A Setter’s Mind

It has been almost a decade since I fell in love with playing volleyball. The mechanics and the gameplay itself have brought me into the world of a sport where I became the maneuver of the team's ever aspired victory. From my perspective as someone who plays the game, not all people appreciate the role of a setter. The vitality of that position as the ignition of the team's offense makes difference, especially when he was able to feed the ball to his attackers. As setter delivers, he’s in charge of leading the team towards the pot of gold, claiming their hard-earned victory.

`Setting the ball does not equate to tossing the ball. Setting the ball should be tactically driven and at the same time requires mental toughness. The volleyball body language with your teammates will serve as your basis on how you will help them activate their offense as well as on how to win your game. There are a lot of things to consider but with this experience of mine, I will show how setting core lessons should be applied and how to bring great sets to your spikers. Moreso, mapping or learning the key points of a good setter will allow us to unleash the beast behind the amazing sets of a setter towards the best play of volleyball.

A setter must know a variety of sets. He must be knowledgeable enough to perform different kinds of sets in order for him to set up a high level of combination plays. When I was a newbie playing volleyball, the only set that I could perform was setting the ball to an outside hitter or to the middle hitter. I can’t execute the setting to utility spiker but when I trained and got familiarized with all the sets, I was able to circulate the ball as well as the offense. Gaining this skill through countless involvement in volleyball training or daily play can help you to sharpen your fingers' memory to deploy the ball on which kind of play you and your teammate will be executing in order to score a point.

Aside from getting yourself equipped with different cards of sets, a setter must create a connection between him and his spikers. Study how they wanted to be fed by tossing them the ball that suits their approach–that includes the height of the ball, the tempo of sets either fast or slow, and their preferred distance of the ball before the net. By profiling your spiker’s preference of set, you can master the connection of a spiker and setter to execute an attack. As you get in touch with their desire sets, they can easily execute as well as their spiking ability. This skill can be harnessed during constant training with your teammates.

Lastly, study your opponent’s blockers. Your ability to mitigate when your spikers are closely monitored by your opponents will minimize the blocking percentage of your opposing team. In addition, you can also be a decoy where you as a setter can fake a set by converting it into a trap, fooling them can slow down their blockings leaving your spikers with no blockers guarding their attack. In that phasing, you can definitely make yourself a great setter.

These pointers as I've learned them through my experiences will help people understand how setters execute their playmaking. Setters are the captain of the team’s ship sailing towards their victory, and that is why it is essential for people who will be playing this position to harness the setting skill entirely as they guide their respective team. Mastering different kinds of sets, building connections with the spiker, and studying the opponent’s blockers are the things that will ultimately help a setter to perform his vital role. In general, as rallies intensify, the composure and confidence of a setter is the key to bringing out his best as well as the beast of their game as a team.