Serving (434)

How does one serve? 

This depends on a couple of things. What level of volleyball is it? What type of serve are you trying to learn? 

For beginner volleyball, people usually start with an underhand serve. This is the most basic type of serve in volleyball, and this serve doesn't have very much control. All you have to do is swing your arm a little and hit the ball with the knuckle and palm side of the fist. For higher-level volleyball you serve overhand. There are different types of overhand serves including standing float, standing topspin, jump float, and jump topspin. Anytime you are serving, you want to hit the ball with a firm, open hand and aim more upwards. For any float serve, you want to hit the ball mainly with your palm, drive through the ball, and don't snap your wrist or follow through all the way. For this type of serve, the less spin the better. The purpose of this serve is to make the ball "float" or move a little in the air, making it difficult for the passer on the other side. For a jump float, the footwork is almost like a rhythm. I take my first(and biggest) step at the same time as tossing the ball just above my head, then take two little steps, then jump and swing. Since I'm right handed, my footwork is left, right left. A lefty's footwork would be the opposite: right, left right. 

For topspin serves, you want to contact the ball high and snap your wrist, causing the ball to have spin. When you toss the ball, you can either toss plain or put spin on your toss. When you jump serve, toss like you are bowling up at the ceiling with your hitting hand, then go into your approach, which is the same footwork for right handers: left, right left, or for left handers: right, left right. The toss should be higher and have some spin on it. 

To get even more complex, your coaches can call which zones on the court they want you to serve. The way you are facing, the direction of your swing,how high you aim, and the way you turn your hand can all change where the ball is going to go on the court. For example, a person's normal serve usually goes to a back row player on the other team, but your coach can call a short zone, for which you would have to change the trajectory of the ball(how high you aim) and how hard you hit the ball.