Captian Positioning Advice

[GIJane]

Hi,

I'm new here and will be doing my introduction but I was woudnerign if anyone had any thoughts on my question:

I have a co-ed intramural league starting up next week and am looking for some positioning advice for a possible situation that may (or may not, we'll see who ends up on our team) arise. If, as can sometimes happen here or in pickup games elsewhere, you were to find yourself on a team where about half the people (often 2 of the girls and one guy, but maybe vice versa) have a decent understanding of the game, and the other three are just there to play but don't really know the game, how would you position your players?

Would you:

A) Put your skilled players next to each other, so the hitters will have someone giving them good sets when they're all in the front row, and you can generate some offense even though this will leave you with sketchy defense and vice versa when your skilled players are all in the back row?

B) Shift your skilled players throughout your lineup so that you don't leave a too big hole (like an entire front or back line), but you may lack consistent setting for hitters or vice versa, possibly resulting in your offensive output will suffering?

C) Run a simplified 4-2 or 5-1 offense, so you always are getting consistent setting even if it means losing one or two of your scarce hitters? What if your best setter is your one skilled guy (not that ours will be), do you take your biggest hitter and best blocker and put them at setter?

D) Get a new team? Well, this wouldn't really be an option in this case. Ringers could possibly be recruited, but I'd rather lose a close game that I played my hardest in with a decent amount of playing time, than watch as a team that was nominally mine won while I spent a heavy amount of bench time. (You don't improve much while riding pine.)

[BrianZ]

This type of Rec ball is difficult for better skilled players to play without coming off as snobby. I would put your most skilled player at Setter and run a 5-1, but that's just the setter in me talking.

I would seperate your better players and have a skilled player, unskilled player, skilled player etc. You can always move them after the service whether you play 4-2, 6-2, or 5-1

I firmly believe that anyone can hit a good set, therefore, train your unskilled players to let the second ball go to the setter no matter what, and have them wait for a set so that they can hit the ball. Most unskilled players think hitting the ball is the most exciting thing about the game anyway, even if they can't put anything behind it.

If you have a good setter, your hitters can hit out of the backrow, and you can move them around to get them quality sets. Simply give the unskilled player a spot to play and go from there.

At the level you are talking about though. Attention needs to be given to "teaching" the 4-2, 5-1, 6-2, etc. Most beginner players get very angry because they don't know where they need to be and it's all so confusing at first. All of this may cause them to drop the sport and your team altogether. They don't realize that running an offense like that is much easier than standing around and getting used to a new position every rotation. It's definately a learning curve. I've even had "skilled players" yell at me for trying to teach a 5-1 in a game and they want to play "regular." You just have to and hope you can teach a little at a time. I would suggest strating with a 4-2, then 6-2, then maybe even a 5-1 depending on how they grasp it.

If your beginning players are willing to learn something new and lose a few matches in the beginning, then go for it. But if they are just there to play, you have to let them since it is Rec ball. It's ultimately up to you, you know how skilled or unskilled your players are, you also know how receptive they are to "changing the game they know."

Also, I don't mean to be sexest at all, but it's been my experience that Rec Ball female players tend to have less patience to learn an offense, no matter which one. I've always been accused by women of having too much testosterone and trying to complicate the game that they want to "have fun" with.

No matter what you choose, be careful how you come across, many rec players just want to have fun and have the middle front player set.

[volleyballstud]

Definitely split up your better players. Having them all in the front row at the same time means little to no passing for them to do anything effective. It's easiest to coach the worse players if the better players are split up and tell them where they want them to go on defense. It's gonna have to be a shared responsibility if you wanna do well.

[OmniSpiker]

I play where strong people are lined together and weaker players are lined together. This sets up very obvious lopsided effect that works very advantageous for weaker players to step up to the plate and take it home.

1. Weaker players are less confused with plays without going over their head, they don't have to strain their kneck tracking those balls.
2. Weaker players get the chance to see good connection between setter and hitter on quicks, outsides, and tandems while on the floor.
3. Weaker players have to depend on themselves to make play connection without having to rely on a better player in between them to save the play.
4. Obvious lopsided serve recieve pattern if necessary. You may have to push the weaker players into corners, bury them in the net, or overshadow them if the stakes become the difference in a very close match.

While this may serve to isolate the weaker players from the main players and often upsets most people, the reality of skills improvement does not come from game play only. The importance of training and practice will account for more than half of a player's skills to as much as perhaps 90% of their skills. The rest is game play experience that serves the purpose of showcasing all of the training and practices. The weaker players with the correct competitive attitude will have to improve very quickly to compliment the rest of the team. Each person can only truly be responsible for their own unforced errors.