QuestionQUESTION: Can you tell me what the different defenses are in volleyball and what the basic differences are or where I might find that info.
ANSWER: Good evening, and welcome to www.allexperts.com!
I need more clarification. Are you talking about where to position your players at base defense? Or are you talking about where to position your players at the moment of the attack? Each one is about a chapter! haha
Thank you for visiting!
And please visit me at www.coachhouser.com.
I think you'll like the smiling faces!
Tom
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I was asked what defenses my kids were familar with. I was reading on the perimeter defense, U defense, rotation ect. and am not clear on the differences and if there are others. So I think I am asking about the moment of attack but would take clarification on both.
AnswerThank you again for visiting www.allexperts.com! I'm sorry for the delay in answering this. I'm preparing for a 7-hour drive tomorrow morning to Atlanta for the BigSouth Qualifier. I'm missing a day of teaching high school math, I've had practice this week, etc. So much to do!
I have written a lot below about the man-up and man-back base defenses. I hope this will answer your questions about that. As for defending the dig, the "U" defense is just another name for perimeter. Some people call it a "cup" or a "U" b/c that makes it easier to understand.
Disadvantages of the Man-Up Defense:
(a) There抯 more traffic and more confusion. Therefore, teams that play a 6-up will have more balls fall and more balls being fought over by adjacent players.
(b) There is more screening during the hits. Therefore, fewer digs will be made. For example, if your 搖p?person is behind her MB teammate while the opponents are setting their MB, then not only can she not see the opposing hitter, but she can only dig the tips, making her a one-dimensional defensive player.
(c) When the opponents set the antenna set (especially if they also run a quick fake!), the up person has an extremely hard time getting over and digging the short line. If she doesn抰 get over, then her team is not only susceptible to the line tip, but she抯 also screening her defensive teammates who are playing deeper.
Advantages of the 6-up:
The short middle tip never falls. Also, the setter 揻lip dump?never falls. These are the only 2 advantages I have ever been able to think of. If you have more, please email them to me at
[email protected] . When I read your email, I抣l probably say, 揙h, yeah, I抎 forgotten about that! That抯 a great point!?
Why I Play A 6-Back:
I inherited a team in 1985 that played a 6-up. I was a green, rookie coach, so that抯 the defense I accepted. I continued to play it for 4 + ?seasons, then switched to a 6-back perimeter half way through 1989 and have never switched back. JV or varsity, middle or high or club. I抳e never taught a team a 6-up since. Why? For all the reasons I stated above.
I expect my 6-back defense to pick up the tips and setter dumps. I don抰 need a girl standing there. (Personally, if my players can抰 pick them up, then either my kids are too inexperienced, they抮e in the wrong position or they抮e too slow/unathletic.) If the opponents set the middle or left, then my front row OH takes the tip over the block. If the opponents set their right, then my front row right takes the tips over our MB. I also expect my short left digger to cheat in to take the flip dump away from the opposing setter. Yeah, we may get beat by the flip dump once, but that抯 about it. And I抣l trade getting beat once for having my diggers in proper position for the 97% of the opponent抯 2nd hits that are set to their spikers. Furthermore, the opponent抯 setter dump is very hard to execute without my blockers seeing it or without a lift/double being called. And I抣l guess that 50% of setters don抰 ever dump; so, why have a defense player wasting her time standing there?
I play a 6-back and I expect my diggers to:
(a) Never screen each other. So almost never will a digger on my team reach for a ball that another digger could have easily played. Why? Because my diggers are taught, 揑f a teammate is between you and the opponent抯 spiker during the opponent抯 attack, then someone抯 out of position. Fix it immediately whenever you see it happening. Don抰 wait until the next play after a spike falls between the 2 of you.?
(b) Be out of the blockers?shadow. I don抰 want a digger standing behind my blockers because the only thing she can dig is the tips and the hits off the blockers hands. I want all my diggers to be able to dig big hits AND dig the tips in front of them. Indeed, as my girls get older, our perimeter defense will play further away from the block, making our defense even better!! 揃ut Coach Houser, the tips will beat you.? Maybe once. Maybe twice. But my defenders would a whole lot rather you try to beat us tipping than by hitting. Come on! Tip against my defense. See how successful you are.
But, I Realize That Athletes WILL Play Defense!
I抦 not saying that a 6-up defense is inferior. I抦 saying that I don抰 prefer it and don抰 see the logic to it.
Athletes with proper training can play about any kind of defense and win. Even more surprising, some teams can play no specific defense and still win. Here抯 an example: In 1993, a team here in Virginia won the AA state championship. They weren抰 in our conference during that season, but we thought we might have to play them at Regionals. After scouting them for several matches and watching video of our matches with them, I finally determined that their back row was playing no type of disciplined defense at all. One rotation they抎 have 3 girls straight across. Next rotation the defense looked like 6-up. Next rotation it looked like 6-back. I knew the coach well and this wasn抰 her strategy! Believe me, the girls were doing this on their own. My coaches and I finally determined that their players just tried to read the opponents and take whatever ball they could get to. And they went 24-2 doing it. Incredible.
How My Teams Attack the 6-Up
My teams get easy points vs. the 6-up in three ways:
Easy Point #1: Our setter dumps to the right or left of the opponent抯 "up" person. About every 5 minutes, my setter will take a perfect pass and direct the ball so that it hits close to where the opponent's spiking line touches their right sideline. If the opponents front row player picks that dump up, then our setter will dump the next one deeper along the opponent抯 side line. For most setters this dump is easier than the flip dump over the opponent抯 MB.
You may be asking, 揌ow does she dump the other way?? Yes, that dump is more difficult, but I抳e had setters who could face their OH teammate, then flip the ball over the net and onto the opponent抯 spiking line behind the opponent抯 OH. It will often fall untouched, especially if my setter is in the back row, thus forcing the opponent抯 left side blocker to stay at the net respecting our back set.
Easy Point #2: Have your MB's slam/jam tip to either their right or left; and, the lower the set is, the more likely the slam/jam will fall. In other words, have your MB slam in that same area where we want our setters to dump against the 6-up. If the tip to her left doesn抰 fall, have her tip it deeper, like we instructed the setter, or have her tip the other way.
I can hear a few coaches right now going, 揌it the ball, Coach Houser!!? Of course, you want your hitters to hit the majority of the sets they get. Don抰 let your players or setters fall in love with tips; unless, of course, the opponents aren抰 digging them! Haha Then tipping for kills it easier on the shoulder than hitting.
In 1994, my first place team traveled to Danville, Va to play the 2nd place team who ran a 6-up defense. My setter had 9 dump kills that night and of my MBs?34 total kills, 14 of them were tips to their left and right. As the match went on, the opponents got more and more upset, the parents were hollering, the coach made a lot of subs. I also remember the opponent抯 speaking captain begging for lifts to be called. Then as the defense tried to take away our tips, my MB抯 would hit the ball, zipping it by the ears of the defenders. We won in 4, the final game being 15-5 (side-out scoring) and we were in their head the entire rest of the season; and, the next season also.
Easy Point #3: Have your OH's tip line. The 搖p?person may be quick enough to rotate over there and pick it up, but if your MB is faking the quick, the up girl will have a very very hard time picking up the line tip from your OH. In the match above, I also remember my OH抯 having a few easy kills with tips down the line.
Once again, I抦 not saying if you run a 6-up, then you抮e mistaken. I抦 just saying I don抰 prefer it. I抳e been coaching long enough to know that my preferences are just that: Preferences.
Plus, I抦 married. And whenever someone asks, 揂re you sure,?I jokingly say, 揘o, I抦 married. I抦 not sure of anything.? Well, sometimes I think I抦 joking. Sometimes I think I抦 not! Haha
Thank you again for visiting! And please visit me at my own website, www.coachhouser.com. I think you'll like all the smiling faces!
If i can ever be of more service, please contact me.
Tom Houser
