Motor skills are the application of motor abilities within the technical executions of sports disciplines.
In volleyball, the most complex and difficult gesture to learn is undoubtedly the spike. In its analytical decomposition, it’s important to preserve the fluidity of the gesture, especially in the multi-joint components. If the brain receives information about motor patterns that differ from the execution (e.g., blocking the movement between the loading and striking phases), it becomes impossible to put the pieces together, and jump height and hitting power can be impacted.
Here are some short video clips that will help you develop the motor skill technique you need to improve your hitting:
This is an exercise that reinforces the motor pattern of a spike. Notice how the athlete bounces the ball on the floor before landing. This simulates the motor skills involved in the aerial phase of the spike, where a strong hit is achieved by impacting the ball during its ascent. Notice the AMPLITUDE of the upper limbs throughout the movement. By amplitude, I mean the movement of the arms throughout their full range of motion, as far as possible from the center of the body. This includes:
- The loading and launching phase to favor the jump and balance management in the aerial phase.
- The loading phase of the hit, extending the arm upwards before impacting the ball.
- The unloading movement of the hit with the arms continuing the circumduction until they are behind the back.
This amplitude creates fluidity of movement and makes the most of the athlete’s flexibility and joint mobility in order to transfer force to the ball.
If amplitude is lost during the jump phase, I suggest doing executions where only the arms are engaged.
Even in games for young children – the player in this video is my daughter! – they should be asked to finish the gesture with their hands behind their back.
This is called “Clock Exercise.” Here, we make the player “feel” the amplitude of the movement of the upper limbs and the need to achieve perfect symmetry between the behavior of the left arm and the right arm.
This movement creates a motor pattern that protects balance during the jump phase and, above all, protects the back by supporting an equivalent tension between the right and left arms. Furthermore, this crawl-like swimming movement imposes a downward motion on the left arm that causes the right shoulder to be projected farther upward.
This is an evolution of “Clock Exercise.” While executing this exercise from a kneeling position, the athlete maintains a high awareness of the amplitude of the movement of the striking limb.
In this exercise, we use the THROW instead of the hit. Notice how the opposite limb provides balance and helps with the fluidity of the gesture. It is once again essential to preserve the amplitudes, especially in the final phase.
Finally, we arrive at the grounded hitting gesture where the athlete strikes the ball. The gesture must be performed in “single execution” so that the athlete can SEE and CONTROL what the left and right arms are doing. The hit has great power, but for this reason, we must not lose the perception of the amplitudes and fluidity of the gesture.
In this exercise, we put the athlete on a raised platform so she could see her gesture produce the desired effect. In video 7, she will make the throws to herself at different heights to “synchronize” the executions with respect to the trajectory of the ball. Subsequently, in video 8, the coach will throw the ball to modify the technical timings of the execution.
This exercise is similar to the one in Video 6, but the bench is used to create a space where the ball must bounce.
I use the trampoline to increase the flight time and allow the athlete to experience the amplitudes and fluidity of the gesture. In videos 10 and 11, you can appreciate how the gesture appears of high quality. The brain will fix the correct motor pattern and then make it “available” in executions with the real ball. The only drawback with this exercise is that the athlete lands from high altitude, which, as we know, can cause overload to the knee. So be careful, and use it sparingly!
Alessandro Licata is a highly regarded volleyball coach from Milan, Italy, with a proven track record in training, team management and motivational leadership.
