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10 Defense Volleyball Techniques Used To Make Digs and Defend Better

These 10 defense volleyball techniques are answered on how to dig a volleyball better, where to be in defense, and what to watch when the other team is hitting.

10 Defense Volleyball Techniques On Making Digs and Defending Better

In advanced defense volleyball training coaches spend many hours on practice drills teaching techniques like...

• Where a player's base or starting position is in defense?
• What steps does a digger take before the spiker hits the ball?
• What steps do you take and in what direction?
• Where do you place yourself on the court so you aren't playing defense behind the block?

Read on to find out the answers below...

Where do you place yourself on the court so you aren't playing defense behind the block? (Denis Wright photo)

A players base position in the back row is usually on or one step back from the ten foot line.

This will vary slightly depending on what type of volleyball defense strategy the team is running and how fast they are running it.

A digger follows this eye sequence "Ball-Setter-Ball-Hitter which means after the opposing team has passed the ball, the digger watches the setter to see who she plans to set to. (Matt Vn Winkle)

Usually in the back court, digger's will do a series of adjustment steps to better position themselves once they see where the setter has set the ball. 

A digger should follow this eye sequence "Ball-Setter-Ball-Hitter or "BSBH" which means after the opposing team has passed the ball, the digger should watch the setter to see who she plans to set to.

Then once she sets the ball, the defensive player's eyes should track or watch the Ball as it travels to the Hitter.

Now the digger should shift her gaze to the hitter, watching the hitter to get clues as  to where (in what direction) she plans to hit.

All this eye sequencing (which the blocker does as well at the net) is done so that the front row blockers and the back row defensive diggers see the same action and they move according to the planned volleyball defensive strategy that was decided to use against this opponent.  

Penn State middle hitter Haleigh Washington attacks from the middle (Al Case)

If the opposing team's setter sets the middle then players on defense usually have little to no time to take steps to position themselves on the court.

They have time to take one shuffle step usually outside of the shadow of their middle blocker or outside blocker and then they just get in a low defensive position ready to dig the ball coming from the middle attack. 

Where do you place yourself on the court so you aren't playing defense behind the block? (CE Andersen)

If the opposing setter sets the ball to either of their outside hitters then diggers have more time to take 2-3 adjustment shuffle steps to position themselves outside of the shadow of the blocker in front of them, so they can see the ball the hitter is hitting. 

And so they can better "read" the ball positioning and the hitter's body/arm language which gives them clues as to where the ball is about to be hit.

Following the volleyball defense strategy the coach has established for the team against this particular opponent, the digger positions themselves to dig cross court because their blockers are taking away the hitter's ability to hit down the line., 

Or, they are digging the line because their blockers are taking away, at the net, the opposing hitter's ability to hit cross court. 

Sometimes the opposing team will not spike a hard driven ball into the defensive team's court. They will give an easy ball or what's called a "free" ball over the net. (Mark Shaiken)

Sometimes the opposing team will not spike a hard driven ball into the defensive team's court. They will give an easy ball or what's called a "free" ball over the net.

Because this type of ball isn't a fast hard driven attack it requires the defensive team to position themselves on their court in a different formation which resembles more of a serve receive formation than a defensive formation.

Many hours are spent in practice, or should be, identifying the difference between a free ball and how the team should position themselves and a spike and where the team should transition to be in the court. 

The attitude, girls need to play defense in volleyball can be compared to the same aggressive attitude guys are taught to have when learning how to play football. 

It all needs to start with an aggressive determined attitude.

Private or semiprivate volleyball indoor/sand lessons are an excellent way for young Las Vegas high school volleyball players to quickly improve their individual skills through a private or semi-private coaching experience. These lessons are conducted by former pro volleyball player, former USA Volleyball High Performance instructor and Evaluator and Tstreet Vegas 18s head Coach April Chapple on a weekly basis. Sign up now!

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I share alot of individual, partner and easy-to-do volleyball serving drills we do in class with my followers.

Many of these volleyball practice drills you can do at home by yourself or try at your next practice with your teammates.

If you're a B team or JV player trying to make varsity next year...your goal should be to complete 1000 reps a day of at least three of the basic skills on your own...volleyball passing, serving and setting should be at the top of the list. 

An all out, "I'm never going to let this ball hit our court floor" attitude that inspires players to go all out to recover balls in defense no matter where they've been hit on the court. 

Defense is an attitude!
Watch Japan dig after dig, amazing volleyball defense! 

Thanks for visiting. Be sure to check out more of my volleyball passing articles by clicking one of the links below! (April Chapple)

Alright, alright, alright! Time to study something something. You still have those three options: 

1. Let's learn more about defense,  digging and how to defend your court by exploring the Related Links below. 
2. Or you can choose the suggested reading on our Sitemap page   Learning How To Play (Sitemap)
3. Or visit the pages in the How to Play Volleyball section in the drop down menu at the top of the page to get started. 

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