1. Know Your Job
If you are the one who is passing on the volleyball team, your job is to redirect the ball so the ball is in the correct position for the setter to set up the hitter. This way the hitter creates the best attack, one that the opposing team can't come back from. Your general skills may have landed you the position of the passer. If you normally have excellent direction changes on the ball, you most likely will be the passer on the team. The team needs these skills as well as others to make the best attack. Know your skills and personality and you'll make the most of them when on the court.
2. Work on Passing the Basics
Learn the basics of passing first, such as the overhead or overhand pass; become experienced with these passing techniques before you move beyond them. It is easy to spin the ball while passing, so work on an even distribution of weight and force on both sides of the ball. Square up your body to the pass so that the ball goes in the right direction, to the setter.
3. Called For Carrying
In volleyball, the rules state that no player may catch or carry the ball. As the passer on the team, this is the rule you are most likely to break. To avoid this, keep your palms off the ball. The dig, or the forearm pass, the overhand pass, and even the more advanced passes such as the lateral pass and high ball pass, require that your palms avoid contact with the ball.
4. Step Up Your Game
When you are ready to try some of the more advanced techniques, try practicing with a coach watching. The idea of the more advanced passing techniques is to recover balls that were attacked in such a fashion by the opposing team as to create a "no return" situation. You can sometimes return high, hard driven balls using the highball pass, which essentially deflects the speeding ball to the setter and slows it down a bit. The lateral pass reaches outside the players reach and keeps them in play. Spectacular moves to return those spikes over the net include dives, rolls and sprawls, all with the player hitting the floor to save the team a point loss.
5. Do the Safety Stretch
Keep your legs and arms loose and warm up appropriately. Passers need to move quickly to get to the ball and position themselves to properly pass. Any muscles that are not loose may get pulled. Avoid injury by warming up and stretching both before and after the match.
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