Setters are no doubt the heart of every volleyball team’s offense. However, there are extra steps a higher-level setter can take to not only feed the right hitter at the right time but also make it nearly impossible for the defense to read.

1. Refine your Release Form!

A surefire way to keep the defense guessing is to ensure your body movement looks the same no matter what zone you are setting. Keeping your setter form consistent whether you’re setting a 5 to the Outside Hitter, a back C to your Middle, or a 9 to your Right Side, will guarantee the defense will never know which hitter will attack.

It’s all about the release. As blockers, we watch the setter’s body movement for tells as to where they might set. There are many setters out there who give obvious signs about where they’re going to put the ball; and thanks to those signs, we can get an early jump on block transitioning so we can ensure we can put up a double block on any specific hitter.

Some tricks to making your form consistent:

– Always get your feet to the ball first before putting your hands up

– With your body positioned under the ball, the only movement should come from your shoulders to your fingertips.

– When setting a high outside set: finish the release with a step forward.

– When setting a back 9, simply draw your arms back, flick your wrists, and thrust from your elbows, while looking forward.

– Your hands should contact the ball directly over your hairline every time, then release according to the zone you are targeting.

2. Watch for “Bunching”

A great way to get an early read on the best zone to set is to use your peripheral vision. Peripheral vision is what is seen on the side by the eye when looking straight ahead. Early reading is a massively important way to be a higher-level setter. Start by reading the ball off the platform of your passer. Understanding the height, force, and angle of where the ball is going will allow you to get your feet to the spot it will land sooner. Here is the trick: as the ball makes its way to the target, and your body is heading to that zone, glance across the net using your peripheral vision to see where the defense is setting up. Oftentimes, they will “bunch” in a specific zone, assuming you will set a certain hitter, and will angle to cover tips or cross from that zone. Sometimes the middle blocker will cheat to cover a hitter they assume you will set. This is when you make your move and set to the zone away from the “bunching”.

The key to spotting the defensive “bunching” is to read the ball’s direction from the passer early on so you can make your way to target sooner; only then can you glance across the net to ensure you are not setting the hitter who has multiple blockers on them.

3. Mix Up your Sets

Young and inexperienced setters will tend to get into a groove of only setting certain zones. This allows the blockers and defense to set up early to ensure they can block the swing. However, it’s a setter’s job to mix up the sets to keep the defense guessing, and never knowing which hitter will attack the ball.

This starts with watching for the “defensive bunching” and setting the opposite zones of where the defense is. But you’ll also want to stray from the typical 3 zone sets. The easiest sets to block and defend against are:

– High outside 5

– Middle 2

– Right side 9

To avoid allowing the defense to block your hitters, add in quicker, more fast-paced sets like:

– Outside shoot (a ball that is set within the height of the pin at a faster pace)

– 31 (a faster-paced ball set between the outside hitter and middle hitter zones. This ball is for Middle Hitters to attack)

– Middle 1 (a quick set only a couple of feet above the net set directly in front of the setter)

– Middle or RS C (like a 1 set, this is a lower ball set directly behind the setter)

– Slide (similar to a 31, except this ball is pushed to the right side pin where the middle will complete a slide footwork “chase” to slam the ball)

4. Run Plays!

One way to bring the team together and get kills is to run offensive plays. There are many volleyball plays that involve various hitter movements to trick the defense into thinking one hitter is going to attack the ball, when in fact, another hitter will make the final contact.

A couple of popular and simple plays to run are:

– STACK: This is where the middle hitter will go in for a 1 set, and the outside hitter will stack behind them waiting for a higher 2 set. The blocker will not know if the middle or outside hitter is going to contact the ball, often leaving whoever makes contact the freedom to swing without a block. *Note, this play only works if both hitters assume they are going to be set; always being ready to hit is the key to running a successful play

– CRISS CROSS: This can be done with either the middle and outside or the middle and right side. One option is for the middle to run a 31 and the outside to run a middle 2. The other option is for the middle to run a slide and the right-side hitter to shuffle left to hit the middle 2. The middle blocker defender will often follow the middle hitter to try and block them. However, their sets are going to be fast-paced with chase-type footwork. This will leave the middle zone free for either the outside or right-side hitter to hit a hard, higher set 2.

5. Perfect your setter dump!

Because the setter’s main job is to set up hitters for big swings and hard kills, they often forget that they are an integral part of every offense. If a setter can become proficient at all the formats mentioned above (watching for defense bunching and refining their setter form), they can begin to place the ball over the net themselves if the opportunity is available.

Once a setter reads the ball off their passer and glances through the net to see where the blockers are going, sometimes they’ll catch a glimpse of an open spot on the court. This is when you attack! Set your feet up under the ball as if you are going to set one of your hitters, then simply drop your right shoulder and set the ball over the net (making sure to keep the ball lower than the height of the pin) and allow the ball to drop on the other side of the court. This is a great option when the setter is setting from the back row (Rows 1-3).

If a team is running a 5-1 (1 setter and 5 optional hitters) then when that setter gets to row 4, 5, and 6, they become a front-row hitter and can now attack the ball over the net. Passes that are high and tight are great options for setter attacks. Passes that force the setter to move out of their target; pushing them into the zones between middle and pin hitters, are also great openings for a setter to get a kill.

Another great setter dump option is to leave the ground with your hands up as if you’re going to jump set a hitter, but instead, you’ll move your right hand around to cup the front of the ball and wrist-flick it quickly over the net to drop in the top corner of the defender’s court.

It’s a no-brainer that the setter is the heart of any volleyball team’s offense. And we are often in awe of how flawlessly they can put a ball up off an out-of-system pass. But if you impart the tricks above, you can increase your offensive effectiveness 10-fold, getting the win and all the accolades that come with it.