Talking On The Volleyball Court: 
Always Call Out Where The Hitters Are

Before your team serves you should be talking on the volleyball court to inform teammates about where the hitters and the setter is on the opposing team. 

Oklahoma Sooner blockers call out the hitters on the opposing team (Ralph Arvesen). Before your team serves your front row players and back row players should be talking on the volleyball court.

Your team should be talking on the volleyball court before the serve.

Your front row players and back row players should calling out where the opposing team players are.

Here's some important information they should be saying....

• call out which hitters could get set
• identify where those hitters are
• confirm whether the setter is in the front row
• tell everyone if the setter is on the backrow

Before your team serves your front row players should be talking on the volleyball court. Before the serve Tennessee blockers call out the hitters on the opposing team. (TennesseeJournalist)

If you are in the back row, then you also need to call out  where and who the front row hitters are on the opposite team.  

Calling out the opposing team’s front row hitters is not just a job for the blockers, it’s everybody’s responsibility to identify who on the other team is capable or eligible to send the ball over to your side.

If the player on my right isn’t saying anything about what they see and the player on my left isn’t talking to me between plays, then I have no way of knowing if we are all seeing the same thing.

And as a team we need to all be seeing the same thing.

(John Carrel) Front row Nebraska setter runs a quick attack to her middle blocker while opposing team blockers wait and watch.

Here’s something else to think about.

When a crime is committed did you know that most eyewitnesses don’t report seeing the same thing?

No joke, thirty people can witness a crime and the police will get twenty to thirty completely different eyewitness accounts.

Think about that for a minute.

People see things developing in different ways and that includes girls volleyball players.

Do the three or six of us all know that the setter on the other team is front row?

(John Carrel) Nebraska setter runs a double quick attack to her middle blocker and opposite hitter while opposing team blockers wait and watch.

Just because we should know, doesn’t mean we do know and time and time again balls fall in front of the one or two players caught by surprise because they didn’t

• see
• know or
• identify

some key information that all of their other teammates knew or should have told them.

It isn’t necessarily their fault that they didn’t see what happened, but it is the responsibility of one or more players to call out, talk to and make sure that everybody knows what is happening.

Think about it...

if three people on a team of six players are not communicating about what they see developing either during a play or before it, that’s half a team not talking to each other!

Before your team serves your front row players should be talking on the volleyball court. Xavier blockers call out opposing team hitters before the serve in volleyball. (Laurie Mayer)

So my front row teammates may know that the other team’s setter is in the front row, but if my back row players don’t know this....

...when she dumps the ball into our court and my team's back row defense is taken by surprise because they didn’t know that the opposing team’s setter was front row, then who should have said something?

Before the serve in volleyball blockers should talk about whether the setter is in the front row so they're ready to block her if she tries to dump the ball. (Al Case)

The answer is “everybody.”

If six players call out “front row setter”, or “watch the cross court hit” or something similar, then all six players know what each other is seeing and thinking.

Everyone is in the loop.

In professional volleyball, when I played back row, before my team served the ball I would ask one, two or three of my front row players “Hey______ you got that front row setter, right?” or “hey_______ don’t forget she likes to hit cross court.”

On each and every play that I was back row, I talked about what I saw developing and I gave my blocker(s) valuable court information quickly, so I knew that we were all on the same page with everyone ready to see and react to the same thing when it happened. 

This has been an important message by your favorite volleyball coach! That's me!!

Thanks for visiting.

Be sure to check out more of my volleyball articles by clicking one of the links below!  (April Chapple)

Follow me on Instagram @coach_apchap to improve your game even faster!

I share alot of individual, partner and easy-to-do volleyball serving drills we do in class with my followers.

Many of these volleyball practice drills you can do at home by yourself or try at your next practice with your teammates.

If you're a B team or JV player trying to make varsity next year...your goal should be to complete 1000 reps a day of at least three of the basic skills on your own...volleyball passing, serving and setting should be at the top of the list. 

1. Improve Your Volleyball Performance with Vegas VB Coach April Chapple
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2. Six High School Varsity Volleyball Skills That Top Prep Players Crush
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3. Talking On The Volleyball Court: Always Call Out Where The Hitters Are
 ›

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