carry out effective attack hits during the games and practices.
If you improve your ball control skills, you will be able to become a better volleyball player and contribute greatly to success of your team. Volleyball beginners should learn how to receive, how to handle and how to control the ball successfully during the game.
Luckily, there are a lot of drills that help volleyball beginners improve in each of these aspects. There are drills that volleyball players can perform to improve ball control at home.
Improper Body Positioning
The correct body positioning is vital to volleyball player’s success. It all begins with positioning a body. Volleyball players have to do the proper body positioning to do a block, receive the ball, do digging, set the ball, make a pass and carry out an attack hit.
When learning all the necessary basic skills, beginner volleyball players need to pay close attention to body positioning. It all depends on situation and a movement that you are going to make. Sometimes, volleyball players have to bend knees, prepare arms, etc. If a volleyball player positions his/her body properly, then he/she will manage to do a great job on the court.
Neglecting Communication
Volleyball is a team sport that requires a lot of teamwork as well as communication. A volleyball team always has to work as a well-oiled machine. Blockers, hitters, setters and passers have to work closely on the court and communicate with each other effectively. The lack of effective communication between teammates leads to mistakes and lost points during volleyball matches.
Volleyball players have to communicate a lot before, during and after volleyball games and practices. They have to discuss mistakes of a team, strategies for games as well as strong and weak sides of their opponents. If volleyball players don’t communicate with each other successfully, a team will hardly be able to achieve success and win the match.
Volleyball players should never neglect the communication with teammates and coaches. Every volleyball player should actively participate in team’s discussions. As the saying goes, “the more we are together – the stronger we are”. Actually, the same can be said about the game of volleyball.
Ignoring a Strategy of a Volleyball Team
Traditionally, a volleyball team develops a strategy for a match. And of course, all volleyball players should do everything possible to follow the team’s strategy and play the game in the best possible way.
Every volleyball player has his/her own responsibilities and has to follow the certain instructions during the game. A team has a better chance to win the match if things go as planned and every volleyball player does a great job on the court. That’s why you should always follow volleyball team’s strategy.
Final Thoughts
Thank you so much for reading this article. Without a doubt, mistakes can cost a volleyball team a lot. We’ve described the most common mistakes that beginners in volleyball make on the court during the game frequently. If you are aware of these volleyball mistakes, then you will think how to avoid them in advance. Follow our tips to avoid these mistakes.
Even if you make some mistakes on the court, don’t worry too much about this. It’s impossible to avoid volleyball mistakes, but it’s possible to learn from mistakes. All volleyball players make mistakes on the court during games and practices from time to time. However, not all volleyball players are ready to learn from mistakes.
A volleyball player must have striving for excellence. If you do something wrong, then you have to analyze your mistakes carefully and do everything possible to learn a lesson from your mistakes. By doing so, you’ll get the valuable experience that will allow you to become a better volleyball player and boost your success. Train hard and, most importantly, work on your mistakes regularly to get the best possible results and improve your volleyball performance.