Fundamental Skills

Awareness and Technique

You can have a lot of fun listening to the crowd at a high-level match. Amazed younger players exclaim “I would die if that serve came at me” or “She jumps so high!” But I think the most meaningful phrase to hear is “How did they know that was going to happen!”

Professional athletes excute advanced techniques with strength, grace, and consistency. But the real differentiator between professional and beginner is mental, not physical. Experts focus their attention on more important factors, recognize patterns sooner, and make better predictions about their teammates and opponents. This is awareness.

I split nearly everything in a sport into awareness and technique.

Technique is the ability to execute specific skills (motor patterns) in a consistent manner.

We practice technique. Hitting cross. Hitting line. Using the block to reset or tool. Tipping. These are the tools available to us; the motor patterns we practice until habitual.

Awareness is the ability to read the game, recognize possibilities, and choose a response.

We develop awareness too. It’s the skill of knowing what to look at, interpreting the most likely outcome, and choosing a reaction. It largely happens while you’re not touching the ball.

The flow of sport is read, response. Awareness, technique. See, react.

To see this flow let’s watch Olympians. Checkout this clip:

We’ll focus on the action by Eric Shoji (near-side libero #22) and Micah Christenson (near-side setter #11). Wow. Watch the play again and only look at Shoji.

Now let’s break down what Shoji does to set himself up to make this play.

He’s playing middle back defense, so his first task figuring out where to position himself. Imagine a line splitting the court, hotdog style. Which side should he be on? How does he choose?

I bet he watched the sharp angle of the hitters approach and with this high set he trusts his teammates to put up a well-closed double block. (Awareness)

Then, right before the hitter contacts, he does a tennis step. This is a one-two step aimed to ready a player for movement. (Technique)

The rest is habit. Who should get the first ball, setter or libero? Shoji and Christenson both know.

Shoji overpasses. Now, Christenson breaks the rules.

It will take time for Shoji to return to middle back and Brazil runs a quick offense. So Christenson takes middle back and (since he’s deviated from the norm) communicates to Shoji.

So, what is awareness?

• Reading your opponents
  • Example: Watching a hitter to position yourself on defense
• Acting with knowledge of your team’s system
  • Example: Libero takes first ball over setter
• Recognizing abnormal situations
  • Example: Christenson shuffles over to give Shoji time to get up

Watching pros play can help you develop this or realize you should.
For example, there’s no way Grebennikov digs this without a big read. He is completely “out of position” and in front of his middle-back!

(Press and release the . key to skip forward a frame in Youtube!)

I’m guessing his read is based off of the position of his middle blocker, something about the attacking middle’s body position, the scouting report, and thousands of hours of practice watching the right things.

So much is lost when we only focus on who has the ball. Anticipation, preparation, focus (visual attention), and improvization “off-ball” add so much to the game. So practice this! Ask your friends to block you in hitting lines. Play short court, volleytennis, and pickup volleyball. And watch some pros in slow mo and frame-by-frame. Try to predict what will happen next. And have fun!