What is defense in volleyball?

admin November 14, 2023

A team’s defense is the positioning and play of a team while the ball is on the opponent’s side of the net. The goal of a team’s defense is to prevent their opponent from scoring a point and to provide a good start to their team’s offense.

In volleyball, a team scores a point when the ball is unable to be returned from their opponent’s side of the court.

A good offense will attempt to hit the ball:

  • To an empty spot on their opponent’s side of the court
    • This may win the point directly if it hits the ground before the opponent reaches it.
    • It may also keep the defender from making a good pass and starting an effective offensive possession, even if a defender can reach the ball.
  • Off an opponent blocker and out-of-bounds
    • It is sometimes easier to win a point by “tooling” it off the block.
    • A ball hit off the block may then sail out-of-bounds making it difficult to retrieve or even if it stays in bounds will often be difficult to play because of the deflection.
  • At a weaker defensive player
    • The player may be deemed a weaker defensive player in general, or may simply be in a difficult position defensively.
    • The weaker player then may fail to make a good pass to keep the ball in play or to allow an effective offensive possession.
  • At a location that will disrupt the opponent’s offense
    • Hitting a ball to the setter will force them to take the first contact, which means the primary setter will not be able to take the second contact to best set up the team’s hitters.
    • Hitting the ball to a gap may force the players to communicate to achieve an effective pass.
    • Hitting the ball deep may force them to make a pass further to reach the setter.

A good defense will then attempt to reduce the opponent’s opportunity to attack them by:

  • Covering the court well
    • One side of the volleyball court is 900 square feet (or 100 square meters) and a team has 6 players to try to cover it.
      • That means, mathematically, each player would need to cover 150 square feet (the size of an above-average bedroom) to cover the whole court.
    • Players can be used to block (hopefully reducing the part of the court the attacker can attack) or cover the area defensively to try to dig an attacker’s hit.
  • Setting up an effective block
    • An effective block reduces the attacker’s options, pressures them to hit around it, or ideally stops the attack from ever reaching the other side.
    • An ineffective block is one where the blocker is not meaningfully affecting the play and could be detrimentally affecting the play. This can occur if the block is:
      • Illegal (by touching the net, the other player, or by crossing under the net)
      • Prevents another blocker from being in the correct position (when blocking with 2 or 3 players)
      • Prevents the defenders from seeing the ball
      • Failing to block the ball toward the opponent’s court (thus allowing hits to be “tooled” off them).
  • Placing weaker defenders in better positions
    • Weaker defensive players can be given easier areas to cover: covering tips or blocking.
    • Stronger defensive players can be given areas that are harder to cover and are attacked more frequently. For example, a good libero can play back row opposite the attacker’s outside hitter or in the middle back of the court where the majority of hits go.
  • Having a plan to cover and coordinate with each other
    • A team needs to have a plan for when the Setter has to take the 1st contact.
    • Players need to know how to cover gaps/seams by moving parallel to one another without colliding.
    • Players need to communicate before and during the play to avoid confusion and need to provide help for their teammates when passes go awry and the team needs to operate “out-of-system.”

What kinds of defenses are there in volleyball?

Defenses in volleyball are often labeled or grouped by how the 6 players are divided to cover the court defensively:

  1. The number of blockers.
  2. The number player used to cover short hits (e.g., tips).
  3. The number of players used to cover long hits (e.g., spikes).

# blockers – # covering short – # covering long

The number of blockers is thus the 1st major division between defenses in volleyball:

  • 0 (zero) blocker systems
    • Defensive systems may include 0-1-5 or 0-2-4 systems (i.e., 1 or 2 players covering short).
    • Young teams, short teams, or teams playing against opponents who don’t attack the ball at the net may opt to play without a blocker.
    • Pros: This allows the team to cover the court defensively with all 6 players, there is no blocker screening the attacker from the defenders, and there is no blocker that can deflect the block in an undesirable way (i.e., out-of-bounds or erratically toward the court).
    • Cons: No blocking pressure is applied to the opponent’s attack, there is no chance of a block.
  • 1 (single) blocker systems
    • Defensive systems may include 1-1-4 or 1-2-3 systems (i.e., 1 or 2 players covering short).
    • Young teams, short teams, or teams playing against a fast attacking opponent may opt to play with a single blocker.
    • The single blocker could be designated to block all along the net, or simply be the front-court player nearest the attack.
    • Pros: This allows the team to provide a blocker to bother the attacker and possibly block the hit and 5 players to cover the court defensively.
    • Cons: There is less blocking pressure applied versus 2 or 3 blocker systems, the blocker screens the attacker somewhat from view, and the blocker may deflect the ball in an undesirable way.
  • 2 (double) blocker systems
    • Defensive systems may include 2-0-4 or 2-1-3 systems (i.e., 0 or 1 player dedicated to covering short).
    • The majority of teams at the high school and college level of play opt for double blockers.
    • A double block requires speed and coordination between the blockers to set the block location properly and to close the block (i.e., the space between the blockers should generally not allow the attacker to hit between them).
    • Pros: This allows the team to apply additional blocking pressure while covering the court with 4 players.
    • Cons: The double block screens the attacker more than a single block. It requires more speed and coordination between the two blockers, or the result may be less effective than a single blocker. Trying to adequately cover the court with 4 players is often difficult.
  • 3 (triple) blocker systems
    • Defensive systems may include 3-0-3 or 3-1-2 systems (i.e., 0 or 1 player dedicated to covering short).
    • Typically, it is only the top-level international, professional, or collegiate volleyball teams that attempt a triple-blocker system.
    • Teams may employ the system for all attackers or just certain attackers in certain situations.
    • Pros: This allows maximum blocking pressure and generally forces the attacker to tip or tool the block as there is rarely room to hit around or through a triple block.
    • Cons: The triple block screens the attacker more than even the double block. It requires more speed and coordination than even the two-blocker system (e.g., the third blocker must come from the far side of the net). It only allows 3 players to cover the entire court behind the attacker.

What are some commonly used defensive systems?

Some defenses in volleyball have been used frequently enough to earn their own names (often labeled differently by different coaches).

A list of common volleyball defenses includes:

  • Perimeter Defense
    • Also known as man-back, player back, middle back, 6 back, or white defense
    • It is a defensive formation that focuses on covering the outer edges (a.k.a., “perimeter”) of the court.
    • PROS: It provides good cover for line, middle back, and cross-court hits. It also spaces defenders around the perimeter, which helps the defense track down errant passes. It is also the most commonly played defense, so many players will come in with some experience in it.
    • CONS: It leaves open the middle of the court for tips and off-speed shots and the back corners of the court. Your opponent is used to attacking it and trains hitters to hit these open areas.
  • Rotational Defense
    • It is a defensive formation/strategy that rotates players to adjust to the offensive attack.
    • PROS: It provides coverage for tips, while still providing coverage for line, back middle, and cross-court hits. It moves back row setters up to cover tips when the opponent’s outside hitter attacks, which also places the setter near the setting target position. It also moves the outside hitter back to cover the cross-court attack (when the opponent outside attacks) which makes transitioning to hit easier.
    • CONS: It requires all defenders to move further before the ball is attacked than other defenses (like the Perimeter Defense). This means that if the defenders are slow or still moving when the ball is attacked, they may be out of position to cover it. This is especially a problem when the opponent runs a quicker tempo offense. A hit on the left side means the back right player (often the back row setter) will need to rotate to deep back middle which takes them further away from the setting target.
  • Red Defense
    • Also known as man-up, player up, middle up, middle back-up, 6 up, and setter up.
    • It is a defensive system where one defender plays behind the middle blocker instead of deep back.
    • PROS: It provides coverage for tips, off-speed hits, or setter dumps in the middle of the court. It positions defenders in places opposite of where the Perimeter defense places players, which means the opponent will be programmed to send the ball right to your defenders.
    • CONS: The back middle is exposed, which is where many players hit balls by default. The position 1 player which is often the back row setter plays deeper and is thus farther from the setting position.
      • This can be mitigated if the setter is placed front middle as they will be closer to the setting target and only asked to cover tips.
  • Middle-Middle Defense
    • It is a defensive system that prioritizes covering the middle of the court where the majority of hits go statistically.
    • PROS: It requires only simple movement from base defense which means it can adjust quickly. It covers the majority case of hits, which will require the opponent to hit more difficult shots to succeed.
    • CONS: It is more vulnerable to line tips, line, and deep corner hits as most of the defenders are focusing on the middle of the court.
  • Combination Defenses
    • Some defensive systems can be used that combine elements of other systems or alter the base defense location.
    • The Red defense can be run where the middle-up player is a setter or other middle or left-back player.
    • Some combination defenses include:
      • Blue Defense
        • Off-blocker moves “middle up” to cover tips, and 3 remaining defender covers the perimeter.
      • Black Defense
        • The middle-up defender covers tips behind a triple block, with the remaining 2 defenders covering the rest.
      • Rover Defense
        • The middle-back defender can play up or back (I.e., rove around) depending on their read of the opponent.

Other Great Resources

Categories:Strategy