How to fix a leaning/off balance problem

[vbcrew]

So i coach a club team of 18 year old girls and one of my outside hitters is always off balance when she attacks the ball and basically looks like she is about to fall over in the air. She is a right handed hitter so when she goes up she leans way over to her left, kind of a common problem sometimes with hitters. What is the best way to go about trying to correct this issue to get her body more straight up and down when she makes contact with the ball? any suggestions?

[simplycurious]

Based on the information you've provided, the first thing I'd examine is her approach. It sounds like she isn't getting her feet to the ball. I see a multitude of players who make their approach without it being in relationship to the set. This tends to happen a lot for left and right-side hitters, however it's most prevalent on the left-side. Players who have this problem start their approach before the ball hits it's peak, so they can't adjust until they're in the air. This leads to not only the problem you mentioned (ie. - being off balanced), but also hitting the ball outside the line of their body - which causes shoulder problems. If they're taught to wait until the ball is on it's way down before they take the first step of their approach, they can then make that step to the ball. If the set is too far inside (or even outside) they should use proper footwork (I prefer shuffling) to get their feet to the ball, then take their normal approach. So, this is where I'd focus my attention in order to address the problem. Now I may not have all of the information, but based on what you've said, this is what it sounds like to me. Good luck!

[palo]

Also she is more then likely "dropping her shoulder" (in this case her left shoulder) Players drop the shoulder because they feel it gives them more power. (however they don't realize that they actually hit lower when this happens and get blocked more often) She needs to focus on getting both arms in there air as she jumps, reaching with both arms will keep her more level. Some players may be reticent to change because they feel they are doing well so why change...just be patient it may take a while for a player to adjust. (Especially a senior)
PS I love coaching

[morkfromork]

Two reasons: 1. She needs to spot the ball on her right side and attack, 2. She probably throws her left arm out to the left before contact. She need to tuck it by her hip. This is a big reason hitters fall off balance, throwing their left arm outside their body.

[soothsayer]

Hold on a second. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but you don't want to be "upright" when attacking. Isn't the idea that the tilt (non-hitting shoulder down) raises the hitting arm, makes the point of contact higher?



Oops. Not that one.



Photos from www.arcticferret.us/

[vbcrew]

well yes but there is a difference with that picture and this girl on the team. This girl is off balance and leaning from the start of her jump basically, the girl in the picture is extending her arm when she starts swinging at the ball and is still in balance. The girl i'm talking about does get her feet to the ball a lot of time but is just off balance from the start of her jump, it could be her left arm like someone had mentioned earlier. Guess i'll have to look more closely at that next practice. Any other ideas are welcome.

[ESTRELLA]

I would suggest that you go to LOWEs or Home Depot and buy rail so she does not fall out of the sky. Best tool in town. ;D

Estrella -

[IdahoBoy]

Change her position to libero... that'll fix it.

[iknowiu]

Have seen this problem result in a blown knees. The only way to land after the overtilt is on one foot...with the full body weight. Repeated X thousands of jumps...the end is not pretty. Two-foot landings are great...when all is perfect (how often is that?).

Practice does not make perfect. PERFECT PRACTICE makes PERFECT. This is where coaching make all the difference. Knowledge applied early can help athletes avoid bad habits. The orthopedic docs make lots of $ from these tilting stars.

Am not a coach...but there is written material out there for those who need to brush up on technique. I know some coaches are big on correcting technique...others just overlook the problem as long as the result is a point.

[fingrbustr]

Soothsayer is correct -- to get max extension, the off shoulder will naturally be lower than the hitting shoulder (unless your hitter suffers from robot-itis).

Sounds like she is indeed hitting away from her body (outside the "line"). Keep it simple to fix this not-so-simple ailment...tell her to (1) focus on leaving her hips OPEN to the court when hitting LS and (2) try to avoid rotating her shoulders past square w/ the backline when she closes her trunk rotation (I like to say start the shoulders "45 degrees to your target"...I've heard some other coaches say "left side hitter aim at area 5/left back", and so on...). Stress too that (3) she needs to use her off-arm (left, in this case) to sight the ball up (after vicious backswing for max vertical, of course).

Have her focus (conscientiously and religiously) on these three simple things and her technique should start to clean up. Tell her too her current style is dorky and that the vball guys won't dig on her wacko style...that should bring about change.

[doc]

iknowiu said:

Have seen this problem result in a blown knees. The only way to land after the overtilt is on one foot...with the full body weight. Repeated X thousands of jumps...the end is not pretty. Two-foot landings are great...when all is perfect (how often is that?).

Practice does not make perfect. PERFECT PRACTICE makes PERFECT. This is where coaching make all the difference. Knowledge applied early can help athletes avoid bad habits. The orthopedic docs make lots of $ from these tilting stars.

Am not a coach...but there is written material out there for those who need to brush up on technique. I know some coaches are big on correcting technique...others just overlook the problem as long as the result is a point.

I couldn't agree more. Washington has a person in practice keep track of players who don't land on two feet.

I don't know much about volleyball but it sounds like a lot of good stuff being said. However, it's like somebody giving 15 different explanations to teach a golf swing. The best thing is to use video. Show the player what it is supposed to look like from film of a good OH then show them what they look like on film. Film is a much better teacher than talking.

[palo]

Soothsayer: IMO no you do NOT want to look like the girl hitting in your second picture. That girl is dropping her shoulder and is limiting her hitting options (of course when there is no block who needs options). She is sacraficing for the sake of power. She is unbalanced (possibly landing one footed) but also cannot hit multiple shots. Once a hitter drops his/her shoulder he/she is pretty much commited to hitting cross court. Good blockers can read this and drop into the power shot. It is very difficult to hit for power down line after dropping your shoulder. Most line shots from here have to be cross body rollers (which better hit the corner to score). More often players will over rotate when trying to bring the ball line from that position.

Staying upright with your shoulders level to the ground allows for a more free range of motion. Allowing a torso twist to hit down line and for the cross court dislocate shot (which will cause shoulder problems). Plus when done correctly as much or more power can be gained from using your abs and back to hit then merely your shoulder.

As for reaching higher after you drop your off shoulder, this may add a few inches to your peak, but more times players end up dragging the ball down into the block when they get on top of it. Most middles use this technique. They come straight over the top of the ball and pull it to the floor. For an outside hitter (which I assume is what we are discussing) it is much better for that player to be hitting high shots with top spin. I guess it really depends what level of player you are, but I know fom personal experience that an OH that drops down on the ball is going to get snuffed by the block. Its an easy read and quick adjustment for the blocker. The hitter needs to leave himself/herself as many options as possible.

That's just my take on the two second situation that occurs at the tape. Any other thoughts?

[ugsba]

Here is a simple drill to get the player to the ball and more importantly: BALANCED. Have the player not hit the ball over the net, but have the player HEAD (Soccer-style) the ball over the net. This should force the player to get her feet to the ball and keep the ball in front of her.

[Phaedrus]

1) Does she jump swinging both arms together?
2) Does she reach for the ball with both arms?
3) How wide apart are her right and left for the second and third step of her approach?

A lot of players only extend their hitting arm but not the left arm. Reaching high with both arms and learning to drop the left hand as the right up is up and cocked will alleviate the problem somewhat.

The step width characteristics is a problem only if they are falling forward towards the net as they jump, they don't have a stable platform to convert all the foreward momentum to upward motion, so they are falling forward and ending up not hitting the ball where they think they are hitting the ball.

[foreignball]

vbman said:

So i coach a club team of 18 year old girls and one of my outside hitters is always off balance when she attacks the ball and basically looks like she is about to fall over in the air.

If this is not her 1st ever club season I would advise the parents to call her previous coaches and ask for refund ......this is something that must have been fixed at age of 15.