The Volleyball Spike Approach For Hitting The 3 and 4 Step Approach

The volleyball spike approach for hitting is also called the spike approach and is done by a spiker who takes 3 or 4 steps to a ball in the air before hitting it. 


The Volleyball Spike Approach - Three Steps

When using a three-step spike approach if you're a right handed hitter you'd step on your left foot first.



Watch as Syd uses her three step spike approach to hit this set. 


Step One of the Three Step Volleyball Approach


Step One of the Three Step Volleyball Approach

The directional step is the first of three...

  • which you'd use to propel yourself closer to where you want to contact the ball...
  • this is your directional step...and
  • this should be the slower step you take...


For a quick review...

As a right handed hitter you'd

  • step on your left foot first ...
  • which you'd use to propel yourself closer to where you want to contact the ball...
  • This is your directional step...and this should be the slower step you take..



Step Two and Three of the Three Step Volleyball Spike Approach


The last two steps...right foot then left foot occur almost simultaneously...


Outside Hitter Jacob Ceci Swings Hard Against The Blocker's Hand To Score During Volleyball Practice

...and should be

  • the fastest,
  • most aggressive steps in the entire spike approach

because these are the steps that propel you upward and into the air towards the ball.



Doing this helps you contact the ball at your highest possible contact point above the net. 


The Volleyball Spike:
The Four Step Approach To Spiking A Volleyball



In a four step approach,



As both arms swing forward at the same time the last two steps are taken which lifts you into the air, like a plane that has taken off at the end of the runway. 

In the air,

  • you pull back the elbow of your hitting arm,
  • keeping it above the level of your ear while the arm is above your head.


BYU freshman and three year semi-private training and boot camp class client Kate Prior uses her volleyball spike approach to hit from the outside. 


Holding your elbow high and using a bow and arrow type movement to make contact with the ball so that it clears the net, you bring your hitting arm forward so it contacts the top third of the ball. 




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

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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. 


Volleyball Basics: Where Do you Go From Here?


No need to guess where you need to go now? Here are three options: 

  1. Learn more about Spiking by clicking 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 Mr T.T. MUGB the Lion, wearing the #7 jersey below. 

Meet T.T. Mugb, aka "Things That Make U Go Boom"
Lion and Ouside Hitter 
on 
VolleyBragSwag's All Beast Team

You might like these volleyball spike approach pages!


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Volleyball Hitting Tips Just for You!

Adopt a fearless attitude about hitting. Great hitters have confidence in their ability to hit against any block.
Become a tenacious tiger about hitting against a two-person block. Remember you have options making you effective against a two-person block.
Exploit the holes in the block. Look for holes between the middle blocker and the outside blocker in front of you. Aim your spike fearlessly right for that “seam.”
Exploit the holes in the block. Look for holes between the middle blocker and the outside blocker in front of you. Aim your spike fearlessly right for that “seam.”
Ask your back row players, between plays, to tell you whether the middle blocker is late closing the block. They are perfectly positioned to help you see what is going on in the front row.
Use your back row players to help when you are in the front row. Ask them to tell what they see is open and what the other team is or is not doing.
Wipe the ball off the block. “Use” the block instead of always trying to hit past it. You can learn to wipe the ball off the hands of the outside block no matter how tall you are.
Spike the ball aiming for the outside arm of the outside blocker in front of you.
Hit the ball hard so it comes back off her arm and outside the sideline. Hitting like this keeps the defense from covering the ball, makes points, creates sideouts, keeps you in the game,