Approach volleyball

Most attackers try to fix their hit by swinging harder. But the real jump in scoring doesn’t come from your arm, it comes from your approach. One early step, a weak braking step, or a rushed last two steps… and suddenly you’re under the ball, hitting flat, and making the block look good.

A great approach is a chain: starting position, rhythm, last two steps, take-off, arm action, and landing. Get that chain right and you’ll jump higher, contact cleaner, and hit with more options—cross, line, tool, or tip, without telegraphing what’s coming.

In this article you’ll learn exactly how the volleyball approach works (3-step and 4-step), the key coaching cues to protect, and practical approach drills you can run in your very next training.

Key characteristics and principles you must protect as a coach

The best attackers aren’t just powerful. They’re available, they read the set, they adjust their approach, and they can vary. A few principles that should return in every practice:

• Make sure you stay hittable as an attacker. Be available isn’t a slogan, it’s a job.
• Your starting position and approach line reveal your attacking options. Smart blockers read that.
• Your approach speed and especially your last two steps—determine your jump: more up or more forward, and also your direction.
• You jump with your arms. Arm action is your turbo at take-off.
• By opening your hitting shoulder away from the net, you increase your options: cross, line, block out, and tip become easier.
• You hit from your core. The swing doesn’t start in your hand, it starts in your abs and hips.
• Timing and speed determine success. Not just your speed, but also the speed of the set.

Attack “grammar”: from starting position to landing

Starting position

Your starting position is task-based. If you just came out of serve receive, block, or defense, you first have to get back to a position from which you can run a good attack line.

Work with a clear power line: your baseline where your body can easily produce force toward the corner of the court. For many outside hitters, that means a starting position with space behind them, so you can take the longest approach and don’t get “stuck.”

Coaching detail for position 2 for right-handers: because trunk rotation there is more limited for a hard line shot, the ideal power line often shifts slightly toward position 6. That helps you open up and still keep options.

Move into your starting position depending on distance and time using a shuffle, cross step, or sprint. The key is being ready early, so you don’t ruin your last steps in a rush.

Approach

In hitting approach volleyball, everything is about rhythm and balance.

• Balance: shoulders in front of your hips. That brings your center of mass forward and lets you approach aggressively and explosively.
• Start moment: link your approach to the set. A practical rule is to start around the highest point of the set’s flight path. Beginners often start too early and end up “under” the ball, or too late and have to force it.
• Aggressive and explosive: you build speed in the approach, but control comes from the last two steps. And those last two steps are always toward the ball. That’s a golden coaching line: toward the ball, not toward the net.
• Arm action in the approach: during the second-to-last step the arms move back as a counter to forward leg action. During the last step the arms whip down fast, elbows bend, and from there you drive them up into the take-off. Action is reaction: faster arms create more force into the floor, so a more powerful jump.

Get more inspiration, create more enjoyable training sessions effortlessly, and bring more fun to your players.

Discover the possibilities of VolleyballXL.

Check all features Start free trial

Take-off and jump

This is where you see the difference between an average and a dominant attacker.

Take-off rhythm: you generally see two types.

• Vertical jumpers: quick take-off, feet closer together and almost simultaneous.
• Parabolic jumpers: slower take-off, feet wider apart, more forward “float.”

As a coach, this matters for your set. Parabolic jumpers need the ball slightly further off the net and also need to take off a bit further from the net to contact at their peak.

Footwork order in the volleyball three step approach

For right-handers in positions 4 and 2 the classic last three steps are:

• First left, second right as the big braking step, third left as the closing step.

For left-handers it’s mirrored:

• First right, second left as the big braking step, third right as the closing step.

That braking step is crucial. If it’s too small, you carry too much forward. If it’s too big and too slow, you lose speed.

In the air

• Bring both arms up.
• Create the bow-and-arrow: hitting shoulder and elbow rotate back, elbow high in line with or above the shoulder line.
• The non-hitting arm goes forward for balance and to “close” your torso so you can open harder later.
• Core tension: build tension by using hips and shoulders smartly. Some players rotate the hip back, others use counter-rotation between hip and shoulder. Both can work, as long as you create a fast rotation forward.

Hit and arm swing

Volleyball spike approach footwork is worthless without a good swing.

• Releasing tension: you release the built-up tension in your core and shoulder. That’s where your speed is.
• Abs stabilize and add extra acceleration. That’s why “hit from your belly” is such a strong coaching cue.
• Arm like a whip: drive your hitting shoulder forward, elbow high to the ball, and swing through the ball.
• Contact point: contact the ball straight above and slightly in front of your shoulder joint, with a straight arm at contact.
• Relaxed wrist: the wrist snaps over the ball and gives direction. This is where the “hit the clock” principle is perfect:
  • 12 o’clock is often line or straight ahead through the middle of your arm path.
  • 10 o’clock with your right hand helps you hit sharp cross-court.
  • 2 o’clock helps you hit down the line, more over the shoulder.

Landing and transition

After contact, your hitting arm follows through toward your hip. Land actively with tension in your legs. And immediately transition task-first: to cover, block, or back to your next starting position. The attack doesn’t stop at the landing.

3 step approach volleyball versus 4 step volleyball approach

The volleyball 3 step approach is standard for many attackers, especially indoors at tempos where you’re already fairly close to your starting position. The focus is on explosiveness and a clear braking step.

The 4 step volleyball approach is ideal if:

• You have more distance to cover from defense or serve receive.
• You need more time to build rhythm.
• You want higher approach speed without losing control.

Coaching tip: with a 4 step approach, players often forget to keep the last two steps “toward the ball.” Make those two steps sacred. The extra step is only there to find rhythm, not to get sloppy.

Game situations that influence your approach

Quick (1st tempo) attack

A quick (1st tempo) attack has a different approach rhythm: you let the ball pass you and then you catch it again. The attacker is responsible for the correct distance to the setter. Key principle: if the setter has to move off the net, you place your feet behind the imaginary take-off line of the setter or the antenna. That keeps you hittable, preserves space, and still allows you to create an angle around the block.

Slide

The slide requires a sharp angle toward the net and the last step isn’t really a closing step—you essentially keep moving through it. Key at the take-off on the left foot: drive the right knee up actively and bring the left arm up. After take-off you float behind the ball and rotate in so you can attack multiple directions.

Back-row attack (pipe)

The technique is almost the same, with one big difference: there is no braking step. You must jump into and float through the 3-meter zone. Benefits: it’s harder to block because of timing, you get bigger angles, and high contact players don’t have to hit as steep, which makes the block less effective.

Variations you should be able to run with the same approach

If your approach is stable, you can vary without telegraphing your run-up.

Cross-court in front of the block

You can do this by adjusting your starting position and approach line so your power line changes. Or by adjusting your arm swing and contacting the ball slightly earlier than your power line, using the clock principle.

Down the line

Three practical options:

• Let the set travel slightly past your hitting shoulder and rotate into the line shot.
• Adjust your starting position and approach line and approach more straight toward the net.
• Stay in your power line and hit across your body, over your shoulder.

Controlled attack: drive and roll

Important for keep-the-ball-in-play situations. You keep the same aggressive approach and take-off, but your arm swing is slower. Direction and control come mostly from wrist action and a relaxed hand. A drive is about 70 percent speed, placed beside or in front of the defender. A roll is short over the block into the middle.

Tip

Start as if you’re going to hit hard. At the last moment you slow the swing, extend your fingers with a slight elbow bend, fingers spread around the ball, more tension in the fingers, wrist relaxed and soft. If the ball is tight to the block, use a pushing motion off the block hands to tool it.

Scoring off the block and organizing cover

Sometimes you can’t go around or over the block. Then you use the block. Often you need to wait a fraction longer to hit until the block starts to drop. Options:

• Hit high off the hands so the ball travels over defender in position 6.
• Block out off the outside hand toward the antenna or out of bounds.
• Off the inside hand of the middle blocker, out of bounds.
• Off the block so it goes out on your own side, often the most effective.
• Hit through the seam, the space between two blockers.
• Soft into the hands and immediately organize cover for a new attack.

How to approach volleyball spike in coaching cues

If there’s one list that should be on the board for players, it’s this:

• Be available. Be on time in your starting position.
• Shoulders in front of hips in the approach.
• Last two steps always toward the ball.
• Big braking step, fast closing step.
• Active arms for jump height.
• Open hitting shoulder, bow-and-arrow.
• Contact high, slightly in front of your shoulder, arm straight.
• Relaxed wrist, aim with the clock principle.
• Land actively and immediately transition to your next task.

Volleyball approach drills that deliver immediate results

u18, Seniors

Block Pepper Trio

Watch drill

u18, Seniors

Double vision

Watch drill

u12

Bounce Volley

Watch drill

u18

Hitting Hustle #1 a Spike challenge Tball strike

Watch drill

u18

Hitting Hustle #12 a Spike Challenge Vball hit , bump + Vball bounce hit

Watch drill

u18, Seniors

The underdog

Watch drill

View all drills Explore all features

Drill 1: Shadow approach with a stop on the braking step

Goal: automate the braking step and closing step.

How: players perform their three step approach volleyball without a ball. Stop after the second step in the braking-step position, check low hips, shoulders slightly forward, arms back. Then closing step and jump without swinging.

Coaching: last two steps toward the ball. Not toward the net.

Drill 2: Approach on set timing

Goal: connect start moment to the set.

How: the setter tosses or sets a high ball. The attacker starts around the highest point of the ball’s flight. First only jump and catch, then hit with controlled speed.

Coaching: too early is under the ball. Too late is forcing. Find the same rhythm on every ball.

Drill 3: Approach jump volleyball with arm action focus

Goal: “you jump with your arms.”

How: without a ball. Approach, last two steps, arms aggressively back and then explosively up into take-off.

Coaching: let players feel that arm speed determines their height.

Drill 4: Direction using the clock

Goal: vary cross and line without revealing it in the approach.

How: consistent set, attacker hits alternating 10 o’clock cross and 2 o’clock line. Start controlled, build up.

Coaching: same approach, same jump—only contact point and wrist guide the shot.

Drill 5: Block out and cover

Goal: use the block and immediately transition.

How: two blockers, attacker is instructed to tool off the outside hand for block out. Team organizes cover. After touch, play continues immediately.

Coaching: teach players to wait until the block drops and to cover immediately after contact.

The approach is a system, not a trick

A strong attack approach volleyball isn’t a trick—it’s a system. As a coach, the goal is that players understand their volleyball approach footwork is the foundation, but timing, arm action, and trunk rotation are the real weapons. Build it in phases, repeat coaching cues, and above all let players repeat a lot with quality. Then the volleyball hitting approach becomes not only higher and harder, but also smarter and more versatile.

Get more inspiration, create more enjoyable training sessions effortlessly, and bring more fun to your players.

Discover the possibilities of VolleyballXL.

Check all features Start free trial