4-2

Table Of Contents

4-2 Offense

Some lower-level teams use a 4-2 offense. In this scheme, your team will have a left-side hitter and a right-side hitter, if your setter is switching to middle front. If your setter is switching to the right - some folks call an "international 4-2" -- you will have a left side and middle hitter.

If your team runs a 4-2, you should keep your hitters as far apart as possible (one on each sideline), so that the blockers have difficulty covering both of them well . . . unless you are running quick sets, in which case you should put your setter on the right.

As soon as the set is made, everyone on your team must cover the hitter by surrounding her/him as closely as possible. While some coaches have their players cover assigned positions (there's that "tape-on-the-floor" coverage again!), I suggest you follow one simple rule: Everyone get as close to the hitter as possible. This rule usually creates a "3-2" cup, meaning three players are right under the hitter and two are splitting the rest of court. A left-side cup would look like the diagram below.

It looks like a lot of court is unprotected, but when covering a hitter, you have to play percentages. The vast majority of blocked balls fall within 10'-12' of the hitter; very few blocked balls will land in the back half of the court. Consequently, you should position most of your players where most of the balls will land: inside the 3m line.

After your team has hit and covered and the ball crosses into the opponent's court, everyone must sprint to their defensive positions: hitters and setter go to the net to prepare to block; back row players move to their "base" defensive positions. As soon as the ball crosses into your court again, you transition to your offensive positions and prepare to attack and cover. Then you transition back to defense, and so on. Your positioning, then, follows this pattern throughout each rally: defense, offense, cover, defense, offense, cover, defense, offense, cover, etc. If your hitter gets blocked, however, and the ball comes back into your court, the pattern would be: defense, offense, cover, offense, cover, defense, etc.

Re-read the previous paragraph (and the following two paragraphs) several times and try to visualize what's going on. Strategically speaking, this is the most important passage in this document.

The importance of quick, effective transitions cannot be overstated. If your setter forgets to transition from his/her defensive assignment to the offensive setting position, the pass will fall to the ground. If your blockers freeze at the net and fail to transition back to their hitting positions, you will never mount a strong attack. If back row players fail to move forward and prepare to cover the hitter, easy blocks will land in your court. And if everyone forgets to transition back to defense, your opponent will get an easy kill.

The transition problems most teams experience are offensive rather than defensive -- that is, they do not consistently move into strong attack positions after digging the opponent's hit. Most of the problem, particularly for front-row players, arises from the fact that their defensive positions are often a long ways from their ideal offensive positions. If your team has just defended an attack from your right, for instance, it is sometimes difficult for the left-side blocker to get outside his/her sideline for an attack. Similarily, if you've just defended against an attack from your left, it is difficult for the right-side blocker to get all the way to the sideline.

This may seem awfully convoluted, but there are really only three rules involved:

1. the setter (RF) goes from her/his blocking assignment to the setting position

2. the blocker/hitters (LF and MF) go to the nearest hitting position

3. back row players, wherever they are, move forward

**Note: The single most common offensive error is the failure of blockers to get back off the net and become hitters. Digging a ball is useless if you can't mount a strong attack, and you can't mount a strong attack if the blockers/hitters stand at the net. As soon as the ball crosses into your court, the blockers must quickly move at least 15' from the net so they can use a long, strong approach.

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