When playing volleyball, you may wonder how some players spike so effectively. Sometimes it helps to understand the technique involved as you are attacking the ball.
When you spike, you want your hand to make contact with the back of the ball at least halfway up, but higher is better. Ideally, you would make contact where the heel of your hand hits the equator of the ball and your hand and fingers reach up and over it.
What Is A Spike?
A spike in volleyball is also called a hit and an attack. It’s when a player uses an overhead swing to contact the ball and send it to the opposing side of the net.
If at all possible, you jump when you are spiking, to give you the best possible height and angle so that you can be directing the ball down over the net. If you aren’t tall enough or can’t jump high enough for spiking like that yet, you can still spike, it will just be more of a flat attack. This can still be effective at beginner levels because you are directing the ball at your opponents with a lot of speed and hopefully good aim.
As much as possible, you want your team to be making a pass on the first contact of the ball when it comes over the net. Then the second contact should usually be a set. The third contact is the time for a spike or hit.
What Is A Kill?
In volleyball, a kill is when you make an attack and the ball either:
1. Hits the ground on the opposing side before a defender can get to it.
2. Is played in an unplayable way by a defender and that wins the point. When the defender shanks the ball and it’s unplayable, you are credited with a kill.
For most hitters, the number of kills is the most important stat to keep track of.
You want a good consistent hitting percentage. If you’re a server you want some aces. But at the end of the day, kills are your way of putting points on the board.
What Part Of Your Hand Do You Use To Hit In Volleyball?
When you hit the ball, you’re going to use the meat of your hand, the palm. It’s okay to use the heel of your hand or your whole palm. Your fingers can hit the ball, that’s fine, but that’s not the important part really.
Some players like to keep their palm open with fingers separated a little to create a wider reach in contacting the ball. Personally, I like hitting the ball with a rigid flat hand, with my fingers tight together. I find I get a more firm smash.
When you hit, you want it to be a momentary contact that pops the ball. You want to avoid “carrying” the ball, where you are pulling it through the air.
Can You Spike With A Closed Fist?
You can spike with a closed fist, it is legal, but not recommended. When you hit with a closed fist, you don’t have as much control over the ball.
When you’re hitting with an open hand you have a much larger flat surface to work with in making contact with the ball. This way, if your contact is just a little bit off, it’s usually ok, your hit will only be affected slightly.
With a closed fist, the other problem is you really can’t try to create topspin. You’re just going to go for a “pop” on the ball and hope it gets the right angle needed. It’s not recommended.
Can You Put Topspin On Your Spike?
Absolutely! You want to put topspin on almost all of your spikes. This helps drive the ball down quickly and keeps it from sailing out of bounds.
When your hand connects with the ball, you have to follow through and “snap” your wrist. You want your hand to wrap up over the top of the ball as much as possible and then snap that wrist over which creates the spin.
Pretty much the only time I don’t try for topspin on my hits is if I’ve mistimed my jump and don’t have the right amount of height to reach the ball properly. In these cases, I may even end up having to tip the ball instead of spiking at all.
How Do You Spike A Volleyball Harder?
Many players really want to improve their volleyball hitting power. The main way you can increase your hitting power is not what you think. If I told you to work out a part of your body to add power to your hits, which part would you expect?
The answer is your core. It’s not your hitting arm and not your shoulder. Legs are great for better jumps. But if you really want to add speed to your hits, you have to work your core.
What do I mean by “your core”? Your abs (or abdominal muscles) and your lats (the sides of your torso that you use for pullup or pulldown exercises).
Why would this be the answer to adding power to your spikes? Have you ever watched really advanced hitters and watched their technique?
If you use proper technique, you will actually do a bit of a crunch in the air as you swing your arm for your hit. By strengthening your abs and lats, you increase the muscles that will add torque to your movement. These muscle groups are what help create that whip-like effect as you smash that ball.
The truth is you should use this same kind of movement and flex as you do your topspin overhand serve as well. Whether you’re doing a regular standing serve or a jump serve, doing the crunch while swinging will help you increase your arm speed and power.
Exercises For Your Core
This list is just a few examples to get you started or to give you some ideas to mix up what you normally do.
1. Ab Exercises
6 inches leg raises. This is just laying on your back and lifting your straight legs until your feet are 6 inches off the floor. Make sure to keep your legs are straight, don’t bend your knees. Hold the position for 1 minute. If you can’t do a minute, time how long you can and build up from there.
Drawing circles leg raises. This is a progression where instead of just holding your legs straight for a minute, you draw a circle with your feet in the air. From that 6 inches position, separate your feet and with each, draw the outsides of a circle that meets at the top, then comes back down. Do this for 1 minute.
2. Plank Exercises (Hold 30 seconds – 1 minute)
Hand plank (basic) – This is your basic starting push-up position. You hold yourself with arms extended all the way and keep your body straight as an arrow from your shoulders to your ankles. Hold for 1 minute at a time.
Forearm plank – To change it up a little, lower yourself from your hands down to your forearms.
Side plank – This takes some balance. From your hand plank position, you turn to one side and hold yourself up with that one hand.
3. Medicine Ball Exercises
Medicine Ball Push-ups – In plank position roll the medicine ball to your opposite hand. When you have it, hold it with that hand and do a push-up. Go back to the other one and do a push-up. That’s one rep. Do 2 sets of 10 and build up to 3 sets of 15.
Weighted Crunches – These can be with a small medicine ball or with a weight plate. Hold the weight to your upper chest as you do your crunches. This is to increase the difficulty of the crunch. Instead of trying to do bigger and bigger amounts of crunches, increase weight.
4. Crunch-Type Exercises
Russian Twist – in a crouch where you’re balancing on your bottom, with your feet crossed and holding in the air, reach back and forth and touch the floor on alternating sides beside your hip. Back and forth is 1 rep. Do these for 1 minute straight.
Related Questions
What Is The Front Zone In Volleyball?
When you look at the volleyball court, there’s a line that runs parallel to the centerline that’s called by 3 different names: the attack line, the 3-meter line, or the 10-foot line. This area between the net and the attack line is called the front zone.
The front zone is where only the front row players are allowed to attack above the height of the net. Other players are allowed to attack, but they must be behind the line, which is outside of the front zone.
If you would like to learn more about the front zone, take a look at What Is The Attack Line in Volleyball?
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What Is A Lift In Volleyball?
In volleyball, you are allowed to hit with any part of your body, but when you hit with your hand you need to be careful not to “lift” which is a fault. A lift is usually called when you hit with your palm of your hand while your palm is facing up.
If you’re going to hit upward from a low position, you want to clasp your hands together and use your forearms to form a platform. This is called a bump or a pass. When you do this properly, there’s no way you would be called for a lift.
If you’d like an in-depth look at lifts in volleyball, check out our article called What Is A Lift in Volleyball?
What Is An Approach In Volleyball?
The lead-up to your attack is your approach. You should have a very consistent footwork pattern that you follow. You should step left-right-left and then jump with both feet.
A strong approach will not just help you jump higher, but help you develop consistency. As you practice that approach over time you’ll get better and better results as you attack.
Photo credits:
Feature image by David Mark from Pixabay
Top spiking image by K.M. Klemencic on flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Spiking on grass image by Matt Sims on flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, cropped.
Medicine ball training image by Nicole De Khors on burst.shopify.com: https://burst.shopify.com/licenses/shopify-some-rights-reserved
Front zone image by Matt Pendleton on flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/
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