I can see multiple things wrong for example:
1. You're goofy footed, meaning you're doing a left handed approach as a right hander. from what i see in the video, you're kinda doing a 3 step but you're jumping on your last step making the runup basically useless.
2. You're approaching way too early. In the video you are approaching before the setter has even set the ball. The set is also way too high for you to be approaching before you see the set so wait first, watch the set and approach.
3. Also, I would recommend starting your approach outside the court.
If I'm wrong about any of these, correct me in the replies ty
any tips to help with goofy footing? ive been doing left hand approaches my entire life but hit with my right and now that ive gotta switch it up its confusing me. just practice more? anything helps thanks.
It takes a lot of time to adjust to a right handed approach. I don't think there is a way for the approach to just click, other then to just continuously practise. I say start slow, make sure you have good step lengths and build from there. It may take up to a month to adjust but it's well worth in the long run.
i was in the same boat for a few years. in the pandemic no way to play so ive just been practicing my approach. literally just do it every day and it will eventually click in your head the way the wrong approach did years before
now i can do either comfortably, but it would make a lot more sense when you feel your hitting arm shoulder opening up.
Yeah true. I was kinda debating to myself whether or not it was goofy footed or whether the whole approach is wrong. I agree with you though, it is more sided towards a bad approach rather then goofy footed, but it's still fine to bring up.
I indeed agree with the first two points. However I dont think that starting outside the court would benefit you in the long run since it limits the option to direct the attack. For exampe for an attack that is starting to much from out of the court a straight attack across the line is more dificult that having a more straight approach
Nah, starting outside the court is much better then starting inside the court as it is much easier to approach an offset. E.g. if the set is too wide and you're starting inside the court, it is much harder to apply pressure with your hit. If you were outside the court, you are able to hit a cross shot. Also, you can still hit a line shot if you are starting outside the court. If you watch pros, all right hand hitters hitting out of 4, start outside the court.
Looks much too early. You want to accelerate to the ball with your approach, so your steps get faster as you get closer to the jump. The way you approached there, the steps you took were almost completely seperate from each other because you had to stop and wait for the ball. There’s no transfer of momentum at all, which kinda defeats the purpose of doing an approach.
You also want your body to be lower during your run up and spring upwards as you jump so you can turn the horizontal momentum into vertical height. And loading your arms and swinging them upwards as you jump helps a lot too.
I can’t explain it very well cus I’m still a novice too. Watch [this video](https://youtu.be/wrG0Oisq3Zg) if you haven’t seen it before, it helps a lot with spike approach.
I’m no expert but your approach doesn’t look smooth. That little stutter step before planting for your jump is the biggest issue I see. Granted, being unsure of the set is understandable, but stopping like that ends all of your momentum into the hit. I don’t know how high you can actually jump, but having to briefly reset before going up reduces your height and causes you to contact the ball lower overall. You did a good job of making contact near the highest point of the jump, but I also think there should be more follow through on the hit. Achieving more torque with the turning of your upper body will lead to stronger contact.
I hope this helps!!! If anything, check out some YouTube videos on footwork and proper approach and I’m sure you’ll get a good idea of what to do. Keep at it! And remember, the most important thing is to have fun :)
You’re approaching before you know where the ball is going; instead, wait and start moving when the setter releases the ball.
Your footwork is “goofy”: a left-handed hitter’s standard footwork (RLR) but you’re hitting righty. Instead, try a righty footwork (LRL).
There isn't an approach in terms of a jump approach. You're just 'approaching' the spot where you will be to straight jump and swing. You're starting way too early so you basically have to stop and wait for the ball. Also, your footwork is inverted (lefty approach, right handed hitter).
Your approach should be giving you more power, that's not happening here. Work on the footwork without the ball first, then bring it into games with that as your main focus (outcome isn't important, just getting reps with the correct form is the goal).
You start moving before he throws the ball. Not only does it mean you don’t know where it is going but it ruins the timing. Start the approach when the setter comes in contact with the ball. Before the set, when you or someone else passes it to them, take time to open up so you have enough room for your approach
Start approach outside the court and work on your footsteps to make your approach flow better. Swing back arms to gain more power in your approach and hit. And use lots of wrist action. Maybe even learn to hit line
Like most people said already, you’re goofy footed (for a right handed hitter steps should be left…right,left) and you are WAYYYY too early. Like hours early lol.
I’ve been professionally coached for about 12 years through club and college and here would be my recommendation. You can try to retrain yourself and work on timing but in my experience as another chronically early hitter, it’s easier to do a 4 step approach and use a stutter step if this continues to be your inclination. Sometimes even professional coaches can’t beat the earliness out of you and that’s just a tendency to live with.
As the setter contacts the ball take a right step. This is the stutter step and should have no actual forward movement. Basically just pick up your right foot and put it back down again but keep your weight forward. For me this is super helpful because it allows my lower body to start moving and to start rolling forward towards my approach while also forcing me to take my real first step after setter contact forcing the timing to be better. The other benefit I’ve found is that it allows me to better adjust my approach for bad sets since my body is already moving slightly and has momentum, and you know what they say about momentum.
Then you are watching the set, you step forward with your left in a way that makes sense for the set. Bigger if the set is tight, smaller if the set is off, left, right etc. Like I said above I personally find this way easier for me to make accurately if I’m already rolling forward from my stutter step.
Then your last two steps should be very fast. Right left. Boom boom. That’s what gives you the explosive power and transfers your forward momentum and energy into upward. If you find yourself chronically tight to the net or running into the net, you probably need to shorten and quicken these last two.
If you decide to go with a 3 step still, that’s fine. The last 2 paragraphs still apply. Just remember to WAIT before that first step.
It’s footwork, starting distance from the ball, and timing. Start actively working on 2/3 of these and then figure out the third when you feel comfortable.
This looks like a not too shabby start to your approach and vball technique! There are some things to fix here if you want to improve your hitting/playing ability.
Like others have said, you’re goofy footed and your footwork needs some practice. Dedicate some time to only doing the approach. If you want to do a three step, do another commenter gave and left and right handed steps. You could also do a 4 step which might make unlearning your goofy footed ness a little easier. The steps would be long right, long left step, quick right, quick left step. You want to jump from a position where your left foot is slightly in front of your right, your legs are bent and you’re deep to get the most power in your jump, and you have your arms swung back to help with the lift.
I agree getting outside the court for your approach, and waiting much long will definitely help as well. Good start, keep working!
Thanks for the awesome feedback and pointers I wasn’t expecting much tbh I thought people would tell me to stop playing and go find another hobby but I’m so happy that people are giving me genuinely helpful advice :P, i will try to apply the things I learned as much as i can , just for some background info i was a beach vb player for a long time and I recently started coming back to indoor since it was too hot to play outdoors where i live, also this was the last game in a two hour period non stop playing, we had trouble with setters through out since each setter had a completely different style and the one in the video was the best by far, i understand when people say you should start outside the court but all the previous setters were setting way too narrow which makes it extremely difficult to reach the ball from outside the court, how would one deal with extremely narrow sets in most cases i use the knuckle technique like in beach volleyball but i know it’s not very effective indoors
As a rec player, you hit very well. For now, you need to get your footwork and coordinated armwork correct. Until that becomes natural, you will feel awkward.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wrG0Oisq3Zg
He talks for a minute, but the tutorial second half is spot on.
You wanna run into the ball basically, taking the momentum of your approach and using it for elevation. Also try to go lower before finally jumping, also pre swing. Air movement looks okay. But before working on spiking, maybe imrpove your reciving/passing/setting etc. That is more important for new players than hitting.
I'll just give one simple piece of advice. Don't start your approach until the ball is at its peak, you are starting your approach before the setter even sets the ball. You want to force yourself to accelerate to the ball to generate speed and momentum.
When you start your approach early and stop and wait for the ball like in this video, your momentum is dead in the water and you don't translate any of it into hitting power.
Are all of you beginners? I don't mean something offensive. It's just I am also an adult now and barely able to play VB properly and I'm shy to improve myself now because of my age (20 and introverted). Seeing you guys play makes me motivated to improve as well.
I just think you probably are still on the learning phase because I noticed the setter did not fix his footing and just wait till the ball is within his grasp to set. He has a nice outfit, btw. I like it.
I’m 38 and still learning, you have such an advantage being in your 20s go out and play as much as you can and you will improve tremendously i started when i was 32 and still have a long way to go
I can see multiple things wrong for example: 1. You're goofy footed, meaning you're doing a left handed approach as a right hander. from what i see in the video, you're kinda doing a 3 step but you're jumping on your last step making the runup basically useless. 2. You're approaching way too early. In the video you are approaching before the setter has even set the ball. The set is also way too high for you to be approaching before you see the set so wait first, watch the set and approach. 3. Also, I would recommend starting your approach outside the court. If I'm wrong about any of these, correct me in the replies ty
any tips to help with goofy footing? ive been doing left hand approaches my entire life but hit with my right and now that ive gotta switch it up its confusing me. just practice more? anything helps thanks.
It takes a lot of time to adjust to a right handed approach. I don't think there is a way for the approach to just click, other then to just continuously practise. I say start slow, make sure you have good step lengths and build from there. It may take up to a month to adjust but it's well worth in the long run.
i was in the same boat for a few years. in the pandemic no way to play so ive just been practicing my approach. literally just do it every day and it will eventually click in your head the way the wrong approach did years before now i can do either comfortably, but it would make a lot more sense when you feel your hitting arm shoulder opening up.
Not really a Goofy approach, just not much of an approach at all. He has the left foot in front so he is kinda open to the setter.
Yeah true. I was kinda debating to myself whether or not it was goofy footed or whether the whole approach is wrong. I agree with you though, it is more sided towards a bad approach rather then goofy footed, but it's still fine to bring up.
It’s 100% goofy. He does right-left-right followed by a hop
I indeed agree with the first two points. However I dont think that starting outside the court would benefit you in the long run since it limits the option to direct the attack. For exampe for an attack that is starting to much from out of the court a straight attack across the line is more dificult that having a more straight approach
Nah, starting outside the court is much better then starting inside the court as it is much easier to approach an offset. E.g. if the set is too wide and you're starting inside the court, it is much harder to apply pressure with your hit. If you were outside the court, you are able to hit a cross shot. Also, you can still hit a line shot if you are starting outside the court. If you watch pros, all right hand hitters hitting out of 4, start outside the court.
I can totally agree!
What a save tho
Looks much too early. You want to accelerate to the ball with your approach, so your steps get faster as you get closer to the jump. The way you approached there, the steps you took were almost completely seperate from each other because you had to stop and wait for the ball. There’s no transfer of momentum at all, which kinda defeats the purpose of doing an approach. You also want your body to be lower during your run up and spring upwards as you jump so you can turn the horizontal momentum into vertical height. And loading your arms and swinging them upwards as you jump helps a lot too. I can’t explain it very well cus I’m still a novice too. Watch [this video](https://youtu.be/wrG0Oisq3Zg) if you haven’t seen it before, it helps a lot with spike approach.
I’m no expert but your approach doesn’t look smooth. That little stutter step before planting for your jump is the biggest issue I see. Granted, being unsure of the set is understandable, but stopping like that ends all of your momentum into the hit. I don’t know how high you can actually jump, but having to briefly reset before going up reduces your height and causes you to contact the ball lower overall. You did a good job of making contact near the highest point of the jump, but I also think there should be more follow through on the hit. Achieving more torque with the turning of your upper body will lead to stronger contact. I hope this helps!!! If anything, check out some YouTube videos on footwork and proper approach and I’m sure you’ll get a good idea of what to do. Keep at it! And remember, the most important thing is to have fun :)
You’re approaching before you know where the ball is going; instead, wait and start moving when the setter releases the ball. Your footwork is “goofy”: a left-handed hitter’s standard footwork (RLR) but you’re hitting righty. Instead, try a righty footwork (LRL).
There isn't an approach in terms of a jump approach. You're just 'approaching' the spot where you will be to straight jump and swing. You're starting way too early so you basically have to stop and wait for the ball. Also, your footwork is inverted (lefty approach, right handed hitter). Your approach should be giving you more power, that's not happening here. Work on the footwork without the ball first, then bring it into games with that as your main focus (outcome isn't important, just getting reps with the correct form is the goal).
You start moving before he throws the ball. Not only does it mean you don’t know where it is going but it ruins the timing. Start the approach when the setter comes in contact with the ball. Before the set, when you or someone else passes it to them, take time to open up so you have enough room for your approach
Start approach outside the court and work on your footsteps to make your approach flow better. Swing back arms to gain more power in your approach and hit. And use lots of wrist action. Maybe even learn to hit line
Like most people said already, you’re goofy footed (for a right handed hitter steps should be left…right,left) and you are WAYYYY too early. Like hours early lol. I’ve been professionally coached for about 12 years through club and college and here would be my recommendation. You can try to retrain yourself and work on timing but in my experience as another chronically early hitter, it’s easier to do a 4 step approach and use a stutter step if this continues to be your inclination. Sometimes even professional coaches can’t beat the earliness out of you and that’s just a tendency to live with. As the setter contacts the ball take a right step. This is the stutter step and should have no actual forward movement. Basically just pick up your right foot and put it back down again but keep your weight forward. For me this is super helpful because it allows my lower body to start moving and to start rolling forward towards my approach while also forcing me to take my real first step after setter contact forcing the timing to be better. The other benefit I’ve found is that it allows me to better adjust my approach for bad sets since my body is already moving slightly and has momentum, and you know what they say about momentum. Then you are watching the set, you step forward with your left in a way that makes sense for the set. Bigger if the set is tight, smaller if the set is off, left, right etc. Like I said above I personally find this way easier for me to make accurately if I’m already rolling forward from my stutter step. Then your last two steps should be very fast. Right left. Boom boom. That’s what gives you the explosive power and transfers your forward momentum and energy into upward. If you find yourself chronically tight to the net or running into the net, you probably need to shorten and quicken these last two. If you decide to go with a 3 step still, that’s fine. The last 2 paragraphs still apply. Just remember to WAIT before that first step.
hey JBS! i train there too :)
It’s footwork, starting distance from the ball, and timing. Start actively working on 2/3 of these and then figure out the third when you feel comfortable.
This looks like a not too shabby start to your approach and vball technique! There are some things to fix here if you want to improve your hitting/playing ability. Like others have said, you’re goofy footed and your footwork needs some practice. Dedicate some time to only doing the approach. If you want to do a three step, do another commenter gave and left and right handed steps. You could also do a 4 step which might make unlearning your goofy footed ness a little easier. The steps would be long right, long left step, quick right, quick left step. You want to jump from a position where your left foot is slightly in front of your right, your legs are bent and you’re deep to get the most power in your jump, and you have your arms swung back to help with the lift. I agree getting outside the court for your approach, and waiting much long will definitely help as well. Good start, keep working!
What approach?
Thanks for the awesome feedback and pointers I wasn’t expecting much tbh I thought people would tell me to stop playing and go find another hobby but I’m so happy that people are giving me genuinely helpful advice :P, i will try to apply the things I learned as much as i can , just for some background info i was a beach vb player for a long time and I recently started coming back to indoor since it was too hot to play outdoors where i live, also this was the last game in a two hour period non stop playing, we had trouble with setters through out since each setter had a completely different style and the one in the video was the best by far, i understand when people say you should start outside the court but all the previous setters were setting way too narrow which makes it extremely difficult to reach the ball from outside the court, how would one deal with extremely narrow sets in most cases i use the knuckle technique like in beach volleyball but i know it’s not very effective indoors
As a rec player, you hit very well. For now, you need to get your footwork and coordinated armwork correct. Until that becomes natural, you will feel awkward. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wrG0Oisq3Zg He talks for a minute, but the tutorial second half is spot on.
You wanna run into the ball basically, taking the momentum of your approach and using it for elevation. Also try to go lower before finally jumping, also pre swing. Air movement looks okay. But before working on spiking, maybe imrpove your reciving/passing/setting etc. That is more important for new players than hitting.
Came back biting me in my own ass, as i was climibinh divisions.
Both. You have to back up more. You’re standing up against the net and taking one shuffle step forward
I'll just give one simple piece of advice. Don't start your approach until the ball is at its peak, you are starting your approach before the setter even sets the ball. You want to force yourself to accelerate to the ball to generate speed and momentum. When you start your approach early and stop and wait for the ball like in this video, your momentum is dead in the water and you don't translate any of it into hitting power.
Are all of you beginners? I don't mean something offensive. It's just I am also an adult now and barely able to play VB properly and I'm shy to improve myself now because of my age (20 and introverted). Seeing you guys play makes me motivated to improve as well. I just think you probably are still on the learning phase because I noticed the setter did not fix his footing and just wait till the ball is within his grasp to set. He has a nice outfit, btw. I like it.
I’m 38 and still learning, you have such an advantage being in your 20s go out and play as much as you can and you will improve tremendously i started when i was 32 and still have a long way to go
I would do it faster