Four things: Feet to the ball, Jump set, hand positioning, quick release. 

Setting is one of the hardest and analytical positions. They should be able to handle weight, critiques, feedback.

If setters are complaining about being critiqued too much then this ain’t the position for them transparently. The setter is like the quarterback. You have to be able to be critiqued and make changes quickly because the setter is the epicenter of the offense.

So here it goes.

1. Hittable balls

2. You must put up hittable balls.

3. Do you understand not only each rotation, but what hitters you have in each rotation, what each hitter can hit in each rotation, what the best placement for each hitter in that rotation.

4. know what your hitters need to be success. They all won’t be the same. Your job is to make them look good, it sucks because many times people won’t know what went into it and what you did.

5. Student of the game. But for real. You are studying the game, the different types of offenses, the different tempos of sets.

6. Many times setters have no clue what is going on in the rotation which makes it difficult to implement plans because in a timeout if we have to figure out what rotation you are in then we are taking time away from what plans a coach can develop.

7. You should be able to chart out each rotation, what are different serve receives options in each rotation, what each hitter can hit in each rotation, and what is the best option in each rotation.

8. Make decisions as opposed to just setting the ball. Many times a setter which just set a ball instead of making an actual decision to set a specific hitter that comes with a reason. Even if the reason is they were the only hitter available. You must because to make decisions, even if that the time they aren’t really thought through.

9. Have you gotten used to being able to explain wha the defense is and what they are doing which then explains your setting decision.

10. Be aggressive at the net. Learn to win jousts. Learn to put people on their butt. Your team will flourish off that.

11. You command the court. You have a presence. You can’t be a meek setter who is afraid to have a voice. Afraid to take charge. Too many people want the setting position but not what comes with it, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Pressure is a privilege.

12. Learn to be able to argue or debate without getting mad or emotional. As you will have to give articulate debates with officials on calls because your coach can’t.

13. Can you take feedback, can you take hard feedback. Not disrespectful feedback, but hard feedback. Learn to take the feedback and immediately implement. No one has time to wait a few minutes for you to implement.

14. Learn to direct. You have to direct not only the offense but the court. You have to be able to tell people where to go and when. When chaos is happening, they will look to you to lead.

15. Learn to be understand what is going on the court, telling the coach your thoughts and ideas, but them maybe or maybe not being implemented. It shouldn’t silence you. It will teach you to sell what you want.

16. Learn to manipulate your body. Learn how to set from your knees, going backwards, going forwards, going sideways, one handed, chicken wing, forearm pass, everything. Learn to be athletic with your setting. You will have to learn how to set a variety of balls in a variety of ways. You have to test it out to learn what will and won’t work.

17. Literally try to set all the types of balls in all the types of ways. You have to see what your body can do before you are in a situation where it HAS to make that play.

18. Learn how to be an excellent tipper one handed and two handed. Try out different ways and see how it feels

19. Don’t be the black hole of blocking. Learn to take areas up and not be used.

20. Play adequate defense. Don’t be the black hole. be dependable defensively. If you have built relationships with others then you can trust them to take the ball when you can’t.

21. Be vocal early when you can’t get it. Don’t wait. Be vocal and call the specific name of who you want taking that second ball and where it can go. When setters do this they set their team up for success. (no pun intended).

22. Regardless of if you want, you will be looked at as the leader of the court. Act like it on and off it.

23. Lastly- hittable balls.

I am not talking about coachabilty, leadership, and etc. Just the main skills of the position.

I’m gonna break it down starting with OUTSIDES and what the coach is looking for. 

Does your kid have the ability to hold weight. Meaning they are the go to person when things go bad. Can they hold up being that person. Are they prepared for the coaching that comes with that. With the expectations of being that person there should be an understanding that coaches will have higher expectation for what they do and don't do. Many parents want their kids to be in that position but don't want the hard coaching that comes with it. (no we aren't talking about abusive)

1. Does your athlete terminate the ball do they score points? Are they scoring and are they trying to find ways to score? Are they being creative and trying to find ways to score.

2. Does the athlete transition? Many times an athlete gets stuck at the net and just taps the ball over. Coaches want to see athletes that consistently transition a way to put their body in a good position hit the ball. 

3. Does the athlete hit balls out of the system. An outside gets all the garbage from the setter and if an athlete isn’t willing to hit the ball and hit out of system balls they’re likelihood of being on a high-level team is going to be very difficult.

4. Do they complain about all the sets all the time. Telling the setter what they need is very different than making a mistake and complaining about the set. The only set to really complain about is a really tight one. The others the OH needs to find a way to hit them. Hit, score, then ask for it in or whatever else. 

5. Is the athlete smart with their tips and rolls. We tend to see athletes that only tip when they’re scared because the ball isn’t perfect and that is not what coach wants from OHs. When an athlete tips it’s with the decision to save a bad set or to go for a point or to do something other than just being scared.

6. Does the athlete hit out of system balls? This is a very scary thing for athletes to do because the ball is so out of system, but are they actually hitting the ball?

7. Do they free ball balls that are not perfect? We tend to see this a lot. The old adage of just get the ball over and in some situations yes if it’s an absolute emergency but many times athletes free balls because they’re scared of hitting and making a mistake, free balls by the outside is gonna set a team up for failure.

8. Does the athlete play defense and then get their body in a position to attack. We tend to see many times is that an athlete either hits or they play defense. It’s not both if you were a 6'5 outside we might be a little more OK with you not playing defense as much but if you’re not, you’re gonna have to learn how to play really good defense get off the floor and get your body in position to hit the ball.

9. Are they aggressive? They cannot have passive outside. You need to be aggressive to swing and take chances at balls.

10. Are they calling for the ball? They can’t be a quiet OH and expect to get set a lot. I see so many times parents are like well my kids shy well then your kids not gonna be getting a lot of balls. We need to hear that they’re loud and calling for the ball cause it also means that they’re prepared

11. Can they pass? when they are the O1 they are gonna be in the position that they’re going to have to pass to attack. Yes they can be hidden but the O1 should be able to pass to attack. Again, if you’re 6'5 not so much but everyone else is going to have to.

12. We made times to see parents say well that other girl hits the ball out or makes errors and my kid doesn’t but is that other kid taking chances? Your kid just tips and free balls it the whole time well, yes your kid doesn’t make errors but they’re also not doing anything to score. We need a chance to score so if we have a kid who’s taking chances we can chat with them about how to be smarter and work with that versus a kid that’s afraid to make an error and just try to put the ball over.

These are critical things in OHs that we need to see more of. Just getting the ball over isn't going to be the best thing from a position that has a lot of expectations of terminating the ball.

right sides. The forgotten side in some cases. I am a former college right side and many people do not understand the difficulties of the position. So shout out to my right sides.

So here are the things that coaches look for. 

1. A right side that can do many things well. You can’t be one dimensional and only hit a certain type of ball if you want to get set.

2. Someone that understands blocking well as you are expected to set the block well and help out with the middle. You have to learn to worry about more than one hitter on a consistent basis.

3. Have good eyes and watch the hitter not the ball, why you ask? Because you will be able to line up really well on the hitter and take away the needed space. You are going against the top OH. The setter can be a bit of a blocking liability, but the RS can’t. The coach can’t have two blocking liabilities on the right side. Might as just roll the ball under the net to the server because you won’t be on offense, you will be waiting for them to make a mistake.

4. A right side needs to be able to hit a variety of balls in a variety of positions. Meaning if you are the “only hit a perfect ball person” then right side is going to hard for you because if you are right handed, those sets are going to be thrown up  in ways that you have to get really good at moving your body to get in position. You want the setter to know they can toss anything your way and you will do something with it.

5. Work on hitting a slide, seriously find a way to be a slide option as well. Because it will A. make you more deadly, B. make you more settable, C. make you be able to come on for the middle if need be D. harder to block. I coached against a RS that could pass and hit a slide. She was dangerous.

6. Really good at transitioning- you have got to have great feet. If you get caught on the net not transitioning the setter isn’t going to work hard to get you the ball. Why would they work that hard when the outside set is easier.

7. Same with getting a ball from the libero. You want to be an out of system option for your libero. But if you aren’t good at transitioning why are they going to do the harder set across the court? Be so good at always working hard to be available.

8. The ability to dig and transition in uncomfortable and hard ways. When you play RS and have to get tips you have a long way to get back to right side, especially if the middle is hitting in front of the setter. You have to work really hard if you want to get set. Right side position has to be a hustler a worker. Learn to dig up a variety of tips and get to a place to be a hitter.

9. Right sides hitting back row are a great back row attack option, but it is easy to get caught close to the 10ft line. Transition to be a great back row option.

10. Defense, defense. Defense. You do not want a DS coming in because you can’t dig up a tip or take a hit at you. Rightsides are easy positions to sub out. Don’t let that happen to you. Be great at defense. A setter can be a black hole of defense because they can dish the ball, you can’t be. Work on your defense.

11. There will be rotations where you will need to pass. Work on that passing. Don’t be hidden. As a right side you have to be an excellent generalist.

12. If you are a lefty this is your time to shine, take the opportunity.

So let’s talk about the defensive specialist or the DS and I left this one for last, but I really want to emphasize how important this role is in so many aspects not only on the court off the court because many times DSs are the ones that are walk-on’s, not on full rides, have to consistently fight for their position and are really overlooked.

1. The reality is that most positions can play a DS position. And that’s what makes the position hard.

2. A great DS has really honed their serving skills because when you come in, you’re expected to get points. A DS should be an amazing server because of the amount of serving reps that you’ll get you should be able to go along short and hit everything. I see DSs who do not hone this skill and become pretty one dimensional in their play.

3. This position is competitive and the question to ask yourself is are you willing to compete all the time for your position? You do not get time off, you do not get a break, you do not get to make a bunch of errors and stay on the court I hate this for you. It’s just the reality of the situation.

4. A DS should really work to know all three defensive positions because again with so many people that can play the position. If you only can play middle back or if you can only play right back, you are completely limiting yourself. Work to know every single position.

5. Work on your second ball touch because you’re probably coming in for a middle, which means the libero‘s off the court.

6. Being a very smart person who understands the importance of a really good second touch is critical. They need to be able to trust you to run the offense when the setter plays defense.

7. Are you a playmaker because you might only go to serve or you might go in serve and be in all three rotations but you have to make plays to stay in longer.

8. Do not cause trouble because we tend to see sometimes walk on DS’s will be frustrated and cause trouble on the bench. Do not do that. If you do not like the amount time you get talk to the coach and if it’s not adequate, that might not be the team for you, but Coach is not gonna sacrifice their team for a DS. And I say that with empathy for the position.

9. The best DS‘s are the ones who are so loud and cheerful and excited on the bench. They’re the ones having fun and understanding that part of that position is the cheerleading aspect.

10. Be a really hard worker meaning your shagging balls a lot tossing balls a lot handing balls a lot stain invested in the drills. It’s easy when you’re not getting the reps you want or the position you want to leave the drills and isolate yourself and I caution you from doing that. be involved in every drill in anyway possible.

11. Never say I’m just a DS. Never ever because you’re more than that. You are a critical part of the team just because you might not play as much as you want. You are still a critical part of the team.

12. Understand that if you want the libero spot that you have to play above and beyond the libero consistently, we see many times and people say well. I just make the same mistakes of the libero and if you’re making the same mistakes as a libero, why won’t they just keep the libero in?

13. A DS out works everyone on the court. You don't have time to be lazy and when I mean lazy. I mean someone that doesn't hustle, moves slowly to her defensive position, doesn't talk, isn't going for all balls, and isn't owning their position.

14. When you get a chance take full advantage of it.

15. DSs make the teams great. You are not "just" a DS.

OK, let’s talk about liberos. I am purposely making them separate from DS because their positions have different expectations, even though they’re similar. When we talk about a libero, we have to understand that in theory, some coaches feel that anyone can play the position, and outside, better, right side, DS, but we know that they can’t play it really well and so I say that to say that in the libero position you were going to be having a lot of battling for the position it’s going to be very especially at school where they recruit a few DS walk-ons.

A great libero can change the complete dynamic of your team. It would mean that everyone doesn’t have to work as hard when you have a great libero. When you don’t have a great libero everything just feels harder because you’re not able to get into system easily from Service or defense.

The libero’s job is to make everyone’s life and hear the way that I think it’s done.

1.  The libero is literally the workhorse of the team. This is the athlete that is always shagging balls, always handing balls, always talking, always cheering, just always doing everything.

2.  The liberos are excellent tossers because of how much they’re going to be running drills. You might think this is a pointless skill, but to toss balls in tempo, tossing balls is actually a very difficult skill and when you have a libero that can do it, it allows drills to run without a coach so it’s a very important skill. Also it teaches the libero about the game

3.  A libero is almost like an additional coach because they serve a lot of balls so you’re expected to have really good accuracy and score points with your serve. I don’t think a libero should ever not be a server because of how much they give to the court with their serving and their defense. If both middles are serving over you or they’re bringing in a serving specialist that means your service is not strong. It is not scoring. A libero should be a point score with short and ball because you get so much practice.

4.  The libero is the defensive captain of the team so much all the time that you should know what every defense is, when you’re running every defense, why you should change defense, you should be able to give off a scouting report of what to do defensively, and that also includes with the block.

5.  Not only is the libero the defensive captain, but they’re also a serve receive beast meaning they should be able to take up a lot of space and enormous amount of area because the libero is expected to take weight off of the OH when they have to pass, and they’re expected to take weight off of the middle and the right side on any short balls that they really shouldn’t be touching. When I think about liberos. I want them taking up a lot of space. A great libero should nearly be able to push out an outside and if they have to pass two and pass it really well.

6.  I can’t explain how important it is that you are a great passer because if the libero isn’t passing, we don’t want the outside to take more weight and did not be able to hit.

7.  When we talk about defense, the libero in theory should be able to play all three positions where we see a right side hitter is of a little bit of a generalist libero should be a back generalist.

8.  Just like a setter should know all the rotations the libero should know all the defenses and who you’re playing against and why you’re playing that defense. A libero, who doesn’t know what’s going on defensively is a problem and you might not be libero anymore after that.

9.  The libero literally is the one who starts the hustle and the hard work. The libero should be going for everything, but also have body control. They don’t just do soccer dives for no reason, it actually hurts the team they need to stay on their feet.

10.  Liberos who don’t stay on their feet hurt me. When you are always going to the ground you take yourself out of plays.

11.  The libero is a great second ball toucher (not a setter, a 2nd ball toucher) someone that can put balls to hitters high, hittable, and also in tempo. Because when the setter is digging balls, the libero is automatically considered to be the 2nd ball toucher and should be a vocal one. The libero should never have someone else take it from them because they’re not calling the ball and where it’s going.

12.  A libero should have really great body control because they understand where they are in relation to the 10 foot line or other lines and can control themselves.

13.  A libero should never stop talking. If you the libero  and not talking there’s a problem. If a person says that their kid is a little shy then they shouldn’t be the libero. At  some point and athlete needs to put the team above being shy if they want to be at the next level. When I hear parents talk saying their kid doesn’t talk or is too shy then there needs to be self-reflection if they really are gonna be good because the expectations are so high.

14.  The libero should be able to take a lot of feedback and honestly they should have a tougher skin than most because so many balls are going through them defensively and passing wise.

15.  The libero should have the ability to understand what leading and being a friend is because there will be occasions when you have to pull your friend out of serve service and they will not like it, but it’s about would be best for the team. if I have to fuss and yell at you to pull someone out that means you’re not worried about the team and that’s a big problem.

16.  Be dependable. When all is going crazy we should be able to depend on you to put at least a ball up to the 10 ft line so we can run an offense.