Here is the opening paragraph of the new definition:

“During the action of players setting overhand with fingers, the ball must be played with one quick motion. There must not be any significant movement of the ball downwards whilst in the hands and the ball may not visibly come to rest in the player’s hands.”

Now if you take the second highlighted section literally, “ There must not be any significant movement of the ball downwards whilst in the hands”, then even players like Phil Dalhausser might need to speed up his action.

So one of two things will happen. Either players will change the way they set, or referees will choose to interpret the words “significant movement” as “more movement than what we consider a good set.” (i.e. no change in the rules)

See the AVF video and explanation here: http://www.avf.org.au/index.php?id=1361

What do you think? Are these new rules going to help simplify the hand setting rule, or is it just another argument on centre court waiting to happen?

Julien Prosser bump sets in the 2010 NSW Open on Manly Beach - photo courtessy of Justin Kern - JFK Audio Visual

This season I’ve had very few opportunities to train on the sand, so I have concentrated more on my fitness than my skills. The only skill that has noticeably suffered has been my hand setting, so I have slowly started using my hands less and less.

Last weekend I had my first serious tournament in about three years. I threw up one horrible set in our first match, (that the ref failed to call), and told my partner: “Sorry mate, I’m going to trade my surf board in for a body board, and start bump setting.”

I didn’t use my hands to set a ball for the rest of the tournament, and I’m pretty sure I only made about 3 or 4 bad sets in the next 4 games. (We won the tourney, although my surf board is still in the garage).

So how do you decide? What should you take into account?

In favour of hand setting:

Hand setting is more accurate. No question. If your partner has a small hitting window then it’s harder to get it there with a bump set.

Hand setting looks better and give you more street cred. with your beach volleyball mates.

In favour of bump setting:

A bump set will never get called a double. Personally, I can count on at least one bad set per game, so bump setting puts me up 1 – 0 before a ball is even served.

The Dutch team of Nummerdor/Schuil are a good example of a team that bump sets. They seem to do pretty well.

And my final comment in favour of bump setting is that by removing the possibility of being called for a double, you remove a distraction from your mind. You will never think to yourself as you are about to set your partner on match point, “I hope I don’t double”. And I’ve seen some of the best get caught throwing a set on match point.

As Forrest gump says, “One less thing to worry about.”

What do you think? Are you a hand setter or a bump setter?

The video shows it perfectly, sop not much to add apart from emphasising the importance of the coach in this drill. The coach should make big moves, so that he/she pushes the player to hit close to the line. It’s no good hitting a ball perfectly to the coach if he is standing 2 meters inside the side line. That is not the sort of shot you want to practice.

So if your coach is on the angle, make sure you practice your best sharp angle shot, not just an easy shot that the coach can catch. In most cases you don’t want to practice shots that land anywhere further than 50cm from the side line.

The idea for this post came from a reader in Russia, who asked an interesting question about a shot that they call the “crab”, but first for the two most common alternatives to the standard attack. Thanks Alexei

Here we see the common “Pokie” or knuckle, on the left, and the “cobra” on the right. (I’m sure there are plenty of other names for it.) The knuckle is used by just about every player, and because the contact is very bouncy, there is no danger of ever being called for a carry. It is also quite easy to hit an accurate shot with the pokie, so I highly recommend practising it.

The “Cobra” on the right is much harder to control, and is also harder to execute. The only reason you should be playing a cobra is if you are up against a big block, on a tight set, and you just want to get to the ball first to make your shot. The only advantage of this shot over the pokie is the extra few centimetres that you get by extending your fingers. It’s important to keep your fingers nice and straight so it looks like a nice clean contact to the ref.

Here are a couple of potential problems that you risk with a Cobra.

Both these images show poorly played cobras that should be called a fault.

“To play the cobra, the fingers need to be rigid and together! Which includes the thumb.” – Qualified referee

The next example is definitely illegal, known as “Throw”. In indoor volleyball, it is legal, and referred to as a “dink” or “tip” or “dump”, but in beach it’s illegal. The contact here is made with the pads of the fingers and the ball is pushed rather than hit.

The Throw

And this brings me to the inspiration for this post. The “Crab”.

The Crab

This shot is actually played with the fingernails. I have to admit, I have never seen this shot used in competition. The official word from my friend the referee is this: “if the {ball is played with} knuckles/fingers nails, and not the tips {pads} of the fingers/ thumb then we are just looking for the ball to rebound. if not, … then fault..”

The actual rule relating to this says: “The ball must be hit, not caught or thrown.”

So it seems that if this shot comes off the hand quickly, it will be OK. As long as no finger pads come in contact with the ball and the thumb is bent so that the thumb pad does not contact the ball.

If the ball sticks at all, or seems to be pushed rather than rebounding, or the thumb is extended, or any of the fingers are extended then it should be called a fault.

Below is a sequence of images showing what will happen when this shot is played. Unless you have very strong fingers, then it will be impossible to stop them from bending on impact which will stop the ball from rebounding, so you need to keep your fingers very rigid when you play this shot.

I thought I would write a short post explaining why this shot is so effective for both side out and transition.

Below are two diagrams showing two side out scenarios.

In the first diagram, the right side player is attacking the ball from near the antenna. Assuming that the block is on the line, he/she has three main options.

1. Roll line over the block
2. Power angle
3. Sharp angle shot

This is a standard set up. The standard defence for this is to wait on the angle for the power hit, and then chase a shot if it comes. If you have a very big blocker, then chasing that line shot can sometimes be quite easy because the attacker needs to give the ball a lot of height to go over the block. (This was the problem that Rogers faced against Alison in the final.)

In the second diagram, the side out attacker, is hitting the set about 2.5 – 3 metres inside the antenna. While this makes the sharp angle hit a lot harder, it opens up the fast line shot option. The attacker now has the following options.

1. Roll line over the block
2. Power angle
3. Sharp angle shot
4. FAST Short line shot

This fast line shot passes the side of the block, so it is impossible for a defender to dig, unless he/she anticipates the shot and moves early. You can’t wait on the angle and chase it. It’s too fast. So now the side out player has a fast option either side of the block forcing the defender to show his/her hand early.

When Rogers made this tactical chance against Harley – Alison, Harley stayed on the angle most of the time. When Rogers played the fast line shot, it left Harley about 6 metres from the ball with no hope of making a dig.