Flipping passing angles around

From time to time someone analyzes passer performance based on where they take the ball. Here’s another example of that which splits things by position (Courtesy https://www.instagram.com/p/CsWPIrfoOCB/). Wing Spikers are Outside Hitters for those unfamiliar with that terminology. Also, the table uses DataVolley notation on pass quality. # and + are good passes, while = and / not so much. Pass Efficiency in the last column subtracts the bad pass % from the good one.

I’m not going to wade into the debate on training center-line/middle-line vs. outside the body, or whether left is better than right. Been there, done that. Instead, let me say one thing that should be pretty obvious.

Don’t serve balls straight at the passer’s platform!

And based on the above figures, especially if they’re the libero.

If you can make them take the ball with their hands, though, serve the libero.

I wonder why that is. It would be interesting to dig deeper on that aspect.

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John Forman

John is currently the Strategic Manager for Talent (oversees the national teams) and Indoor Performance Director for Volleyball England. His 20+ years of volleyball coaching experience includes all three NCAA divisions, plus Junior College, in the US; university and club teams in the UK; professional coaching in Sweden; and both coaching and club management at the Juniors level. He's also been a visiting coach at national team, professional club, and juniors programs in several countries.

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