Attacking Systems

Table Of Contents

Advanced Quick Attacks and Progressions

First, it is important to determine what numbering system we are using. Val Keller former US national coach (men and women) designed a numbering system that enabled him to define what the Japanese were doing on attack. As Val said, "I wanted a system that would allow coaches to speak the same language." This systems was designed to have two numbers, one for the position of the ball on the net or in relation to the setter and the second number for the height. The two parts to the system were: Numbers 1, 2, 3, and 7 were numbers on the net while numbers 4, 5, and 6 were numbers that went with the setter. Now in recent times we have gone away from Val's system to a 9 point scale with all the numbers on the net. For purposes of this article we will use the Val Keller systems because I am more familiar and comfortable with the system.

The quick attack system was created by Yasutaka Matsudaira the coach of the gold medal Japanese men's team at the 1972 Olympics. He created the system when he realized that his team was in serious trouble in the early 60's after a tour of Europe when they lost 22 straight games. He said, "The future looks very dark for Japan unless we can create a system that will work best for the character and stature of our nation.". Matsudaira had played the back row in 9 man Volleyball and he recognized that in the 9 man game there were as many as 5 people attacking the net at the same same time with the setter coming from the middle row. He decided that he would create a system similar to the 9 man game but using the current 6 players. Up to that time most of the teams (if not all) used a 4-2 where the setter was always in the front row. Matsudaira called his system the "Sacrifice system," because for the system to be effective it required that all three players would have to attack the net, but only one person would be set, thus two players were required to sacrifice for the good of the team. As a side bar, when this system was introduced to North America no one was aware of the original name. We had players upset because they did not get the set.

The first principle of the attack system was to create a situation that would give a one on one set to the outside hitters. In order to do this, you had to programme the middle blocker on the opposing team. When we say programme, we mean that you would have to make enough sets to your middle hitter to encourage the opponent to jump every time the middle is set.

Generally this is the area that beginning teams miss. They go away from the middle too soon. I remember a Championship with my men's' team when I askedthe setter to set every ball to the middle until I made the decision to change. He set one two and then three, before he went to the outside. The only problem was that he was not following the game plan, so I called a time out to have a chat. "But there was an open hitter," was his response. "Fine, but the game plan says we stay in the middle until the opponent is programmed." He proceeded to follow the game plan for about four sets before another deviation. One more time out and the same discussion. We get back at the game and follow the game plan for a few more sets. Two time outs used so this time to make the point we had to make a substitution in order to get the point across. If your game plan says establish the middle, then do it, even if it takes 2 games. The best time to change is when the opposition finally makes a block. One block usually means you have the opponent programmed for the match.

Next principle: To be effective, the middle hitter must be in the air before the setter is delivering the ball. This usually means that you hit the floor for your take off just before the ball hits the setters hands. In the early stages, we like to teach a take off the coincides with the ball arriving in the hands of the setter. Coaches have to be very strict with this point. Many young player think they are hitting a quick when in fact they are leaving the floor after the ball has been set low. By the way, this second type of hit can be very effective later and can be effective with young teams, but it is my belief that you must learn the first take off system and then add the delay later.

For Matsudaira's system to work you must control the middle blocker. This can be done in several ways. Your middle hitter can establish the 51, 31 or 41 series. Decide on which series you want to run. We used to use the 51 series as our main focus but of recent years we have gone to the 31. In the 51 our middle hitter would attack directly at the setter, whereas in the 31 our hitter attacks a spot on the net. (usually 3 to 5 feet left of centre). With my boys team (18's) we used the 31 up to 10 points and then for our finishing spurt we used the 51. The other aspect about using the 31 is that your hitter can make a fake to the 51 and then step to the left for a 31.

The quick attack system can work under other principles. For example Poland worked on the principle that their whole system would revolve around the right front area. They had the middle hitter go for the 51 every time but allowed the right side hitter to call his set. This was either a 42 X, a Tandem right behind the 51 hitter or a back 62 or 72. This call was often made while the ball was in the air. This was a major modification to the Japanese system introduced by Hubert Wagner of Poland.

The most radical system that I know of was used by our Canadian National Women's team in the 71 Pan American Games in Cali Columbia. (lost to Cuba 1-3, to Brazil 1-3 and defeated the USA 3-2). In this system everything revolved around the left front. The setter penetrated from left back on free-balls, service reception and good passes not taken by the setter playing left back. In this system we used a 6-2 or 2 setter penetrating system. We changed the principle to have the left front attack for the quick set which was set directly behind the setters head. This meant that that the opponents right front now had to learn how to stop a quick hit. The opponents middle had to help, and when that happened we sent the set to our middle for a one on zero. When the setter received the ball in the back row on defence, the pass went directly to the front row setter in position 2 who then executed sets similar to what we do now if we are playing a 5-1 system.

Now that you have some idea on the various principles, we can added the combinations. Combinations can only work if you have established the foundation of your quick hit. When I present this aspect to my players I suggest that what we are doing is creating a magic show or an illusion. The better the illusion the better the result. For example one of the first combinations taught is the right X. This of course can only be one if you have established the 51. The right front players comes from behind the middle hitter. The left foot hits directly behind the 51 hitter and launches the right front player to a position slightly left of the middle hitter (important for this hitter to face to his right). We call this set a 42 , which means that the set is 4 feet in front of the setter and about 2 feet above the height of the net. Very important for the hitter to hide his intent. This can be done with a fake to the right before proceeding to the 42.

When running the 31 series the X play usually involves the left front player. This combination can be very effective because you give the illusion that the set to your 31 hitter has been miss set. We usually aim to have the left front come around for a 53. This is a set directly in front of the setter about 3 to 4 feet in the air. When you have run a good number of 31's then you will find that your left front player can hit this ball with no blocker. For this play you can also use the right front. I like to use the left front because it gives this player some fun variety.

After you have established your combinations with the front row you can now add the back row. Back row hitting out of position one was presented as a fine art by Steve Timmons in 1984 and 88. His success was partly because it was still somewhat new (it was used in Montreal in 76) and partly because of the great timing on the set from Stork. The back row hit from position one was introduced primarily because the team had the setter in the front row and wanted to added a third hitter to make the blockers and hitters even. For this set to be very effective, requires a great middle attack, but it also requires that the back row player attacks in such a way that the set is about 1 and 1/2 to 2 metres from the net. The Brazilian men's team added the whole back row into their attack patterns in 92. The US men had introduced other positions in the back row but it was Brazil who took back row hitting to new heights. For back row hits the teams generally divide the court in to 4 and label it A, B, C, D. The A starts from position 4 but behind the attack line. Some coaches now refer to another position as "Pipe" which is directly down the middle of the court. This position would be on the border of B and C.

To teach a team the "Quick Attack System," requires one of two approaches. the traditional approach says that you teach the system incrementally step by step or you can use the "EPV (end point visualization) system. I prefer to use the EPV system where we teach the team exactly what our system will look like at the end of the season. We show and practice all our combinations on day one. this takes courage to figure out a system before you see your players, but is really not very difficult. Once we know where we are to go and approximately what it will look like then we take the parts and see that we teach each part. For this we use back ward shaping or backward chaining of the skills. We start with the quick hit. What follows is a system for teaching the quick hit.

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