logo for best-volleyball-equipment.com
Home
Site Search
Cardio Workouts
Weight Lifting
Volleyballs
Net Systems
Volleyball Shoes
Volleyball Jerseys
Volleyball Shorts
Volleyball Socks
Volleyball Knee Pads
Volleyball Pants
Volleyball Workouts
Volleyball Coaching
How to Play Volleyball
Volleyball Drills
Volleyball Terms
Volleyball Positions
Volleyball Rotations
Volleyball for Dummies
Volleyball basics
Basic Volleyball Rules
Volleyball History
Volleyball Quotes
Contact Info
Volleyball Sitemap
Website Policies



LEFT for strength-and-power-for-volleyball.com

Volleyball Spike Techniques

Learning how to spike a volleyball, creating topspin and ball control








The following are the basic steps to learning how to volleyball spike.

Master the Ball Contact

Volleyball spike The most important part of spiking is the contact. How you contact the ball will determine how well you spike.

The following are the 3 most important concepts for spiking...
  1. Contacting the ball with a vertical arm.


  2. Contacting the ball using an elbow to wrist arm action.


  3. Contacting the ball in a way that creates topspin.

Get the Elbow up and Contact with a Vertical Arm

A "vertical arm" means the arm is perpendicular to the ground. We want the arm to be vertical because a vertical arm allows you to make a higher contact and more powerful spike. A lot of players will reach a few inches higher just by making this adjustment.

Watch yourself on video

If you are unsure if your arm is vertical or you have a coach constantly telling you to get your elbow up and you can't feel it, then film yourself spiking. If you see it on film it's easier to understand what it means to have a vertical arm.

Get your elbow close to your ear

Often a good cue is to start with the elbow close to your ear before you spike. This will put your arm in a vertical position before you swing to contact the ball.

Contact the ball With an Elbow to Wrist Arm Action

Volleyball Approach The elbow to wrist arm action is the last part of the spike. It's usually best to work on this armswing first before learning to approach because trying to volleyball approach and get your arm vertical and use elbow to wrist is often too many things to think about when first learning how to spike.

Start with just an elbow to wrist action. Don't follow through. Use a wall or find a partner and work on elbow to wrist.

Think of just moving the arm from elbow to wrist. For example, from shoulder to elbow there shouldn't be much arm motion. Most of the movement is from elbow to wrist.

It's like hammering in a nail. Imagine you are hammering in a nail up overhead. In the photo on the right, the arm is in the hammer position, ready to spike.

Contact the Ball Creating Topspin

Often a tough concept to grasp is spiking with topspin.

The purpose of topspin is...
  • Contacting the ball in a way that gives you more ball control. Spin = Control. Every time you spike, you should be contacting the ball in a way that creates spin. The exception is when serving. Serving the ball with "no spin" is called a float serve. The purpose of a float serve is to serve the ball in a way that the ball floats making it hard for the opponent to pass.


  • Topspin makes the ball drop into the court. Often the ball will sail out of bounds because the ball doesn't have topspin.


  • Topspin can be deceptive. A server with really good topspin can serve the ball deep and drop it in the court. This is often very deceiving and results in aces.


  • Topspin creates confidence. Players that learn how to hit with spin are more confident because they have more spiking control. If a player can consistently hit with spin, they will be easier to adjust to sets which results in spiking with more confidence.

Volleyball Spike to How to Play Volleyball

How to Play Volleyball to Best Volleyball Equipment Home








spacer for footer for Best Volleyball Equipment