Finding the setter

[FMadera]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

Again, I'm sorry to be dense, but I simply have no idea what this means, to "go left-right-middle".

And again, thanks for all the genuinely helpful replies.

For example:

Let's say a coach submits a lineup of (player numbers): 10,11,12,13,14,15. (Serving order doesn't matter for this example).

That's the rotation that the team must follow (subs notwithstanding).

By "right, left, middle", let's say #10 is the setter. On the vast majority of teams you'll see, 10 is your setter (considered a right, because they would usually block right side if they play front row), 11 would be the left side, 12 would be a middle, 13 would be a right (or setter), 14 a left, 15 a middle.

10 - Right
11 - Left
12 - Middle
13 - Right
14 - Left
15 - Middle

Again, once in a great while, you'll see a team that will go in "left, right, middle" order. In about 50 or so matches I've seen this year, I've seen it once, but you might see it slightly more often than that. Right, left, middle is your norm.

So...once you've determined from watching warmups who's playing what position, when you check the lineups, you should have a good idea what order they are in, R-L-M or L-R-M. When you know that, and you find your setter, in theory, you should be able to find your lefts and middles and know if they are in the proper order.

[Back In The Saddle]

Okay, I'm starting to get an idea of how this works. I can see that it'll take some time to be able to see it well.

Thank you for the patient explanations.

Maybe time to get a copy of Volleyball for Dummies

[jkumpire]

Thanks F man,

I learned a lot with that last post. Please excuse my previous scribble.

[TimTaylor]

Nice explanation Felix!

Scrapper, one thing that really helped me was going to watch some matches on nights I wasn't working. It gives you a chance to focus on watching one or two things without the pressure of the other duties you have when officiating. Another thing that will help is working tournaments. You'll see the same teams several times during the day & start to recognize the patterns.

Another thing identifying the setters will help you with down the road is recognizing the offensive setup the teams are using, which in combination with the position information Felix described, can give you an idea what to watch for during the match. I start by identifying the setters during prematch warmups, then when the lineups are submitted I note how many setters are in the game for each team and their relative positions to each other & their teammates as Felix described.

There are 3 basic offensive setups:
6-2: (6 hitters-2 setters) The setters are in opposite positions (ie RF, LB) and the person setting always comes from the back row, which means they always have 3 hitters in the front row.

4-2: (4 hitters-2 setters). As with 6-2 setters are opposite, but the front row setter usually does most of the sets. Disadvantage is they only have 2 hitters in the front row, advantage is that front row setter can legally tip or dump the ball over the net forcing the other team to be ready to defend her.

5-1: (5 hitters-1 setter). In this setup there is only 1 setter, so half the time they have 2 FR hitters and the other half 3 FR hitters.

So what does this tell you? Anytime you have a setter coming from the back row there is an increased potential for an IA to occur. In my experience at least, this seems to happen more often with a 5-1 set, usually when the setter is LB and in too big a hurry to get to the RF area to be ready to set. I would be interested if others have noticed anything similar. There's also an increased potential for a BRA or BRB you need to be aware of. As the R this helps you identify BRA/BRB situations and see IA of the serving team. As the U it helps you identify IA of the receive team and to feed things like server position (FR/BR) to the R via discrete signals to assist them.

Like I said, some of this is down the road a ways from where you are now, but hopefully gives you an idea why knowing who & where the setters are is important.

[Back In The Saddle]

BRA? BRB? I don't recognize these TLA's. Well, the first seems vaguely familiar, in a sophomoric kinda way.

Edited to add this little epiphany: BRA = back row attack? BRB = back row block?

I gotta stop posting before I've had my morning joe.

[TimTaylor]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

BRA?

Edited to add this little epiphany: BRA = back row attack? BRB = back row block?

I gotta stop posting before I've had my morning joe.

You got it! Surprising what a little java will do....for me it's tea, but the result is the same

For example, in my varsity match last night (I was R) I had one team running a 5-1 and the other 4-2. By knowing who was supposed to be where, I was able to catch an IA on serve and a BRB, both on the 5-1 team. My U caught them once & the 4-2 team a couple times for IA on receive as well. This is the stuff I'm working really hard on right now.......along with consistency in ball handling calls, of course (that's one we never stop working on)..........