How To Be A Middle Hitter In Volleyball Video

The volleyball middle hitter attacks from both in front of the setter and sliding behind the setter. Learn how to be a middle hitter in this volleyball video.

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Hit balls from middle of net
Beat defense with speed & quickness
Make left-right-left approach
Improve slide approach

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Todd is the head coach for the University of Central Florida's women's volleyball team. Prior to that he coached as USC where they competed in the division one final four. He has also been a part of the coaching delegation for the USA women's team in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. He was an assistant at Michigan University early in his career and simply loves the sport and coaching it where ever he is.

TODD DAGENAIS: In this segment, I'm going to talk to you about how to be a middle hitter. Now, we already know a middle blocker is in charge of making sure that nobody hits the ball through the middle of the court, but that same middle blocker has to be a good attacker too. They're going to hit balls in the middle of the net using the same approach that an outside hitter uses which means they're going to go left, right-left, and they're going to jump and hit a ball. A lot of times that ball in the middle is a lot shorter set than the one that set high into the outside. It's a much quicker attack and it's designed to make sure that you can beat the defense with speed and quickness, not so much with height and power. So a middle hitter is going to attack with a left, right-left approach. They're going to get to the setter very quick and they're going to hit the ball as quickly as they can. That's only one aspect of what a middle hitter does. They may hit that ball quick in front of the center, but the game has really evolved and the middle hitter having to hit off of one leg behind the setter. This is called a slide approach and this is something that's becoming more and more popular with basketball players who grew up and then convert into the game of volleyball. A slide approach starts with the pass going to the setter's hands and the setter releasing the ball, the middle hitter running as if they were going to run a lay-up in basketball, jumping straight up in the air, stopping their body in the middle of the air, pulling their left arm down to stabilize their body and start the rotation, contact on top of the ball with a snap of the wrist and driving the ball past the block somewhere into an area that's not being defended. If you can master, as a middle hitter, attacking in front of the setter and the slide approach behind the setter, you are going to be a great.

How to Be a Middle Hitter in Volleyball Video

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