Posted on: 7/27/24

Last updated on: 7/27/24

Author: Thalia U.

Communicating on the volleyball court: 10 things you can say to improve your skills

Communicating on a volleyball court is one of the most important parts of having a competitive and cohesive team. However many athletes (new and returning) mention how they are unsure of what they can communicate on the court besides the commonly known phrase “mine” that players use when calling for a ball they believe is theirs to pass.

Thankfully I have come up with 10 things you can say on a volleyball court, and they include things you can say during defense, and offense.

6 things you can say during Defense:

When defending hitters you can say…

• 1) “TIP!”- Saying “tip” helps when covering your opponents hitters. If you notice your opponent’s hand looks like a claw instead of being back behind their head you know they are likely going to tip the ball over the net instead of hitting it. Its vital to communicate when someone is going to tip because those are tricky passes to make without being prepared ahead of time.

• 2) “PUSH!”- When you see a hitter with both hands up (looking like they are about to set, in a way) this usually means they are going to push the ball over the net, and likely push it to a deep corner on your side of the court. Its important to communicate when you see a hitter about to push the ball over because your defense should be ready to read that play in case it is pushed to a difficult corner to defend.

  When passing + SR passing you can say…

• 3) “SHORT!” & “DEEP!”- When you’re on serve receive you should be communicating a lot, especially if you’re in the back-row. Once you notice your opponent’s serve is going to be shorter, or deeper you should be communicating that. That helps people move their feet quicker, and helps other players know who is likely to get that ball (back-row positions 1 and 5 often get short balls while position 6 gets deep… etc).

• 4) “OUT” & “IN”- If you’re on serve receive or passing in general there are many opportunties to be communicating if a ball will be in or out. This helps your team-mates who maybe can’t see if the court lines are right behind them as they go for a ball (which other see would be out) and the same for when a ball would be in.

• 5) “GO!”- This is meant to help encourage our team-mates (not be rude to them). For example if you got a really tough pass that would need a lot of hustle to get a 2nd touch from a team-mate, I may encourage them to get that ball by saying “GO GO GO!!” which in my experience helps players hustle to a ball. If your team-mate gets the touch/pass on that ball after you say “GO!” you should support them either way for the effort.

When blocking you can say…

• 6) “TOUCH/HEY/YEAH!”- When blocking it’s important to communicate when you get a touch on a hit so your team-mates in the back-row can go for the ball even if it looks like it’s going out. However, many coaches don’t like the idea of saying “TOUCH” aloud because that makes it obvious to referees you touched that ball, so try to think of ways to let your team-mates know by instead saying “HEY!” or “YEAH YEAH!”, figure that out with your team-mates!

4 things you can say during offense:

Hitters and setters can say…

• 7) Hitters call for the call: (“OUTSIDE/MIDDLE/RIGHT”)- When a hitter has transitioned to hit it is important to let your setter know that you are ready to hit/be set up by them. This also increases the likely hood of being set because your setter can hear who’s ready, and who’s not within the split second they are making the decision of who to set up.

• 8) Setter communicates who their setting to (NAME/POSITION/#)- Something that should be communicated constantly is the setter letting their offense know who they will be distributing the ball to. Some coaches don’t like the idea of you yelling “OUTSIDE!” when you’re about to set outside because then your opponent’s blockers can hear where the ball is going to. So, I coach my setters to yell out their team-mates names when they are going to get a set.

• 9) “OVER!”- Sometimes plays don’t always happen how we ideally want them to, but the play is still alive and the ball needs to get back over the net. So, when your team is out of system and the 3rd pass is about to happen you as a team can yell “OVER” to remind the person passing that 3rd ball to get it over the net.

• 10) “FREE BALL!”- A very important part of your offense/defense is yelling out “FREE BALL” when your opponent is about to send the ball back over the net utilizing forearm passing versus the idealized hit. When your team yells “FREE-BALL” you all should be pushing back (off the net, etc) to begin setting up your offense off of that easier free ball.

In conclusion…

There are so many things you can communicate on a volleyball court, and these 10 things are just the tip of the ice berg. Remember how vital communicating is in the sport of volleyball, and work on becoming the best communicator you can be to help enhance not only your athletic game, but your team’s as well.

See you in another blog post!

-Coach T