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Attack Combination Codes | 2021 Edition
Introduction to Attack Combination Codes
Attack combination codes in DataVolley are specific codes that enable specific attack types to be scouted quickly and more accurately. They are made up of two alphanumeric characters, which will be highlighted in red. The first character usually denotes the type of attack from a type of set and the second character usually denotes the attack origin zone, i.e. where the attack started from. Together, they give you the specific attack type. For example, you might see a V1 attack combination code. The V tells us that the attack came from a high set and the 1 tells us that it originated from zone 1, which is the right side.
DataVolley provides a set of attack combinations that you can use. However, you can change them based on the number and type of attacks you want to use, ease of keystrokes, and anything the Coach might want to know. I last did this back in 2018 for indoor volleyball (see link). I also created one for beach volleyball in 2020 (see link).
Overhauling My Attack Combination Codes
Overhauling your attack combination codes is a big decision. Firstly, it takes time to learn your attack combination codes and then it takes time to be efficient at coding them. If you need a second or two to remember what the attack combination code you need to type in, you may have already missed coding in the next attack and before you know it, the rally has ended and you haven’t coded anything!
Secondly, any worksheets based on the old attack combination codes are unlikely to work. You usually use the attack combination codes to filter out certain attacks and if the attack combination codes have changed then the filter function won’t work as intended. Conversely, once you do create new worksheets with the new attack combination codes, those new worksheets won’t work on any old scouts for the same reason. This would be an issue if you wanted to compare last season’s team to the current team or if you wanted the career stats of a specific player.
Despite this, I felt it was time to overhaul my attack combination codes. There were a couple of changes that I wanted to make that would make my analysis much better and easier.
Attack Combination Code Changes in Indoor Volleyball
Below is a diagram showing the current attack combination codes I am going to use for the 2021-22 season. I bullet-pointed some changes from the 2018 version.
Seven zones across the front row (0-6) instead of 6 (1-6) I increasingly felt that having 6 zones (see below) wasn’t that great. The middle attack (Zone 3) wasn’t really a middle-middle zone but a middle-right zone. Also, zone 5 and 2 were really zones if the set was short, which I never did any analysis on and it made filtering out those codes a lot harder. I also didn’t really have a zone for the back-one middle attack. So by having seven zones, it fixes all that. Zone 0 and 6 are for the regular wing attacks to the antenna. Zone 1 and 5 are now considered intended inside wing attacks, such as the rip, rather than sets that are short (unless it is really short). Middle attack zones 2, 3, and 4 are now for the back-one, quick-one, and shoot-gap attacks, respectively.
Three zones across the front row (7-9) instead of five (7-9, D, F) I originally included zone D (between 7 and 8) and zone F (between 8 and 9) because I saw some high-level teams hit the pipe that was left or right of the middle so I wanted a way to include that. However, I found it was never really used. There was also some confusion about whether zone F was an inside Z9 attack or a right pipe attack. So now I just simplified it to make the filtering out codes a lot easier in the analysis process.
Simplified the middle attacks types to just one code For example, instead of four codes for the quick-one attack (W3, W4, W5, W6), it is just reduced to one (C3). I wanted to simplify it because it makes filtering out the codes a lot easier in the analysis process. I originally wanted several codes for the same middle attack type so I could do a more complex analysis, e.g. the was quick-one attack in zone 4 (W4) more effective compared to zone 3 (W3). However, I never did that kind of analysis in practice and I would usually combine all quick-one attacks together anyway when analysing quick-one stats. There were also some codes, e.g. W5 and W6, that were never used so it was essentially useless.
Quick-tempo sets to the back row are removed I never used them so it was redundant. If I need to code these types of attacks, I will simply code them the same as medium-tempo sets for the back row (G7-9).
Condensed the overpass attack, setter attack and dig attack from three origin zones (left, middle, right) to just one attack combination code. Again, I just wanted to simplify things so it is easier to filter them in the analysis process. I figured that most overpass and setter attacks will come from the middle zone anyway. I went back to using the original VC and VV code for overpass and setter attacks, respectively, so it’s easier to learn those codes. I choose VD code as “D” just meant dig so it was easier to remember.
I also grouped the attacks by ball type High sets (V) are high ball type (H), medium-tempo sets (G) are medium (M), middle attacks (C) are quick (Q), special combinations/ cross-over attacks (X) are super (U), and overpass, setter and dig attacks are (VV, VC, VD) are other (O).
Attack Combination Code Changes in Beach Volleyball
I already worked out my attack combination codes for beach volleyball at the end of last summer. However, I did have to tweak it slightly due to changing the remap of the keyboard.
Changed the On 2 Attack code from W to XI remapped the W key to open up the extended codes so I moved to the X key. The X key was originally remapped to code # but I remapped it to the NUMPLUS key (see link).
Condensed the overpass attack, setter attack, and dig attack from three origin zones to just one Again, it is just to simplify things so it is easier to filter out the codes in the analysis process and I figure most of those attacks will come in the middle zone anyway.
Changed the attack after a block touch and dig from a G to XI could have kept it the same but I wanted all the fast attacks, i.e. On 2 attacks, to have the same code.
I also grouped the attacks by ball type High sets (V) are high ball type (H), medium-tempo sets (G) are medium (M), back sets (C1-5) are super (U), wide sets (C0, C6) are tense (T), on 2 attacks (X1-5) are quick (Q), attack after block touch (X7-9) are fast (F) and overpass, setter and dig attacks are (VV, VC, VD) are other (O).
Limitations
Middle attacks could be too simple The original reason why I had so many attack combination codes for the same middle attack type was to increase the level of analysis. For example, were quick-one attacks more effective in zone 3 or zone 4? I never did any analysis on this (although I may write up a future blog post on this) but it doesn’t mean I won’t in the future, especially for the elite/ professional teams.
More zones for the back row?Again, I never use the extra zones very often but it doesn’t mean I won’t need it in the future for the elite/ professional teams. More zones for the back row?Again, I never use the extra zones very often but it doesn’t mean I won’t need it in the future for the elite/ professional teams.
One-footed middle attacks? I only have four middle attack types (quick-one, back-one, shoot-gap, and the slide). However, Joe Trinsey, former USA Women Scout, does have codes for the one-footed attacks, such as one foot behind setter and one foot in front of setter. I think I’ve only seen two players in the Women’s Super League/ 8s ever attack this way so I still don’t need it. But it doesn’t mean I won’t want it for the future.
More special attack combinations?I included four (back 2 for the opposite, cross-over opposite plus quick-one, cross-over outside plus shoot-gap, and inside-left plus quick-one) but there could be more that I haven’t thought of.
Final Thoughts
I have statted a few beach and indoor volleyball matches with this system now. The transition to coding the new codes was fairly easy. I purposely tried to keep the same codes from the old attack combination codes and keep it similar for indoor and beach, e.g. V is still a high ball. For beach, it was my first time using these codes so I had to learn them. For indoor, I have to remember the right-side attack is a V0 rather than a V1. Also, I have to remember that the quick-one (C3) and back-one (C2) start with C and that the slide is C0 instead of C1.
But overall, I really like the changes I made. Having seven zones across the front row is so much better now as six zones were a bit wonky. We will see in the future if I want to overhaul the attack combination codes yet again (in 3 years perhaps?)
*** Update 19 May 2023***I still like the attack combination codes two years on. I did add one more special attack combination attack. It’s the on 2 pipe attack by the back-row outside hitter when the setter digs the first ball. The code is X8. Also, I’ve redefined the medium ball sets to the middle (G2, G3, and G4) as slower middle attacks of back-one, front-one, and shoot (C2, C3, and C4). I use it more for my Flaming Six Coyotes team as we don’t do quick attacks. *** Update 19 May 2023***
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