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Tennessee Athletics Honors April Chapple at Champions Weekend for Legendary Volleyball Achievements

The Volleyball Outside Hitter: How To Be The Smart Spiker On Your Team

The volleyball outside hitter has options for scoring against opponents to score points including tipping the ball deep or short in the court to mix up your attack.

Oregon State volleyball hitter attacks the seam of the NC State double blockers. (Ralph Arvensen)

Oregon State volleyball outside hitter attacks the seam of the NC State double blockers. (Ralph Arvensen).

Dear Volleyball Mom, Did you know your player can Upgrade their volleyball skills with an expert college volleyball prep coach Las Vegas based April Chapple (that's me!) creator of the Breakfast Club for College Players.

As a volleyball outside hitter one of the smartest things you can do is.....to mix up your attack and NOT hit the ball hard every time you go up for a spike.

Sounds weird, right?

After all, the whole idea behind spiking a ball, is to hit the ball hard right? Wrong. You want to pick the right moments. Check this out.

The Successful Volleyball Outside Hitter Knows How To Mix Up Their Attack

Yes, I know that sounds contradictory...a hitter who doesn't hit the ball, what is that?.

Well, as funny as it sounds, this strategy may be the one that turns you into one of the savviest point scoring players on your team.

Here's how.

Mixing up your shots is one of the smartest things you as a volleyball outside hitter can do to improve your hitting efficiency.

The smart volleyball outside hitter will mix up shots so that it forces the opposing team's block to keep guessing about what's going to happen next.

Blockers will have to keep figuring out what kind of defense they need to use against the hitter.

The Volleyball Outside Hitter:
What Does 'Mixing Up Your Shots' Mean?

I was a left side outside volleyball hitter and for years I spent many hours learning how to spike the ball....hard. (Laura Sassi)

I was a left side outside volleyball hitter and for years I spent many hours learning how to spike the ball....hard.

That's all I did for hours in practice. Hit, hit, hit and hit some more.

But a smart player who I looked up to, taught me the importance of creating a variety of different shots to use in different situations.

Because, as she explained to me, there will be that day when for whatever reason my volleyball spikes just wouldn't get past a particular block.

The Volleyball Outside Hitter: How To Be The Smart Spiker On Your Team: Because, as she explained to me, there will be that day when for whatever reason my volleyball spikes just wouldn't get past a particular block. (Ralph Arvesen)

Sooner or later it happens to every outside hitter.

Sooner or later against one particular team your spikes just won't work.

Your

legs may be tired so you aren't jumping as high, or
your shoulder may be sore so your armswing may not be fast enough, or
their defense just finally figured you out..

...anything can happen.

So you need a plan B.

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When that day comes and your normally hard hits aren't working for you, how are you going to be effective?

How are you going to score the points that your team expects you to?

That's why in practice during spike training, you should do a lot of drills that teach you how to hit the ball hard, but you should also practice

how to tip the ball,
how to roll shot the ball,
how to tip the ball sending it deep in the court as well as being
able to place the ball short, right behind the block.

When I say "mix up your shots" that means you develop a "bag of tools" or a variety of ways to attack the ball.

So that when the block stops your power game, or you want to really keep the opposing team guessing, you have the option of using your finesse game to still score points against the opposing team.

The best way to decide when to start mixing up your shots, is to get in the habit just before you spike the ball of looking to see where the opposing team's defensive players are positioned in their court.

Volleyball Highlights
USA Olympic Volleyball Outside Hitter, Kim Hill

You should identify how far back their defensive players are when your other teammates are hitting or better yet, ask your defensive players to tell you how far back the other team's defensive players are playing or if any of them are playing defense right behind their blockers.

This is a fast way that you can get clues. Use your teammates to help you.

Get them to indicate to you when is the best time and where is the best location to tip, roll shot or to softly place the ball into the opposing team's court.

When I say "mix up your shots" that means you develop a "bag of tools" or a variety of ways to attack the ball.

The Volleyball Outside Hitter: How To Be The Smart Spiker On Your Team: When I say "mix up your shots" that means you develop a "bag of tools" or a variety of ways to attack the ball.

Get them to be your eyes since your back row will see the opposing team's court easier than you will.

Communicate with your back row players by asking them "what's open?"

This is how you can have your back row players help you develop effective attack strategies as an outside hitter in volleyball.

Use them to ask questions about the other team's defense. They aren't there just to dig.

They can help you out as you rotate through the front row.

Find out more about volleyball communication on the court.

You don't have to rely on just your coach to tell you where to hit the ball or what spaces are open.

You can use your back row players as your "seeing-eye" people to help you identify where your tips or roll shots will fall.

So remember, if you've been blocked a couple of times in a row, as an outside volleyball hitter feel free to ask your back row players for some feedback on where to attack the ball.

This is a way to help you decide on which spiking strategies to use as an outside hitter in volleyball.

Watch as the Canisius Griffs volleyball team explain the important role and the responsibilities of the volleyball hitter on a team.

Volleyball Positions: Where You Should Go From Here

Got it? Good! Where do you need to go now? Here are three options:

Learn more about Hitters and Spiking by exploring the Related Links below.
Follow the suggested reading on our Sitemap page Learning How To Play (Sitemap)
Or visit the pages in the Volleyball Positions section in the drop down menu at the top of the page.
Reintroduce yourself to Mr. TT. MUGB, #7 , the left side outside hitter and for the All Beast VolleyBragSwag All Star Team.

Meet T.T. Mugb, aka "Things That Make U Go Boom"
Lion and Ouside Hitter on VolleyBragSwag's All Beast Team

You might like these hitter volleyball pages!

Right Side Hitter Volleyball Stuff The Strength Of The Opposite Side
Discover what makes the right side hitter volleyball position essential with responsibilities, training tips and strategies for mastering this dynamic position.
Setters Volleyball Player Roles, Rules and Responsibilities Explained
Setters volleyball player responsibilities are to run her team's offense and they call the plays hitters run against blockers like a quarterback in football.
Left Side Hitter Volleyball Mastery Of The Outside Hitting Position
Discover what makes the left side hitter volleyball position essential with responsibilities, training tips and strategies for mastering this dynamic position.
Playing The Opposite Position in Volleyball: Tips, Skills and Strategy
Everything you need to know about playing the opposite position in volleyball discover essential tips, skills, and strategies for mastering this crucial role.
The Volleyball Opposite Hitter: Learn Essential Skills and Strategies
Discover what makes volleyball opposite hitters unique. Learn key skills, essential responsibilities, and training tips for excelling in this dynamic position
The Opposite Hitter In Volleyball: Right-Side Skills Strategies Tips
What you should know about the opposite hitter in volleyball position from blocking to attacking strategies to help you understand this versatile position.
The Middle Blocker Volleyball Position Offensive and Defensive Duties
A middle blocker is the team's primary defensive presence at the net, responsible for blocking opponent attacks and running fast and quick offensive plays.
Being A Left Handed Volleyball Setter in the Front Row Has Advantages
For a left handed volleyball setter who receives a good pass, the ball will get to your dominant hand first, which means that you can dump the ball faster.
Volleyball Setter Position: What Makes A Good Setter And Team Leader?
Like quarterbacks in football, the volleyball setter position requires the setter to run the offense by deciding the volleyball plays her offense will run.
Volleyball Positions on the Court: Backrow Rotations in Volleyball
Learn the descriptions and the different backrow volleyball positions on the court and how the rotation in volleyball works in the backrow player positions.
Volleyball Positions and Rotations 3 Front Row Positions in Volleyball
Learn the descriptions and what the different volleyball positions and rotations work for each of these front row player positions.
Volleyball Positions: What Are The Six Volleyball Roles On The Court?
Here's an extensive breakdown of the volleyball positions on the court you can pick to specialize in.including setter, hitter, opposite, middle blocker libero.

Dear Volleyball Mom Do You Know What Sets My Private Volleyball Training Apart From Anyone In Vegas? You should learn what my private volleyball training mission says before considering hiring me as a private volleyball coach because I'm not available for everyone.

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What Sets My Private Volleyball Training Apart From Anyone In Vegas? You should learn what my private volleyball training mission says before you hiring to me as a private volleyball coach because I'm not available for everyone.

From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Honored At UTK Champions Weekend

Lady Vol volleyball legend and record holder Coach April Chapple a University of Tennessee, Knoxville Hall of Fame Inductee, 3-time All American, 3-time SEC Champion, SEC Tournament MVP, 2-time All SEC Team is celebrated with her 1984 SEC champion teammates at Neyland Stadium during Champions Weekend on November 1-2, 2024.

utkaprilcollegepiconneylandstadiumvideoboard

Tennessee Hall of Fame inductee, Coach April Chapple is

the first First Round Draft Pick for the first American pro indoor women's league
named to the first First Team All-Pro team for Major League Volleyball in USA volleyball history
former USA National team member
one of the few American women players named as an Italian Pro League D-I Championship Finalist, Italian Cup Finalist and Cup of Cups Tournament Finalist

April Chapple The first First round Draft Pick For Major League Volleyball the first American Women's Pro League Honored At Athlete Unlimited Pro Volleyball Match

Coach April's 2025 Private and Semi private Volleyball Training

Pre-Registration now open for 2025 Private and Semiprivate Training Sessions with Coach April . Get prepared for club tryouts or train with me during club season!

Email now for information on semiprivate or private indoor skills, individual or small group training volleyball classes and my Breakfast Club for College Players training for 2025.

Invest in your improvement while preepping for your next level and college goals while working hard and training smart.

Email me right now to register or for more information.

info@improveyourvolley.com

Serving slang is not just about individual techniques; it also relates to overall game strategy. A coach might instruct a player to serve a "short serve" or a "deep serve" to target specific areas of the opponent's court or exploit weaknesses in their serve receive formation.

Ari, my private training client and I are working specifically on serving on jump float cross court serves ...short to Zone 2

There's so much we work on to get to this point where she can contact the ball with

the same toss height and same toss location
the same armswing speed
the same timing for when her serving hand contacts the ball
the middle of the hand contacting the middle of the ball every single time
getting use to watching her serving hand contact the ball at the highest point of her jump ...before she starts to land
and finally contacting the ball in the precise spot on the ball so it goes where the coach wants the player to put it so in this case ..a short serve in the farthest short right corner on the court also called Zone 2.

kamiminerpac12setteroftheyearformercoachaprilchappleprivateclient3years

Tommi Stockham All Big West Conference sophomore former Coach April Chapple private client 3 years

katepriorallwestcoastconferencebyufreshmanformercoachaprilchappleprivateclient3years

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Dear Vegas Parent

Read my open letter to Las Vegas Jr high/high school volleyball parents about my predictions on individual and small group volleyball training trends for 2019/2021