I played a ton of volleyball last summer, and while I was never the best I was almost never the worse(everyone has a few bad days) and I always had a good time. This summer I’ve just started playing again, with today being the 3rd or 4th time or so. Out of 9 people, I was the absolute worst. I kept brushing the ball with just the tips of my fingers, or just standing there as it dropped within my reach.
I don’t feel bad about being the worst of the group I play with – they’re all athletes or athletic. I feel bad about just plain sucking. I know I’m going to end up dragging whichever team I’m on down for a few more games, but I’ll be damned if I’m not trying.
I’ve got some specific goals in mind:
1) Be able to place my serves. 5 minutes practicing before the rest of the group got there one day improved this. If I keep it up, I know I can get consistent.
2) Always get 2 hands on the ball. I’ve pulled off some crazy saves with just one hand, but there have been just as many times when the ball’s gone flying off in a random direction. I’d rather have consistency.
3) Start moving, even if I’m not sure I need to. There have been so many times when I think one of my teammates has it, or that it’s definitely going over the net(or visa-versa from their side), or that it’s going out. I’ll either stand there or take only a single step, and then when it’s too late realize I was wrong. I’ve got to get in motion.
4) Learn to hit backwards. Half of my “it-couldn’t-have-been-better-setup-how-did-you-fuck-that-up” moments today were me trying to hit the ball backwards over the net. I either only brushed it with my fingertips or sent it straight into the net. I’ve got to make this work.
