What Are Liberos in Volleyball And Why Was The Libero Position Created?

What are liberos in volleyball and why was the libero position created? This defensive specialist position was created in Italy to make the game more TV ready.

What are liberos in volleyball and why was the libero position created? This defensive specialist position was created in Italy to make the game more TV ready. (Ralph Arvesen)

What are liberos in volleyball and why was the libero position created. 

Because of its worldwide popularity, volleyball in European, Asian, and South American professional leagues, exhibition games and matches had regularly been televised on local and national TV stations for much longer than they have in the US.

Outside of the United States many international professional indoor leagues attract hundreds of thousands and in some places even millions of spectators. 

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Where there are pro sports with millions of spectators, there are also a lot of international companies and sponsors that spend money supporting the sport and paying big contracts to the best players in all parts of the world.

In order to keep those sponsors interested in supporting the game, event organizers and the officials in the international volleyball federations were always looking for ways to make the men's game more exciting.

The professional men's game was popular but it needed more spectators because the TV audience was attracted to the women's volleyball game which kept their attention longer because of the longer defensive plays and unpredictable but longer rallies.

What are liberos in volleyball and why was the libero position created? This defensive specialist position was created in Italy to make the game more TV ready. (Ralph Arvesen)

One of the ways that the "powers-that-be" wanted to make the game more exciting was to introduce and promote the use of liberos in volleyball.

You see the men's game in the 70s and 80s and early 90's had always been a power game with lots of strong hitting and very little defense since many coaches emphasized front row skills in their practices like hitting and blocking. 

What Are Liberos in Volleyball?: In town volleyball libero in action digging. Denis Wright photo

In contrast, the women's game

• drew more television spectators
• had less power but more finesse,
• cultivated players who made sneakier and craftier and more
• unpredictable plays with longer rallies and
• lot more defense with women rolling and diving on the floor

This type of game drew more fans and increased the TV audience for televised games. The skimpy uniforms didn't hurt either. 

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Introducing and promoting the role of liberos and by adopting a few special rules that applied to the volleyball libero position, international tournament and professional league organizers thought this new position with its new rules would draw more television spectators to the men's game because they hoped these elements would make the game more exciting.

What are liberos in volleyball and why was the libero position created? This defensive specialist position was created in Italy to make the game more TV ready. (Matt Van Winkle)

Volleyball event officials hoped that with shorter, more agile and athletic players coming in for the taller players when they rotated to the back row would produce more defensive plays and more exciting, longer and more suspenseful rallies which would hold the interest of the television audience longer.

The longer the rallies, the more exciting the play, the more exciting the play, the more spectators, the more spectators then the more sponsors.

This was the thinking of the international volleyball federation officials.

The women's game had more spectators because they already had longer rallies since pro women volleyball players played more defense.

What are liberos in volleyball and why was the libero position created? This defensive specialist position was created in Italy to make the game more TV ready. (Matt Van Winkle)

According to the "experts" this was why there was more suspense and interest in their games.

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To encourage more defensive plays, especially in the men's professional leagues, the role of libero was promoted and then officially introduced by the FIVB to help make the men's game faster, more suspenseful and more TV friendly.

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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. 

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