How to Pass a Volleyball

Many people begin their volleyball journey at a young age, however, you can begin at any age. Any skill can be picked up at any point with the right mindset. The sport of volleyball requires good hand eye coordination and agility. The first official game of volleyball was played July 7, 1896 at Springfield college, which is located in Springfield Massachusetts. This is where the long journey of different rules, moves, etc. would be created. There are all sorts of moves to do in volleyball, but the most important one is passing. Those of you who do not know what a ‘pass’ is, I will explain it to you in only three easy steps.

All you will need is a single volleyball like the picture above.

In order to pass a volleyball, we must begin with the footwork. We will want to be going to want to have your feet shoulder width apart. This is going to set us up for a great pass. Once that is done, we can get started on the platform. We will want to establish a nice and flat platform. Your platform consists of the area from the elbow down to the wrist, and is where the volleyball should hit. We are going to want to extend our arms straight in order for the ball to hit nicely. This is a crucial step for a great pass.

We are going to want to make sure our hands are closed. For this step, we will want to make a thumbs up with the left or right hand. I like to do the thumbs up with my dominant hand, and then we will take our other hand and put it around our thumbs up sort of like a blanket. We are going to then bend our thumbs and make sure they are flat on our hands and parallel with each other. This will ensure that we don’t accidentally break a finger when going for a ball.

Now that we have established our stance and platform, we are going to focus on the actual impact. As the ball is coming towards us, we should bend our knees and get low. We do this so that we have enough energy to push the ball with our legs rather than with the arms. Using our arms will cause the pass to shank, so we need to make sure we use our leg and core muscles. This is going to give us control. Another quick tip to know is that we should not put our arms together until we are actually passing the ball. If we were to need to run for a ball, we will be faster if we do not have our arms together yet.

Now, to the actual stepping that goes into passing. We are going to take a little hop and step into the direction we want the ball to go. We do this as the ball hits our flat platform. We should also ensure that our body is facing where we want ball to go. It could also help to be looking and focusing on the spot we want the ball to go. All of these little tips, whether we are just beginning this sport or we are experienced will help us to improve our overall game.