1984 Olympic Gold Medalist shares some secrets to success

GETTING OUT OF A JAM

Even the best passers are susceptible to tough, rising serves that don't allow them to extend their arms away from their bodies to pass the ball. If this happens to you, try raising your body as much as possible. Here, Stanford's Kerri Walsh has gone to her tip toes so she can contact the ball further down her platform.

Of course, the best thing you can do is avoid this situation entirely. It's important to position your body to the side of the ball, so that you can adjust your platform as high as you need to make the pass without getting jammed. (To make a good fore arm pass, the first thing you should think about is moving your feet.)

Keep in mind, the rules also allow you to take the ball overhand. This can result in incredibly ugly but legal serve receives. The referee can't call a double hit no matter how badly you gaff the ball. There isn't a foul unless you actually catch and throw the ball. Come on everybody, let's do the "gaff, set, hit!"

FOCUS ON THE BALL

When you're preparing to serve, start off by looking through the net at your opponent and planning where you want the ball to go. Look for a weak passer, or if both passers are strong, try serving in an alley between them or down the sidelines. Another good strategy is to serve short to the left-front hitter, especially when the setter is in the front row. (if you take the left-front out of the play with a good serve, the offense will be reduced to just one front-row attacker.)

Once you've decided on your plan of attack, you should focus on executing a good serve. The most critical part of an effective serve is the toss.

In this picture, notice how the eyes of Penn State's Bonnie Bremner are focused exclusively on the ball in preparation for a well-placed toss. (A good toss will land directly on your front foot if you let it drop. In practice, try making 10 good tosses in a row without serving.)

Bremner is holding her elbow high, and that allows her to contact the ball with a compact motion. A compact arm swing will increase the chance of hitting the ball dead center, resulting in a swerving knuckler.

DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD

When blocking, even if you put up a solid block, you're at a disadvantage. The chances that you'll get a stuff are rare, so don't get frustrated. Keep your head in the game, and always penetrate the net the way the USA blockers are doing here.

In this picture, the attacker is squeaking the ball through the arms of the blocker. After this happens, some players get discouraged and wonder if there's something wrong with their blocking technique. It's important to keep your composure and to not start chasing after the ball by jumping wildly and flailing your arms.

Instead, if the ball gets through your block, think that it was the luckiest shot in your opponent's life. Remember, there are a lot of natural gaps in even the most well-formed block. So when the hitter gets the ball through, it's important that you continue concentrating on the fundamentals you've learned in practice.

CALL OUT THE HITTERS

To increase your chances of stopping the opponent's sideout play, be sure to identify the front-row attackers. All the blockers should be on the same page as to who the hitters are, and whether or not the setter is in the front row. If the setter is in the front row, you know that she's a threat to dump the ball or to spike a high, tight pass. If she's in the back row, then you can ignore her and focus on the front-row attackers. It sounds simple, but at least once a match blocker needlessly jumps with back-row setter who is only jumping to set the ball.

If you're playing in a noisy arena, hold up your fingers to indicate the number of hitters, the way Penn State's Lindsey Anderson is doing here. That way, if the setter is in the front row, your backrow teammates will be ready to dig the setter dump or spike.

BODY POWER

To create maximum ball speed on your spike, the weight of your body has to pass through the ball. Many players use only their arm swing to generate ball speed. To hit the "heavy" ball that can bowl over a defender, make sure you stay behind the ball on your approach and then broad jump through it. What you don't want to do is jump straight up and land in the same spot you took off from.

In this picture, the attacker is moving forward through the ball toward the target and contacting it in front of her forehead at maximum extension. She's bound to clobber somebody. (Note the excellent spike coverage position of the hitter's teammate. Before the spike, she is low to the ground with her arms out. She'll be ready to cover in case the hitter gets blocked).