Two players jump, the ball passes between them and drops. The first reaction is to ask for a higher jump. But was height really the problem? Did they arrive at the same time? Was the edge defined? Was the middle blocker still moving when the attack happened?
Blocking begins before your feet leave the floor. You need to recognise the opponent’s build-up and arrive at the action with a viable decision. Afterwards, the ball may remain live, and the team needs to be ready for it.
As a setter, Ricardinho sought to observe the opposing middle blocker when deciding distribution. On the other side, the blocker also reads the pass, the set and the attackers. Blocking emerges from this meeting of reads — not just from the jump.
Where to start: objective, reading, collective blocking, rules or drills.
The purpose of blocking goes beyond scoring directly
A block can send the ball to the opponent’s floor. It can also touch the ball and allow a controlled dig. In other situations, the blocker’s presence changes the directions the attacker considers.
That is why counting only points scored by blocking leaves an important part unrecorded. You need to observe the combination with defence and what happened after the action.
If the team has agreed a particular blocking responsibility and defenders have organised around it, changing the coverage without communication can open an unexpected area. The jump may look good in isolation and still harm the team’s organisation.
The block must make sense to those defending behind it.
Single, double and triple blocks
The names indicate the number of players involved in the action close to the net. Having more blockers available can help occupy space, but does not guarantee a well-formed barrier.
A double block with mismatched timing can leave an exploitable gap. A triple block formed late may fail to follow the ball. The choice depends on the opponent’s conditions, the ability to get there and the strategy.
The positions guide helps identify who is in the front row in each rotation. This knowledge comes before imagining a formation that the rotation does not allow.
What to observe before jumping
Start with the opponent’s organisation. Is the setter in the front row or the back row? Which attackers are available? Does reception allow the middle to be used, or does it force distribution further away?
This information does not provide a ready-made answer. It helps narrow the possibilities and choose where to focus attention.
The pass changes the set of options
A comfortable reception and a ball pushed deep into the back court do not present the same situation to the setter. Observe that difference before committing to a movement.
This does not mean concluding that a poor pass always produces the same ball. The setter can still find different solutions. Reading must continue until you recognise the trajectory and the attacker.
Ricardinho liked to organise his attackers in a way that allowed him to see the middle blocker on the other side. This preference helps explain why the blocker’s movement affects distribution: when the blocker commits to one option, the conditions for the others change.
Follow the meeting between ball and attacker
After identifying where the set has gone, observe the attacker’s preparation and relationship with the ball. A comfortable approach offers different possibilities from one adjusted at the last moment.
Technical materials from USA Volleyball on blocking highlight visual attention and footwork alongside the hands. These are elements for organising the action, not a guarantee of predicting the attack.
Avoid turning a clue into certainty. The attacker can adjust the hand, change direction or use the block. Training your reading means checking what happened, including when your first interpretation was wrong.
Anticipating and waiting both have costs
Moving early towards one edge can help you arrive, but may also free another option. Waiting for more information can improve the choice while reducing the time available to execute.
The coach needs to agree how the team handles this decision. No single instruction, valid for every ball, removes the need to observe the opponent and know your own movement capabilities.
How to coordinate closing between two blockers
Define a shared reference with the coach. Who establishes the position at the edge? How does the arriving player approach? Which direction does the defence expect the block to make difficult?
Without this agreement, each athlete may act on a different intention. One tries to close the line, the other follows a different point, and the defender does not know which ball to expect.
Check arrival and spacing before asking for more height
When observing a double block, compare when each player arrives and the space remaining between them. A delay may come from reading, movement or an earlier decision. Do not treat all these causes as a lack of jumping power.
In a controlled task, slow the situation down to build coordination. Then increase the variability of the set. If closing only works when everyone knows in advance where the ball is going, the choice still needs work.
Example: the ball passes between the outside blocker and the middle
Imagine an attack from the outside. The outside blocker reaches the agreed reference, but the middle blocker is still moving when the ball passes through the gap. Asking both to jump higher does not, on its own, resolve that difference in arrival.
Start with the information that guided the middle blocker: did they recognise the set’s destination in time, or wait until the attacker was already prepared? Then compare the movement and the outside blocker’s position. If each sought a different reference, both may have moved quickly without forming the same block.
Repeat with a known attacking option and a speed that allows coordinated arrival. Keep defence and continuation of the ball. On the next attempt, observe whether the gap has narrowed and whether the back court could respond to the attack or deflection. Add a second option once this organisation is understood. Even arriving together, blockers can have their hands exploited; that is why defence must keep following the play.
The defence needs to see the same organisation
The back court positions itself with the block, trajectory and attacker in mind. A short ball over the top and a hard-driven hit require different responses.
USA Volleyball connects defensive reading and blocking coordination, including communication about the protected area. The useful training principle is to check whether front and back rows are responding to the same play.
If the block changes responsibility, communication must allow the defence to follow. The team cannot depend on six disconnected interpretations.
Which blocking rules you need to know
In indoor volleyball, a block contact does not count as one of the team’s three contacts. The player who touched the ball in the block may make the next contact. Blocking the opponent’s serve, however, is prohibited.
Back-row players may not complete a block or participate in a completed block. The libero may not attempt to block either. Back-row status remains even if the athlete is close to the net.
Hands may cross the plane of the net under the conditions specified for blocking, but this does not authorise interfering with the opponent’s action before the attack. The limits on net contact and the opponent’s space must also be respected.
If you are unsure about a play, identify the facts before applying a rule: was the athlete a front-row player? Was the ball touched? In which space and at what moment did contact occur? The volleyball rules guide provides context for this analysis.
The ball continues after the block
The attack touches the hands, deflects and stays on your side. If the blocker stops to watch what they have done, the team may lose a ball it had managed to keep in play.
In block-then-set work, the instruction is to locate the ball after the action at the net and organise for continuation. There is no point following a memorised route without seeing where the ball has gone.
When the setter participates in the block, they can still make the next dig: the block touch does not use up one of the team’s three contacts. If the setter makes that dig, which becomes the first contact after the block, another player takes the set. If a teammate digs, the setter can prepare for the second contact. The organisation must follow what actually happened.
Situations like these appear in Ricardinho and Fernanda’s work: blocking, locating the ball and continuing the play. The idea is to observe what happens after the jump, rather than treat blocking as an isolated action.
A block touch only becomes a counterattack opportunity if the team continues the play.
Three tasks to connect reading, closing and continuation
The proposals below organise different problems. Adjust the opposition, speed and volume with the coach; do not increase every demand at once.
One attacking option to coordinate the close
Start with the direction of the set known and a controlled attack. Two blockers work on approach and coordination. The defence follows the agreed reference.
Observe the meeting between the blockers and the space left. The initial aim is to make the organisation understandable. Do not use this task alone as evidence of reading: the option was already known.
Two options to observe the decision
Add another attacking possibility. The blocker needs to follow the build-up to choose the movement. Maintain conditions that allow controlled execution.
After a few attempts, ask what the blocker saw before moving. If they chose only based on repetition of the previous ball, help them recognise information from the pass and set. If the choice was appropriate but arrival was late, the correction may lie elsewhere in the action.
Continuation to build the counterattack
Keep the ball in play after the attack. The team needs to defend and organise the second contact, including the setter who has just taken part in the action at the net.
Assess the team’s recovery: who follows the deflection, who takes the next ball, and whether an attacking option is available. The result can be a usable attacking sequence, even without a direct block point.
How to review a block that did not work
| What happened | What to check | What not to conclude without observing |
|---|---|---|
| The ball passed between the players | Reference, distance and arrival timing | That height alone was lacking |
| The blocker moved to the wrong side | Information used and agreed guidance | That every early movement is wrong |
| There was a touch, but nobody dug the ball | Back-court organisation and reading the deflection | That the block did not help because it did not score |
| The setter did not reach the second ball | Continuation after the action at the net | That the difficulty is only in the hands |
| The attack exploited the edge | Block position and the attacker’s solution | That the same correction works for every attack |
Choose one adjustment and observe again. If you change reading, movement, jump and defence all at once, it becomes difficult to know what made the difference. The volleyball training guide shows how to organise this progression.
FAQ — questions about blocking in volleyball
If the ball touches the block and goes out, who gets the point?
In a normal play with no other infringement, if the attack’s last touch is on the block and the ball lands out, the attacking team wins the point. This is one reason attackers try to use the hands. Analysing a specific play still requires checking the last contact and any earlier faults.
Is a soft block the same as back-court defence?
No. The expression may be used in training to describe an intention to soften the ball during the block. Back-court defence is a different action, performed after the ball passes or deflects. Agree the terminology with the coach so everyone understands the task’s objective.
Can a player train blocking reads without jumping on every attempt?
Tasks can focus on recognising options and choosing the movement, with execution adjusted by the coach. They train one part of the action and must later be connected to the game situation. Not replacing the full action throughout preparation is different from choosing a specific focus at a particular stage.
Sources and references
- USA Volleyball — Five Ways to More Blocking Success: visual attention and coordination of feet and hands in blocking.
- USA Volleyball — So You Want to be a Great Defender?: the connection between reading the attack, blocking and defence.
- FIVB — Official Rules 2025–2028: rule 14, block contacts, participants and faults; rule 19, libero restrictions.
