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Tag: setters

  • Pre-Match Warm-up For Setters

    warming a setter up
    Here’s baby me 🙂

    Now I haven’t played volleyball in a long time, so don’t judge, but from my experience, I know a thing or two about warming a setter up before a volleyball game. I set the entire time I played volleyball so I hope I know a thing or two about warming a setter up! Here’s what I’ve got:

    • Before warm-ups, get your setter or setters on the wall. When I say this, I mean: have them warm up their hands with quick sets and a variety of other exercises on a wall to get warm and loose. Stretching beforehand is good too. I remember that my coaches never let me get on the court unless my wall warm-ups were done. I also know that this definitely helped me feel relaxed and set much better when I actually played. My post on workouts and warm-ups for setters may be helpful.
    • Once your setter or setters are off the wall, have them work with each other for a little. Have them set back and forth for a couple of minutes. If you only have one setter, have them work with one of the coaches. Work on footwork and getting a rhythm.
    • After this, their individual warm-up is done and it’s time to join the team. You can warm up your setters with the team as you like. I preferred warming up with someone passing to me and then I set to my outside, middle, or right side. We would work on various hits during this time and this situation felt the most like a game would.

    And that’s really it for how to warm up a setter, at least from my experience. I tended to start so it was important that I was warmed up and I know that even for our backup setters, getting loose and warm was important in case we needed to change something. During a match, there are a couple of important things to keep in mind for your setters too.

    • Keep their hands warm. I actually wore gloves in colder facilities so that if I rotated out during a 6-2, my hands wouldn’t get stiff. 
    • Keep your setters hydrated. We do a lot of work out there so it’s important to make sure that your setter is feeling good so they can keep up the good work.
    • During timeouts, pull your setter aside and talk with them individually. The setter is the playmaker and if there’s something you see as a coach, that needs to be addressed with them one on one. I always found this the most beneficial because I felt more focused. 

    So here’s what I’ve got to say about warming a setter up! Good luck to all you setters and volleyball coaches out. Have fun out there!

  • Setters Have to Have Many Abilities and Qualities

    Setters are the coaches on the floor. They lead the team and they touch every second ball on their side. Someone with a position that important has to be a person and player with many abilities and qualities. Here are a few of the abilities and qualities setters should have.

    • Servant Leadership: Setters have to lead the team by serving them. They are not selfish, but selfless. Everything they do is for the team and not just themselves.
    • Work Ethic: Setters have to be the hardest workers on their team. Getting every second ball requires a lot of work so they have to be willing to work hard.
    • Deception: As a setter, the job is to set up your hitters with a chance to score and win. By being deceptive, a setter can hold the block and create holes in the defense. This creates a better chance for the hitters to score.
    • Creativity: Setters have to be creative with their sets and all that they do so that the defense is always on their toes, guessing where the next set will go. Setters have to have different moves to get to different balls. Like a setter might do a spin move to get to a close, low ball and might use an outside foot stop move to get to a really low ball that might put them off-balance.
    • A Positive Attitude: As the team leader, a setter has to be encouraging and positive with fellow teammates. They have to have an optimistic attitude. This creates a lighter, happier mood on the court and it can keep the team strong and prevent players from getting down.
    • Communication/Vocal Leadership: Setters have to communicate with their teammates. They have to be able to tell their teammates what play they plan to run and what your opponents are doing with the block and such. This could be in a form of hand signals or actual words.
    • Confidence: Confidence is something a setter MUST have. At the higher levels of volleyball, have you ever seen a setter afraid to make a set or a setter who just isn’t proud of their skills? Of course not! Setters have to believe in their skills and know they are great players.

    There are many things that make setters the great players. Setters have to be servant leaders, hard-working players, deceptive, creative, positive and encouraging, communicative, and confident. These abilities and qualities are some of the things that make setters stand out. Without these few things, what would a setter be?

    Setters Have to Have Many Abilities and Qualities