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?

One guy/gal sets the ball, and the other two do all the digging and spiking. It’s great setting practice, and if the passers are a bit rough is also good for fitness. the setter is constantly making short fast movements to the ball.

The setter always sets back to the player that passes the ball.

The diagrams below show how it works.

Start with player 1 and 2 next to each other at one end, and player 3 opposite at the other end.

Step 1

• Player 1 sets to player 3, then runs to the other end (following the set)

Step 2

• Player 3 hits at player 2, who digs the ball back.

Step 3

• Player 3 sets the ball back to player 2, and follows the set, running to the other end
Player 1 is now ready to step in for the dig
• Player 2 hits at player 1

Continue in this sequence until you are warm, or bored, or both

Each player performs this sequence of skills:
Set
Run to the other end
Wait
Dig
Spike
Set
Run to the other end
Wait
Dig
Spike
etc…..

This is a good drill that combines control and shot making with game play.

Number of players: Minimum 4.

The scoring system for this drill is standard “king of the court”. I.e. one end of the court is designated as the Kings end. The teams that are not at this end, serve on the “King” team until they win a point, and then themselves become Kings, moving over to the king side of the court. First team to make 15 side outs from the King end wins.

This is how it works:

1. The serving team (Team RED) serves normally
2. The team that receives the ball (Team BLUE) must play a line shot – (No power hitting allowed)
3. The blocker (Team RED) must block at the net, regardless of the quality of set – (This forces the defender to cover the whole court)
4. Once the dig has been made by team RED, they must also play a line shot
5. When Team BLUE receives the line shot, then the normal game play commences, i.e. anything is allowed from this point on
6. The winning team takes the King side of the court and receives the next serve

What does this drill teach us?

1. It encourages good control on the pass and set, and makes us concentrate on hitting a nice high line shot. The blocker knows it’s coming, so he or she is jumping high and late making it harder than normal.
2. In each rally there is an opportunity for each team to practice a perfect transition play, from a line dig, again control being the focus.
3. It creates a good opportunity to work on blocking shots, and getting the later timing just right.
4. It makes you think about how to hit a winning line shot when the defender is onto it. We found that once the scores got closer, we started mixing up the line shots. Short, flat and deep, angled to the line from an inside set, etc. Sometimes playing it really short and a bit higher to force the blocker to make the dig, (If we thought he was more likely than his partner to miss the next shot)
5. Lastly, it’s great preparation for match fitness, because just about every rally goes at least three times over the net.