Factors for Determining a Starting Rotation

[Deleted]

I wanted to see what some of you consider when deciding which rotation to start in (assuming we are in a 5-1). I know there's not one clear-cut answer, but what are some of the factors you weigh? Things like: I always start my top OH in 4 or 5; I stack my best servers early; I always start in my best side-out rotation, etc. 

[trojansc]

You're gonna get a thousand answers and none of them are necessarily wrong. And you could probably counter every claim and still be right: It all depends on the opponent and situation. the game plan is different for all games. Some teams are weak at receiving floats, some have undersized/weak blockers on one of the pins. That could affect whether you start your best hitter at left front or as your first server.

A lot of different philosophies when it comes to where to start. I know Mick tried a lot of stuff in 2013 for USC, and he actually thought it was better to line up Bricio Nwanebu Olgard next to each other, but that meant there was a rotation with Shaw Schraer Ruddins in the front row. Bricio was clearly the teams best server, but at seasons end it was Shaw as the team's first server.

In a 5-1, sometimes coaches will start their stud OH and stud OPP next to eachother, meaning the weak OH is next to the setter and there are two rotations with neither big hitter in the front row. Others will put their strongest OH next to the setter if their OPP is the other big hitter that way there is only one rotation without either in the front.

Some coaches like to find a system and stick with it and make very little changes. Others are gutsy, and will make in game changes like send their setter to block Left front and have their OH go to the right-side, leaving no outside hitter in that rotation.

[Deleted]

How are you going to sideout and how are you going to score in each rotation? That's where you start.

Unfortunately, the variable is always going to be your opponent and your opponent's rotation. That's why coaches get paid to make these decisions.

[c4ndlelight]

Weakest sideout rotation last is under-appreciated. Giving yourself one fewer chance per set to give up a big run is huge.

[dorothymantooth]

Points per rotation for your own team, match-ups vs opponents.

[joetrinsey]

Jun 26, 2015 19:16:09 GMT -5 c4ndlelight said:

Weakest sideout rotation last is under-appreciated. Giving yourself one fewer chance per set to give up a big run is huge.

Agreed.

Your weakest rotation should be at least as strongly considered as your best rotation.

[joetrinsey]

That's part of it for sure. It seems like Rotation 1, more than any other rotation, takes time to gel and figure out. With us changing lineups every night, we knew Ro 1 would be a little shaky. And it was.

[Deleted]

Joe, I was inspired to start this thread after reading this article of yours: www.goldmedalsquared.com/blog/volleyball-lineups/. I particularly noted the comments you made on matchups:

"I haven’t discussed matchups or anything yet. I do this for two reasons: One, I haven’t really seen any compelling evidence that suggests the power of matchups. Ie, is it better to play your best-blocking opposite against their best leftside (because it will slow them down), or is the effect of that blocker pretty much equal (because if they can slow down the top leftside, they could probably shut down the other one) across the board? Two, the risk for adjusting your lineup for a matchup is that the other team will adjust and thus leave you with a sub-optimal starting lineup AND the wrong matchups. “A bird in the hand…” they say."

[Deleted]

Getting a quick lead is big in rally scoring. If you are lucky enough to have this scenario with your team this lineup can do great things: your best hitter (top2) is your opposite and your best server is your setter. Start In R1. It helps 3 fold. Big hitter in left front. Big server starting. AND your likely weakest blocker, the setter, in right back to limit rotations up front.

[Deleted]

Unless you subscribe to the rope-a-dope coaching philosophy.

[rainbowbadger]

Jun 27, 2015 7:29:30 GMT -5 @decadesofvb said:

Getting a quick lead is big in rally scoring. If you are lucky enough to have this scenario with your team this lineup can do great things: your best hitter (top2) is your opposite and your best server is your setter. Start In R1. It helps 3 fold. Big hitter in left front. Big server starting. AND your likely weakest blocker, the setter, in right back to limit rotations up front.

This is what Wisconsin did in 2014. Courtney Thomas at RS was easily our best hitter, and Lauren Carlini was (is) our best server. But she's also a good blocker, so we didn't have that liability when she rotated to the front. Worked well for us.

[Longhorn20]

Jun 27, 2015 7:29:30 GMT -5 @decadesofvb said:

Getting a quick lead is big in rally scoring. If you are lucky enough to have this scenario with your team this lineup can do great things: your best hitter (top2) is your opposite and your best server is your setter. Start In R1. It helps 3 fold. Big hitter in left front. Big server starting. AND your likely weakest blocker, the setter, in right back to limit rotations up front.

This sounds a bit like what Texas will be in 2015! Hope they start out this way as well!

[c4ndlelight]

Jun 27, 2015 7:29:30 GMT -5 @decadesofvb said:

Getting a quick lead is big in rally scoring. If you are lucky enough to have this scenario with your team this lineup can do great things: your best hitter (top2) is your opposite and your best server is your setter. Start In R1. It helps 3 fold. Big hitter in left front. Big server starting. AND your likely weakest blocker, the setter, in right back to limit rotations up front.

But your opposite isn't necessarily going to be very strong hitting from the left (particularly if she's a lefty). And even if they are not necessarily bad, it's not where they are used to hitting from and they can be less effective because of that.

There are a lot of teams that are quite BAD at siding out in Ro1, but continue to start out there, and continually give themselves an extra rotation every set where they can get stuck.

[Deleted]

On serve receive? Do a lot of teams actually choose to receive first serve in Ro1?

[cardinalvolleyball]

Jun 27, 2015 11:52:29 GMT -5 @ruffda said:

On serve receive? Do a lot of teams actually choose to receive first serve in Ro1?

I would imagine so if they are playing the odds. Would be curious to see what the side out percentages are for best and worst rotations for the top teams.

Playing match-ups might not always work, but if you are just looking at your own side-out percentages that would be a good place to start as to which rotation you should start in