Volleyball Defense: Four Terms Top Players Know

Although playing defense in volleyball requires a certain amount of technique, a player's main focus is to keep the ball off the floor and to play it up in a way that a second teammate, ideally the setter, can run an offensive play that results in a side out or a point scored for the team. Below you'll find that I've identified a few of the most basic volleyball defensive terms that are commonly used.

dig - A dig can be described as the act of using one or both of your forearms to create a surface or platform to deflect a spiked, tipped or hard hit ball that has been attacked by the opponent. "Dig" the ball is the defensive phrase or term most often used instead of "defend" the ball.

dive - To "dive after a ball" describes one of several ways a player can use their body to recover and/or "dig" an attacked ball that causes them to leave their feet. When a player has to dive for a ball it's because the ball is more than a few feet from where they stand and they need to take several running steps, sometimes a few, sometimes many, to beat the ball to its anticipated landing spot before presenting their platform or one arm out to get the ball up so that it can be played again.

double hit - A double hit happens when a player makes contact with the ball twice which is illegal. You'll see this occur when a spiker on team A hits the ball to the defender on team B who sticks her platform out but her elbows are bent. Since the ball has been hit hard it will hit the forearms and then the bicep of player B before it's deflected up in the air towards the setter. This is considered two contacts made by one player, and it's one of the major reasons why you should have straight elbows when passing or defending "digging" a ball.

libero - A libero can be compared to a pinch hitter in baseball. The libero is the one player who is always substituted in the back row for a front row player and specializes in serving, passing and back row defense. For the Americans, this position became official in 2001 and to distinguish the libero (formerly the defensive specialist) from her teammates, she always wears a different color shirt and only plays in the back row.

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