What's a Dig in Volleyball And What's A Dive In Volleyball Defense

The dig in volleyball is when you clasp hands together to form a platform with your arms used to deflect a spike or attack hit from hitting the court floor. 

How do you dig in volleyball? 

To dig you need to create a platform with your forearms which you use to deflect or redirect a spike, tip or hard driven hit back up to your setter, libero or teammate so they can continue play.

"Dig" the ball is a volleyball slang term used to mean "defend" the ball up in the air which requires you

• to stay in a low athletic stance with your knees bent 
• while using your forearms to deflect the ball up into the air after its been hit by a member of the opposing team 
• in order to keep it from hitting your court floor.

The key to digging is to get your hips below the level of the ball just before you make contact.

What's a dive in volleyball?

When you "dive after a ball" you are using one type of defensive technique used by players to land on the ground after they've contacted the ball in order to keep it off the ground. 

When you dive, it's because you have to

• run after a ball that's more than a few feet from where you are playing and 
• you need to go airborne diving head first with your platform arms outstretched in front of you to "dig a volleyball" up so that it can remain in play.  

Usually to do this with balls that are more then 4-5 feet a way from you,

• you will have to lift both feet off the ground before

contacting the ball with your extended platform in order to contact the ball before the ball contacts the floor.

Once the ball has been lifted up high enough for a second  player to make contact,

• now you the diver, will now have to quickly put your hands on the floor.

This is followed by

• lowering your chest and then hips

to maintain control of your body weight while pulling yourself through your arms.

This motion is helped by the forward momentum gathered by running forward when chasing the ball. 

A double hit is often done when you are attempting to dig in volleyball.

It is called by a referee because your body made contact with the ball twice, before someone else was able to contact the ball.

This action according to official volleyball rules is illegal and is called a fault.

If a hitter spikes a ball to a defender on the opposing team who digs it with her elbows bent so the ball hits her forearm and then hits her bicep before the setter has a chance to touch it, then that's a double hit.

The ball contacted the defender twice before any other teammate could touch it.

The referee blows the whistle, the other team gets the point and the serve. 

This is a major reason why you want to keep your elbows as straight as possible when you form your platform to dig a ball.

You're more likely to commit a double hit when your elbows are bent while digging. Now a hard driven spike will hit your forearm and then your bicep before being deflected into the air. 

Those two contacts are counted as hits and are illegal. The ball can only contact your body once. 

1. Improve Your Volleyball Performance with Vegas VB Coach April Chapple
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2. What's This Volleyball Word? Basic Terms, Slang and Volleyball Lingo
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3. What's a Dig in Volleyball And What's A Dive In Volleyball Defense

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