Volleyball Hit
3 Types of Soft Hits Roll Shot, Cut Shot and Deep Tip

Volleyball Hit. The 3 main hits used in volleyball are the bump, the set and the spike hit. The roll shot, cut shot and deep tip are 3 more ways to hit a ball. 

The volleyball hit most commonly used in a game is the

• the bump
• the set
• the hit

• the bump - an underhand contact made by clasping your wrists of both arms together to create a "platform" used to contact the bottom third of a volleyball ball to propel it in the air towards a player or over the net.

The bump is usually the first volleyball hit made in a game after an opposing team's serve. 

• the set - an overhead contact made with arms held above your head and your two hands in the shape of a triangle that cradle a volleyball ball momentarily before pushing it back in the air towards another player or over the net. 

The set is usually the second hit made during a rally after a teammate has bumped or passed the ball to the front row. 

• the spike or attack hit - a hard driven ball contacted in mid-air after a player takes a three or four step spike approach that lifts them in the air  towards a ball that's above the level of the net to swing at the ball with their dominant arm with force in a downward motion so it lands within the court boundary lines. 

The attack hit is usually the third and final hit allowed per side and is used to send the ball over the net in a rally. 

In order to score a point, you don't always have to hit the ball hard.

There are other types of volleyball hits you should know that still require a spike approach but do not require you to make a fast and quick armswing to drive the ball with force into the opposing court. 

 You should know how to hit a volleyball using

• the roll shot
• the cut shot 
• the deep tip 

to score points especially during long rallies so that you can mix up your attack strategy.  

The Roll shot  - is done after a spike approach and with the heel of your hand of your hitting arm which contacts the bottom of the front half of a volleyball while moving your shoulder in an upward motion which gives the ball a forward rolling motion.

This lifts the ball up and over the block and the rolling motion helps the ball fall quickly to the ground. 

The roll shot is usually the third volleyball hit and is used to send the ball over the net in a rally. 

Favorite places for hitters to tip the ball usually are

• behind the block

The Cut shot  - is a ball hit at a sharp angle into the opposing court by a spiker.

For example if a hitter in Zone 4 hits a ball to Zone 2 in the opposing team's court, that's a cut shot in indoor volleyball.  

The Tip - is done after a spiker makes their three or four step approach to the ball as if to hit it hard, but with the hitting arm

slows down their armswing and

• contacts the ball with the soft pads of their fingertips 
• to push the ball over the block and 
• into an open space on the court. 

Favorite places for hitters to tip the ball usually are

• behind the block and/or
• to the middle of the court 
• deep to the corners of the court

where its harder for diggers to get to the ball. 

Plan on diversifying your attack hits by adding "the tip" and these slower speed attack hits to your collection of hitting tactics.

You can be as confident as you want to be as a spiker on the court, but the best hitters are always prepared to have many different ways to score points offensively.

You want to be unpredictable as a hitter.

If your spike attacks are always hard hits, then that makes you very predictable.

Sooner or later the opposing team's block or the diggers in their backrow defense will

• understand and anticipate or
• read your attacking style because you've created a pattern of hitting which is consistent and easy to anticipate.

It will be easy for them to place themselves in the court to dig you or block you because you keep doing the same thing over and over again.  

Check out a few things that an opposing team would say if they knew you try to hit every ball hard all the time. 

•  "Yeah we know how she hits.
• She ALWAYS spikes the ball hard.
• That's the only thing she knows how to do. So let's set up our block here and our defense here.
• And if we can't stop her hard hit at the net with our block, we will pick it up in the back row with our defense."

Listen to what else they could also say...

• "Sure she hits the ball hard and we know that she will score some points for her team, but if she keeps hitting hard, all the time, for the entire first set, then we know she will get tired.."

• When she gets tired then she won't hit as hard and it will get easier to block her spikes at the net or it will get easier dig a ball she hits because it will have less power. 

And sooner or later... it will get harder and harder for you to score points against a team because they already know what type of spiker you are and they will set up their team defense accordingly.

Instead of always relying on the hard volleyball hit, practice and use one of the offspeed hitting options named above as one of your highly effective offensive attack hits.

Learn to use this in practice during your volleyball hit drills and spike training.

This will keep the defense guessing as to how you are going to attack the ball next.

Work on all of your hitting strategy, like mixing up your shots during practice. 

You can improve your offensive game by spending your time wisely doing repetitions of different volleyball hit options that will prepare you for many of the different blocking or defense strategies the opposing team will use to try and stop you in a game.

Where do you need to go now? Here are three options: 

1. Learn more about Smart Strategies by checking the links in Related Links section.
2. Follow 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.

1. Improve Your Volleyball Performance with Vegas VB Coach April Chapple
 ›
2. Volleyball Strategy Tips For Speeding Up or Slowing Down Your Offense
 ›
3. Volleyball Hit 3 Types of Soft Hits Roll Shot, Cut Shot and Deep Tip
 ›

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