Sport Today

    Can somebody give some pointers on 1 set and shoot?
    Especially in the timeing and approach front.

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The timing on the 1 set and shoot depend on a variety of issues.
First, the height of your team, the quality of your setter,
and the complexity of your offense.  For the 1 (quick) set, the
hitter should be in the air by the time the setter touches the
ball.  Basically, the hitter should jump and swing and the setter
must be able to place the ball in the hitter's hands.  Of course
you must have a setter that can do this consistently.  If this
is not the case, you can slow it down to where the hitter and the
ball go up simultaneously.  The problem with this is that it is
a much easier hit to block.  That's where your hitter's height
comes in.  If he's tall enough, you don't worry about it and just
set it where he can hit over everyone.

For the shoot set, there's the slow or quick shoot.  The slow
shoot loops while the fast shoot should keep going outside the
court if the hitter doesn't contact the ball.  The approach on
the slow shoot starts as the setter contacts the ball.  This is
if you use the 3-step.  On a fast shoot, you should be in the
air or jumping as the ball touches the setter's hands.

You may also want to adjust the speed of these sets depending
on if you run other options with them.

I hope this helped.  Happy hitting!
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Cosyde Corporation                

Watch the pass at first, and keep track of where your setter is.  You
don't want to be in his way, and you never want to be between where the
setter is and where he needs to go to get to the ball.  Late in the
pass's trajectory you will need to keep both the setter and the ball in
your field of view.  If the setter jump sets you better see it and
readjust your timing to be in the air earlier.

Tell your setter you want the ball at LEAST two feet away from the plane
of the net.  The most common mistake is to run in tight to the net and
try to hit a set that is aimed to continue over the net of its own
accord if you miss.  A lot of people who haven't played college or
very competitive ball in the last 8 years or so think the quickset should
be closer to the net than other sets.  This is the surest way to get
blocked or get sucked into a net foul and greatly reduces the power
of your arm swing.  A good way to convince the setter of this is to
ask for a very low 10foot set in the middle during hitting practice.
After nailing some of these, then ask for a 1set that is set 2-3 feet
from the net.

Hang back before your approach much longer than you think you should,
so that seems like it will be impossible to make it in time.  But
lean way forward, almost to the point of falling.  Then take a quick
three step approach, with the last two being fast and the first one
being of a length of time to compensate for any  misguesses in
timing.

Even though you are rushing, be sure to throw BOTH arms, left and
right, back behind you, exactly symmetrically, and then bring them
both up into the air, again evenly.  You must have your right arm
up in the air and visible to the setter as he gets the ball in his
hands so he has a target to aim for.  So don't*** your right
arm back too far until after he has released the ball.

You must call out your play on EVERY set.  If the pass is no good,
call for a two.  Even if the pass is perfect, reaffirm the one.
Calling "yes" and "no" is good, because it doesn't let the other
team know for sure "yes to what?"  If you don't call it out every
time, your setter will have less confidence in you and will tend
to set the ball outside.  Or worse, he'll set you that quick one
when you were*** back for the two because you thought the
pass wasn't good enough.

The best time to run the play is during transition, as the opposing
middle blocker is most likely to be muddled.  The WORST time is
on service receive with a perfect pass.  The quick "1" set is
not a place set, and should be run wherever the setter winds up.
If the pass pulls him over to the right sideline, that's where you
need to go, or else its really a shoot.  If your teammate is
running an X-pattern you will collide unless you stay in fairly
close to the setter.  But then again, leave a couple feet for
margin of error.

With a good setter the 1set is actually the easiest set to put
down.  Middle blockers often have incredibly high hitting
percentages as a result (often 100% for a match).  The
problem is that unless the passing is excellent you won't get
set very much.  The reason is that you get to practice your
timing with  your setter, and the opposing team doesn't.
If you match up well with your setter, you can hit the ball on the
way up if the blockers are the least bit late, on the way down if they
are the least bit early, and in any case the ball is moving with
a speed relative to you of nearly zero, so you should get a perfect
contact every time.

And of course, lefties and women aren't the norm, since they are
not like me -- sorry (-:

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