The start of the volleyball practices has left me tired, but exhilarated. The team works well together, though we're still working out minor issues such as rotational problems. I'm currently working as an outside hitter, with possibilities of being a setter or a libero. My area of weakness that I need to work on is where I need to go when at the net as outside hitter, the transition from blocking to hitting, and then setting correctly when I'm in setter position. My areas of strength are spiking the ball over the net as outside hitter and getting the ball up from the ground as libero and outside back.
We've initiated a lot of activities as a team, including warm ups, which we modify to suit our own individual strengths, needs for our positions, and areas we can work on. From there we often team up with another player who will benefit from the warm up. As a team we also understand the importance of working together and enjoying each others company, so we have group warm ups as well, including our dynamic warm up and often we do a "butterfly drill;" this drill is basically a rotational exercise that involves spiking, blocking, and digging the ball to improve our overall skills as a team.
As a team we need to work on communication, which is calling the ball, and also verbal support of our team mates on court. This is a problem because when we don't speak, we often miss the ball as we wait for someone else to get it, or several people collide at once trying to get the ball. When this happens the team overall feels worse off, creating a tense atmosphere that isn't helpful to playing. You can see the difference when we communicate in both our ability to play and win and our overall team spirit.
Libero is a new challenge for me, one that I'm quickly getting new skills from (and lots of new bruises). The role of libero is to get the ball up from the floor and to support other players if they can't reach the ball. I've done a lot of what the team calls "pancaking," which is basically attacking and sliding along the floor on any part of your body in order to reach the ball before it hits the court. What I need to work on most is hitting the ball with two hands while I'm on the floor, because I have the bad habit of hitting it with one hand, which only works part of the time. I can work on this by actively thinking through the process, I also just need to practice my role of libero. A lot. While I am getting better at supporting other players on court as libero, which entails getting behind them when they hit the ball in case they miss or the ball spins off, I need to work on getting there faster.
Overall, I love volleyball practice, and am committed to continuing the sport.
