Here's a video I found last year that I really liked. It has some insight that a top 'cross-fit' trainer had to share with a seminar group.
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_AmundsonChangeOurThoughts.mov
Advanced Attacking...becoming a great attacker
Notes taken during a presentation by John Dunning, University of Stanford
Key things to consider...
- Watch great hitters - find some video of great college, professional, and olympic hitters. Learn from their tendencies, styles, etc.
- Master the basics in order to be ready for advanced skills - great attackers are players who have mastered the fundamentals (wrist snap, armswing, approach speed and mechanics, ball-to-body relationship, off-speed swing technique, tipping technique). To become a great attacker, all these things must be second nature.
What are the traits of the best attackers?
- They are all about finding a way to WIN each play...not necessarily hammer every ball.
- They have a "you can't stop me" attitude.
- They have great timing and great vision (they make adjustments to the set and the defense)
- They make choices every attack
- They have tools (skills) that allow them to make choices
- The are "students of the game" (they want to understand more than just their basic responsibilities)
In order to become a great attacker, you must first figure out...
What kind of hitter are you?
- Power hitter
- Altitude (attacking the ball way up high at sharp downward angles)
- Off-speed
- Tool (the block)
- Off-line (hitting away from or across your body line)
- Movement (hitting taking different angles to the net and different footwork patterns)
- Slide
- Location (being able to attack many sets and tempos)
Laying the foundation
In order to get to the advanced topics above, players must have efficient attacking skills that allow them to attack well and stay healthy. Areas to thinkg about when evaluating your attacking foundation include:
In order to get to the advanced topics above, players must have efficient attacking skills that allow them to attack well and stay healthy. Areas to thinkg about when evaluating your attacking foundation include:
- Armswing
- Use your whole body; rotate hip/shoulder/elbow to whip the hitting hand high to the ball
- Contact the ball high in front of the hitting shoulder
- Consistently use wrist snap effectively to put topspin on attacks
- Power is determined mostly by wrist snap and good whip on a ball that is lined up on the shoulder
- Approach
- Good, simple three step approach
- Posture compressed before take off, plant with toes angled across the court
- Lift arms into hitting position at take-off
- Land on both feet with cushioning legs
- Delay early in order to see set and accelerate into plant
- Other stuff
- Transfer new skills/ideas from box to live hitting to game situations
- Yes/no - Know when you have a ball you can take a full swing at..."If you don't love the set, keep it in play"
- Make it a point to try to take a good enough approach to attack the so-so sets, and only use tips on great sets when the opponent expects a swing
- NEVER tip in the final 5 points of a game unless that's all you can do...hit it to win it!
