July 1997

Set the Bad Pass

By Liz Masakayan and Angela Rock

No matter how good your partner is, there will come a time-usually during a frantic rally-when you'll be forced to set a less-than-ideal pass. The bad news is, there's no sure'-fire way to turn it into a great set. The good news is that there are techniques that can help. We'll take a look at some ways to handle the tough pass and create hittable sets.

The Too-Deep Pass

Maybe your partner got caught deep on a shot or a serve. Perhaps she's off-balance. Or maybe you're dealing with a husband-and-wife serve and have to decide at the last second who will pass. Either way, the pass doesn't end up anywhere close to the net. Now you're in the middle of the court, or deeper, trying to set your partner. Where do you put it?

Rock: Liz taught me to imagine a capital letter "L" (for 'Liz", I guess) between the setter and the hitter. The setter is at the top of the L, and the hitter is at the bottom end. The ideal set will end up at the bottom end of the L, which makes it easy for the hitter to take an approach and still see the set.

Masakayan: The L follows you anywhere on the court. In this case, we're both stuck in the deep middle. The last thing I want to do is set the ball way outside or too close. To give Angela a hittable set, I push the ball toward the net and maybe about seven feet to my left-toward the bottom end of the L. Because we've kept the L between us, Angela can hit it with no problem.

Tips: Don't try to set the ball directly on the net because the hitter is coming from deep in the court. Allow a margin for error, about three feet off the net. Also, give the hitter enough time to get in position to approach by giving her a good up-and-down, high set, not a low, loopy one.

The Sideline Pass

Sometimes, the passer sends the ball too far over to her own side of the court, or the ball drifts over the sideline. If this happens, the setter must run through the ball and make a back set into the court because she won't have time to run around to make a front set (Figures 1-3 above).

Masakayan: The most important thing to remember when making this play is to keep your body parallel to the net and your shoulders perpendicular to it. You want to set the ball behind you in a straight up-and-down trajectory to the spot on the net directly in front of your partner's serve-receive position.

Rock: Communication is vital. Your hitter should be giving you verbal cues the entire time, telling you, "Here! Straight up! I'm with you!" or anything to let you know where she is.

With this set, try to put the ball up just behind you instead of pushing it too far back into the middle of the court. Again, give your hitter enough height on the set so she can adjust her approach if necessary.

The Spinning Pass

The spinning pass is one of the most frustrating to set. This ball can bounce erratically off your arms when you're trying to set, but the correct body position can help you turn it into a good set.

You'll probably want to bump-set this pass because it takes a very good hand-setter to create a clean set off a whirling ball. Because the forward-spin pass sends the ball forward faster and backspin pass goes backward faster, it's harder to get into position to hand set. The first thing to adjust is your position relative to the net.

Masakayan: To set a typical, decent pass, you want your shoulders aimed at the post with the foot closest to the net slightly forward (Figure 1). This isn't just the best way to make a set, it's also the best way for the hitter to read where it's going. But you have to adjust your body position to compensate for a spinning pass.

If you use this body position to set a pass with a lot of backspin, the ball will end up spinning backward into the court and off the net. To compensate for the backspin, I use a forward motion by aiming your shoulders more toward the net than normal (Figure 2), and use a slightly scooping motion to guide the ball into the target setting area (Figures 3 and 4).

To counter forward spin, tilt your shoulders more into the court (Figure 5). If necessary, drop the shoulder that's farthest from the net. Try to send the ball slightly away from the net when you contact it (Figures 6 and 7).