What's The Correct Volleyball Ready Position For Passing in Volleyball 

Learn the volleyball ready position for passing where clasped thumbs are pointed to the ground to form a platform with forearms to pass balls in a rally. 

What is the ready position for passing in volleyball?

The four steps to passing in volleyball starts with a passer who adopts a volleyball stance for passing 

• clasps your thumbs together keeping them side by side and pointed to the ground
• which creates a flat surface on your forearms above your wrists and below the insides of your elbows...
• used to guide/deflect and angle a ball after contacting its underside

to another player or over the net.  

The Volleyball Stance For Passing

When done correctly this volleyball stance for passing prepares you to move quickly to the ball.

Different players adopt varying styles but generally your volleyball ready position should be an athletic stance.

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Step 1. Hands on Your Knees

I teach my players and students to place their hands on their knees as the resting volleyball ready position in serve receive.

You have your hands on your knees while the server is bouncing the ball and going through their pre-serve routine. 

This gives you a chance to

• watch her
• talk to your teammates that are passing in volleyball with you about what overhand serve the server may use - standing float or jump float serve?
• talk about where the server is probably going to serve and 
• talk about passing responsibilities... reminding each other who's going to take the short serve and who's taking the deep ones 

Just before the server tosses the ball bring your hands off your knees to the volleyball ready position described at the beginning of this page. 

Just as the server is about to toss the ball bring your hands off your knees to the volleyball ready position described at the beginning of this page. 

Many college and professional players choose to

• extend their arms in front of their body or
• out to the sides with their elbows bent at a 30 degree angle with their palms open towards the sky.

I believe that whether you

• keep your elbows in front of you,
• keep your hands on your knees  or
• have them out to the side

is a personal choice.

In my career I've tried both and I found that the one that I used the most was the one that allowed me to use my arms in a running motion, faster, so I could quickly run to the ball if I needed to, before presenting my platform to pass it.

For me, holding my arms in front of me or putting my hands on my knees allowed me to do this faster.

The key to remember is that you want to be as quick on the draw as possible and you want to take the least amount of time to go from your ready position to actually contacting the ball, so you need to figure out which stance will allow you to do that.

Your three options are: 

1. You can learn more about Passing in volleyball by visiting the Related Links below.  
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 to get started. 
4. Before leaving this page Say "Hi" to  Ms. Resee the Kangaroo, wearing the #11 jersey below. She's a left side hitter with precision passing and a member of the VolleyBragSwag All Beast Third team. 

Meet Resee the Kangaroo and Passing Specialist on
VolleyBragSwag's All Beast Team

Follow me on Instagram @coach_apchap to improve your game even faster!