(Part 2) 6 Must Have Middle Blocker Skills by Gabi Koeva

PART 2: DEFENSE, ATTACK & COVER

4. DEFENSE

Rule #1 - do not ever let someone underestimate your capability of defending!
I've heard way too many times that no one expects from a MB to be a good defensive player. That's CRAP! (Pardon my language...). MB's can be as good as anyone else in the back of the court, because defense is 10% technique, 10% positioning, 10% reading and 70% pure will not to let the ball touch the ground! When you have the will to do it, the other 30% you can achieve easily by being concentrated and, of course, working on it during practice.

Briefly about the technique -->

Legs a little more than shoulder width apart, knee bent (you're supposed to be in a fairly deep squat position) but your body weight away from your heels so you can be ready to move in all directions.
Arms should be open in front of you and a little on the side as you anticipate the moment and place to catch them before encountering the ball. It is important to maintain this arm position because the ball won't always be coming straight to your arms. In a matter of fact most of the times it ill do the exact opposite, so you must be prepared to defend it in different positions and surfaces.

PRO TIP:
The one thing that totally changed the way I defend was something I read in a book about volleyball. The author was giving a tip on how to react on time when the ball is coming in your direction super fast.

So starting from the very beginning - we (MBs) serve and run quickly to our starting position. It may vary from team to team, as different tactics may be applied, but in the most cases - in zone 5, close to the 3m line and about a step off the side line. After the opponents setter sets the ball we move (or not) as quick as possible to our defense position, meanwhile trying to read the body and arm movements of the attacker, in order to anticipate the place where the ball will come. Here comes the tricky part - I could easily tell approximately which way the ball was going, but by the time I'd make a move fro the ball it would be too late.

Here's what to do - following the "reading the hitter" part you should try to keep your focus (here I mean visual focus, not mental) away from the net, as this is too long of a distance and the ball is going to pass that distance much quicker than your eyes and brain can actually react. Instead intentionally defocus your eyes and focus then on an imaginary surface closer to you. Pretend there's a window you're looking through, for instance, that's somewhere up to 1m 1/2 from where you're standing. This way when the ball comes in the area of your focus it will be on a distance close enough to ensure it's trajectory is constant and you can just place your arms where needed.

I really hope this tip will help you! For me personally it was a game changer - it turned my defense in one of my strongest skills!

5. ATTACK

After setter's second ball, MB's attack is the quickest offensive option for a team.
The timing of the jump is a crucial factor for first tempo attack. It depends on your own preferences and those of your setter, but there are several other things you can focus on to Up your game in offense.

First, focus on avoiding one of the most common mistakes - jumping too close to the net.
Make sure you start your approach a couple of steps further from where you usually do. In this way when you swing you'll find yourself in optimal position comparing to the net and your setter - that should be about 75cm to a meter distance.

Secondly pay extreme attention to the movement of your hitting arm.
This is one of the most important things you can actually control about your attack (since others may be depending on the set, the opponents block and etc.). When you swing for first tempo or 7, try to make your first step slower as you are preparing, watching the ball and your setter. Then make your right-left steps as quick and as explosive as possible while you lift your arm ready to hit the ball. In the moment your left leg touches the ground your arm should be almost all the way up already.

If you're approaching for a slide your arm swing must be even quicker! You should be making your approach with body fairly close to the ground. While accelerating your approach, your body posture should become higher. With the last step you jump from your left leg and at the same time you must pull your body upwards with the help of your bent in the knee right leg and your right arm. Right knee and right arm should go up simultaneously.

These two tips will let you see better the opponent's block and even be faster than it with your attack.

6. COVER

Cover is in a way also a type of defense. We're only not defending our court from the opponent's offense but from it's block. It's very important because it gives you and your team another possibility to organize counter attack.

As a MB you should know how a kill block affects your team's mindset and what a huge motivation booster it can be. You know also how frustrating it can be when you block an attacker again and again but the ball never hits the ground, as your opponent's teammates keep on covering.

Main tips about your skills in cover are:

Your position: low and close to the ground and as in defense - your arms away from your body. Place yourself in the court depending on team tactics and wether you're on the net or backcourt.
Don't try to follow the ball all the way from the hitter's hand to where it bounces off the block since this will give you less time for reaction as the ball will change it's trajectory several times. Instead keep your attention on the surface of the block, again using the "tip" for having your visual focus in an imaginary surface closer to you. Then just try to react and keep the ball alive! Even if you don't succeed sometimes even an attempt will be enough to give your teammate more confidence in her/his next attack.

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Hopefully these tips were useful for you and you enjoyed reading.And remember that usually small changes and improvements are what makes the big difference in your confidence and performance!

Be bold and until the next time! -Gabi Koeva (Team Bulgaria)

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6 Must Have Middle Blocker Skills!
by Gabi KOEVA (Team Bulgaria)

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Being a middle blocker is not an easy job - you are the player that may jump an run the most in a rally and still get no sets, or even make a full turn from serve to serve without even scoring a point. Boring, you might say? Well let me tell you something - your team might have the best outside hitters, a great setter and libero, but if it doesn't have good middles it will never be complete!

A dear friend of mine - coach Giovanni Giudetti (several time champion and cup holder of Turkey, 2 times Champions League gold medalist with the team of VakifBank Istanbul, 2 times European Championship medalist with team Germany, currently coaching team Netherlands and VakifBank) explains the role of a middle blocker - "The MB is like the bass guitar - you rarely feel it's presence, but you know a good song can never go without it!" He says a good team is like a chain of platinum - all the parts are strong. But if you have a couple of them made out of plastic, when you put pressure on the chain it will brake in the weak spots. That's exactly how important the MB is for a team - it holds it together and makes it complete!

So....What Does It Take To Be An Elite MB?

Let's start from the very beginning of the game and follow on through all the skills:

Serve
Reception
Block
Defense
Attack
Cover

1. SERVICE

It all starts there. Don't ever underestimate the importance of a good serve. It may give you very big advantage in a game, as it puts the other team in difficulties organizing their attack, makes it uncomfortable for the opponent setter to play quick and most likely will make it much easier for your team to block, defend and organize a counter-attack.

Your serve may vary from a jump float to a jump (spin) serve, from a normal float close to the end line to a float serve from distance. Your technique may be very individual as well, so here I won't try to explain that in particular (since I can only talk about my own technique and out of my experience) but instead I will point out two other important things.

#1 | Consistency!
Put goals during training to make as less mistakes as possible. Find the right amount of risk you can take and still be sure to put the ball in the other court when it's important. Of course an easy serve won't help your team much, so it's again about balance. I struggled with making too many mistakes on serve so I was staying after practice and I wouldn't leave until I made 10 consecutive good serves in every zone of the court. If I'd make a mistake I would start from zero...Sometimes it takes forever, especially after practice when you're tired and less focused, but that's exactly how you'd feel during the 5th set of a long, stressful match.

#2 | - Precision!
You need to be able to put the ball exactly where you want in the court as this might be crucial for your team block and defense tactics. Same thing applies here - practice it extra if you don't feel confident. There's a funny way of motivating the players one of my national team coaches used to apply. He'd put a narrow elastics band between the two antennas, aprox. 30-35cm above the net level and then he'd put a small bank-note (like a $10 bill) in a specific place in the court. The goal would be to serve under the elastic band and hit the target. Who ever does it first takes the bill! It sure was fun, but it's not that easy. ;)

2. RECEPTION

An important skill for a good MB is receiving the short serve. But more importantly, receiving and preparing for attack afterwards. There's always an idea behind the short serve and it usually is taking out the MB's attack and focusing on the outsides. So your goal must be to avoid letting the opponent's tactic work.

Be ready in your reception position which is no different from the position of a reception player. If you are on the left side and must be ready to attack on the right (or vice versus) - make sure you pass to the middle court before the ball arrives to your court. This might be tricky as sometimes ball hits the net, drops in your court and while you're moving you have less time to react. So keep your eyes on the ball and be ready!
When the serve comes to you make sure you pass it precise and high enough so you have time to make your swing and attack.
Ask your setter about where and how he/she prefers the ball, when you're passing short serves from the right side.

PROTIP | I'll tell you from my experience, they all like when you give the ball high and in front of where their position is! It helps them see the opponents block and organize better attack. If you pass the ball behind them it will be uncomfortable.

3. BLOCK

So there it is, the key skill for a middle - the block! It's not easy to block, especially when you play high level volleyball, against teams with good reception, good setters, good MBs and hitters that play quick ball. It comes with a lot of experience and practice, but there are few things you can focus on that will help you get better.

#1 | First is your "ready position" for block - knee's bent, bodyweight balanced on your feet (off of your heels but it doesn't mean on your toes) and ready to move, arms straight, ready to block first tempo attack and setter's second ball, standing about 30cm off the net so you have a clear view of the other court.

#2 | Next comes preparing for the quickest attack - the opponent's MB attack. When serve goes in the other court the MB will prepare for attack, just as you would do. So follow her/him with a step or two and make sure you're close enough to be able to block. Immediately after that look at the opponent's setter and try to read where the set will go. If you have studied her/his technique and movements (I always take extra time during video sessions to study the setter) you would be able to read in advance or maybe just in time to go in the right direction for blocking.

#3 | After that it's time for your movement. If you take a look at videos of elite MBs around the world, you'll see they all make powerful,quick and big steps, close to the ground. I could describe this cross-step movement as a "side lunge + front lunge + jump" and I hope you can picture it like that (work on these movements when you're lifting weights, it will boost your blocking skills to the next level!!!).

#4 | Then last but not least - your arms position when you block. Your arms should be facing the court, parallel to the net and over it as much as possible. Make sure you take out all the extra movements of your arms when you swing for block, as they must pass as close as possible to the net. Once your arms are on the other side of the net, you should keep them strong, using the power of your core (the core is something else you should pay quite a lot of attention too while lifting weights or warming up).

PRO TIP | Core stability is a crucial factor in all sports and in all volleyball skills because your core means the center, the base of your body. It's extremely important in attack and block.

Make sure when you are in the flying faze of your block jump to have your core nice and tight, a little bit behind the level of your shoulders, so you have a better angel of putting your arms over the net. This is one of the most common mistakes in block - core and shoulder level are the same and that obstructs the arms of going over the net as it's anatomically and physically impossible. Simply said - keep your tummy away from the net and your shoulders close to it!

Of course closing the gap between the block (making wider steps might help) and reading the attacker are important too, but that all comes with practice and it might also be depending on your team tactics.

PRO TIP | An useful exercise could be again using the elastic band tied between the antennas. This time you will make your cross-step swing parallel to the net and when you jump you will try to put your arms under the elastic over the net. This way you will practice eliminating the extra arm movements, as this will help you improve your blocking skills.

...to be continued

-GABI KOEVA

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