Three Types Of Volleyball Blocks For Indoor Players To Learn

Part six of the volleyball terms study guide for blocking is where I define what it means to one-on-one block, swing block and triple block.

As I've mentioned before, the block is the first line of defense used to attempt to keep your opponent from spiking successfully into your court.
The terms discussed in this article deal with more advanced blocking skills where players use different ways to position themselves on the court in order to perform a successful block or to take away a significant amount of area so that they direct the balls right to their teammates playing defensive behind them.

one-on-one block - The one-on-one blocking scenario is created when a hitter has to hit against only one blocker from the opposing team in a rally. This is an ideal situation which a team's setter always works to try and create because in a one-on-one situation typically the hitter holds the advantage of being able to get the ball past one blocker.

swing block - The traditional ready position for a player to perform a block is to start in front of their hitter with their entire body facing the net, with their hands and open palms at shoulder level facing the hitter, ready to move laterally with a side step or a cross over step that they use to travel along their side of the net. With the swing block, in order to move laterally along the net to get positioned in front of the hitter, the blocker turns their body perpendicular to the net, facing the direction they intend to travel with their hands positioned below the net down by their waist. As they move to the outside to block, they will square their shoulders and upper torso to the net, "swinging" their arms and hands up which helps them gain momentum to reach up and over to penetrate the plane of the net to block the hitter.

triple block - A triple block is a three-person block formed with the intention of preventing the opposing team's spiker from spiking the ball into their court. It's formed when both outside blockers come to the middle to block a ball in unison with the middle blocker or when the middle blocker and one of the two outside blockers travel along the net to join the remaining outside player in order to create a triple block against a hitter during a rally.


And now I invite you to learn more volleyball blocking terms and get Free video instruction directly from Olympic gold medalists and pro players on how to become a become a better volleyball blocker.

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