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their teammate at all costs. Therefore, I like to keep the players as far apart as possible and give them the responsibility of digging a huge area. I send my middle back all the way to the sideline, otherwise, if my middle back stays in the middle of the court on the back line, I find my middle back and the cross court digger rarely go to the floor for a ball in fear that they will make contact with each other. By sending my middle back all the way to the sideline my cross court digger has responsibility for 60% of the court and usually digs a ball because she plays with abandon since no one is in her way when she "flies" after the ball!
Finally, and most importantly, the latest concept in defense is for the three back row players to stay back and read the hitters (commonly called a perimeter defense). In this defense the three back row hitters station themselves deep in the court and towards the sidelines (leaving the middle susceptible to the dump) and as the set goes up they shift to a position relative to the hole in the block. This leaves absolutely no one to cover the tip. But, if the digger determines the ball to be hidden by the block then she "releases" to cover the tip. In order to effectively dig a tipped ball from 20 feet back in the court the player must know how to "run through" and do a "barrel roll," otherwise the ball will never be bumped high enough for the setter to get under the ball. The "pancake" will just not work when digging a "tipped" ball.
But most importantly is the "hunger" in your players to dig a ball. Too often players allow themselves to be hit at! Instead, they should have the attitude that they are attacking the hitters. There should be a gleam in their eye that is telling the hitter, "C'mon honey, give me your best shot." If your diggers are thinking, "Oh no!, here she comes again," the match is over. Remember, "The bigger they come the harder they fall." Facing the prospect of playing against UCLA's #1 hitter Liz Masakyan with a .300 attack percentage against top twenty teams my player (Laurie Henderson) pointed to her forearms and said, "No problem." That night Liz hit -.090 and had to be subbed off the court. It's all attitude!
And now the decision is yours. Do you put your players in a set defensive pattern or allow them to read? Do you play up and challenge the hitters to hit past your defense or do you play back and read the hitters? Do you crowd your players and insure the dig of a hit through the hole in the block or do you spread your players requiring one player to have more responsibility than any human can possibly handle? Do you stand in the middle of your defensive zone or on the perimeter? Do you protect against the dump and tip or do you defend the quick attack? Do you have one defense or two different defenses depending on whether your 5-1 setter is in the front row or back row? Welcome to the world of coaching!
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