Rotations 6-2 / 4-2 / 5-1

[VBFOOL]

Tim,

What are the differences and benifits of 6-2 4-2 5-1.


VBF

[mrwabam]

Originally Posted by VBFOOL

Tim,

What are the differences and benifits of 6-2 4-2 5-1.


VBF

The differences between a 6-2, 5-1, and 4-2 are the numbers of attackers (first number) and the number of setters (second number).

The most common offence is a 5-1, in this setup, you have a designated setter who sets when they are either in the front or back row. The benefits of this system are that it gives all the players a consistant look/feel for the set because it is coming out of the same players hands the majority of the time. You have 5 hitters, 2 outsides, 2 middles, 1 rightside.

6-2's are when you split the setting between two players, typically your right side player. Basically what this means is that whichever rightside player is in the back row is your setter. The benifits of this system are that you always have 3 hitters at the net. The downsides are that you always have a back row setter and your players need to get used to 2 setters not 1.

4-2's is like a 6-2 but instead of the setters being in the back row, the setters are in the front row. Benefits, you always have 3 defenders who's sole purpose is to defend, they don't have to worry about running up to set. downsides...... many many many.

If you are trying to come up with a schema for your team its all about what works for you guys.... I'd never play with anything other than a 5-1, but that doesn't mean I've never seen a 6-2 work.

That being said, I've never seen an effective 4-2.

[mycena]

Wow, I definitely think that there are upsides to all of them and downsides too. It all depends on how well your team plays, how quick they learn, and how motivated they are. Unfortunately not all of us are in super shape, not all of us are the greatest players or have excellent court awareness. Being on one of those teams that has a lot to learn and are constantly getting new players i have seen the benefit and negatives of most of these systems. To me they are kind of like stepping stones to becoming better players.

First starting with a 4-2 while you develop into a good defensive team. If you can't get good passes, having only two defenders trying to pass the ball to one player is very difficult and will ussually end up with bad set, bad hit. Better to stick with three in the back row until your defense becomes strong.

Once you have good defensive play and can handle only having two in the back row you can start trying to figure out how it works having three people hitting in the front row with a 6-2. And for new players and setters, suddenly having four people all trying to be where they need to be, to block, set, and hit at the net is pretty confusing. And also it helps the setter start to get used to the idea that they have to move to get up front for the set. etc.

Finally, once you have a setter who can move around the court well, knows where the hitters, and blockers are on the other side, then you can progress to a 5-1 and take advantage of having 5 available hitters. It's not so easy to say to 6 new people on a volleyball court. 'We are gonna have 1 of you set and everyone else gets to figure out where they are supposed to be and how they have to play. Especially since a lot of us are just league players and only play when we have a game and don't have time to practice running rotations.

But hey that's just my opinion. And until my team (myself included) can get better at passing.... I think we'll stick with the 4-2 for now. Of course if New England has his way we will be chaning things pretty soon! Good thing I don't set any more, way too complicated! hahaha

[VBFOOL]

Originally Posted by mrwabam

The differences between a 6-2, 5-1, and 4-2 are the numbers of attackers (first number) and the number of setters (second number).

The most common offence is a 5-1, in this setup, you have a designated setter who sets when they are either in the front or back row. The benefits of this system are that it gives all the players a consistant look/feel for the set because it is coming out of the same players hands the majority of the time. You have 5 hitters, 2 outsides, 2 middles, 1 rightside.

6-2's are when you split the setting between two players, typically your right side player. Basically what this means is that whichever rightside player is in the back row is your setter. The benifits of this system are that you always have 3 hitters at the net. The downsides are that you always have a back row setter and your players need to get used to 2 setters not 1.

4-2's is like a 6-2 but instead of the setters being in the back row, the setters are in the front row. Benefits, you always have 3 defenders who's sole purpose is to defend, they don't have to worry about running up to set. downsides...... many many many.

If you are trying to come up with a schema for your team its all about what works for you guys.... I'd never play with anything other than a 5-1, but that doesn't mean I've never seen a 6-2 work.

That being said, I've never seen an effective 4-2.

I wounder, do you have a links or pictures of this?

[NewEnglandRT]

Mycena, alot of what you said would be true except that in a 6-2 and 5-1 the setter has defensive responsibilites as well. Teams that play those systems have a definate transition from offense to defense. The setter always plays right back when there are three hitters, and right front when there are two.

Also, for the record I'm trying to get my team to play a right side 4-2, where the setter sets from the right to the strong and middle hitters. Problem here is neither of my setters are confident enough in the passing.

Most books on coaching will have teams go through a progression as they develop. Starting with an elementary 4-2 where who ever is in the middle sets (no switching), then a 4-2 with two setters switching to the middle, then rightside 4-2 to develop middle hitters, 6-2 to develop weakside hitters, and a team offense/defense transition and finally 5-1 where there is one setter controlling the offense. Deciding which one to use on your team is primarily a function of personel and level of play. In yankee C- most teams run 4-2, maybe rightside 4-2. In my coed league noone in the A/B division is using right side setters (which is why I want to so bad.... no blockers for my 6'3"+ middles), and only three of the power teams so (power in our league would be B- or better yankee, or BB/B USAV).

It's tough to do a diagram of each my suggestion to you is pick up a copy of Pass, Set, Crush! it's a great read on the game in general and it's full of illustrations and diagrams that are sure to help you out.

[strazzere]

VBFOOL:

There are many differences between all three styles of playing, most have already been listed prior to my post.

As said before, their names come from the amount of hitters, and the amount of setters. In a 5-1 you have five hitters on the court, one is always setting. A 6-2 has six hitters, two double as setters from the back row. A 4-2 is a simplified 6-2, were the setters are in the front row, and you always have two front row hitters.

That being said, I’d like to clear up one thing. In my previous paragraph, “hitters” means exactly that – people who will be swinging at the ball. One thing I’ve found VERY frustrating is that in a 6-2, you can never dump (above the plane of the net) as the setter. This can make it easy for the other team, because you’re a dead set – they’d be fools to jump with you. A 5-1, you may loose a hitter in the front row – but they must stay true to the setter, or you can squeeze some points past.

5-1’s are the most common offense that I’ve seen run at higher levels of volleyball. In open gyms – 6-2’s and 4-2’s are common for the not so organized teams. I’m not knocking them, I’ve run them and won – it’s just what you team would like to do. A 5-1 is by far one of the best to run, for reasons mrwabam had stated. Your hitters only have to get used to one setter, not two. This may sound like nothing big – but it can play a big part in games. If you have a competent setter, use this style, it will allow for maximum efficiency of your offense. This style also allows your setter to dump, which can help keep the defense true – giving the setter a better chance for one on one block (especially if they jump set). My last reason for loving this style is placement of hitters. If your opposite is a strong hitter, and you have a good middle – they should NEVER be double blocked. A consistent middle should be drawing the blocker every time. A set to the outside may be too slow, and the middle would have time to recover for this play. However a quick set of the opposite should have the middle drawn, and the outside caught off guard often. This leaves a nice big hole for that opposite to swing away – this is a good bread and butter play.

6-2’s are nice… Everyone gets to hit, so that’s not bad. It can be tough though – trapped balls at the net make it hard for the setter to pull them back. This is especially bad since the setter won’t be able to do anything but soft block the ball. The hitters will have to adjust to both setters, and hope they are both having a good game. An advantage of this style of playing is that you can sub out your setters without doing harm. When the setter rotates to the front, you can sub in your big guy for the (often shorter) setter, and let him swing away. This is the main advantage to the 6-2, increasing your block and hitting, while only sacrificing a little bit of your setting.

4-2’s do work, but are usually not taken seriously. This being said – I’ve played in them, and we’ve made them work well and won with them. This gives younger/confused/easily distracted players their JOB, and nothing else. The back row will always be defense, no worrying about moving around. There are two hitters, and one setter – they know their jobs. This doesn’t mean the other ones have a lack of defense… They are just more “confusing” to other players, and have the ability to lack on defense if executed incorrectly. A 4-2 is nice in the aspect that you can play around with your offense. The setter can always dump – and with two hitters you can run a variation of plays. This is my least favorite, but it works – and it works well when applied correctly.

One thing I’d like to touch upon. None of these styles should be leaving two people in the back row EXCEPT for during free balls. During hits and what not the setter should be a defensive player first, setter second. Free balls the setter should be leaving the back row – but heck it’s called a free ball for a reason!

Hope that answers your question - I'll draw up some diagrams tonight, and show you some of what I was talking about.