When volleyball was first created it wasn’t exactly the volleyball we know today. In fact, it was not even called volleyball, it was first known as Mintonette. Volleyball was created in 1895 in Holyoke, Massachusetts by William G. Morgan, a P.E. teacher at the time. It was a “less rough” alternative to basketball, which had just been invented only ten miles away in Springfield.

Back then and still today, from Morgan to Misty May (Olympic gold medalists) we all know that volleyball serving is one of the biggest parts of the game. But if you don’t know how to do it right than it can also be one of the most frustrating things you will ever try to do.

But why is a volleyball serve so important you ask? Well, Olympic gold medalist Charles Frederick “Karch” Kiraly once said, “No volleyball play can begin without a serve, and the serve is the only technique that is totally under your control,” which means that to start every play one of the two teams must serve the ball across the net. On a serve the ball is not allowed to touch the net because this is against the rules. The objective is to get the ball to touch the ground on your opponent’s side of the court in bounds; this is called a “Ace”. You can also use strategy to serve it away from the other player to make it difficult for them to set up their offence. Changing the speed, contact of the ball and direction of the ball can help you gain the desired effect.

Let’s give you a few of the dos and don’ts of a volleyball serve. Let’s start with the most important thing in serving a volleyball; your form. First off you need to make sure your feet are shoulders width apart. Once you have a good strong base, hold your arms directly in front of you with the ball in your left hand about waist high, unless of course your left handed, then just switch all these directions. Ok, now place your right hand on the top of the ball to balance it. Pull your serving arm behind your head and you’re almost ready. Now toss the ball about 2-3 feet high drag your dominant foot forward and give it a whack this is called a overhand serve, which is the most popular. If you followed these steps correctly you should have just had a beautiful serve.

There are also many different types of serves you can try and we are going to walk you through a couple of them. A under hand serve is when you strike the ball below your waist instead of throwing it in the air; although this is probably the easiest kind of volleyball serve it is very seldom used in high level competitions. Another serve is a top spin serve. This is where the player throws the ball high and strikes the ball with a whip action in his or her wrist. This is used to hit the ball to a particular part of the court and makes the ball drop faster than it normally would. One more very popular volley ball serve is the float. In a float serve the ball is hit very high with no spin so that the opposing team can’t predict where the ball is going to land; this is similar to a knuckle ball in baseball. These are all the basics you need to know to have a great serving game now get out there and give it whirl.

Author Bio: Hayley Merrett, Author and Volleyball Coach Start winning more games now! Put the thrill and excitement of consistently winning back into your teams life. Sign up for 20 free drills at Volleyball Drills

Category: Sports
Keywords: volleyball drills, volleyball serving