"Cristiano Ronaldo: Tested to the Limit" – An Application to Volleyball

During one of my lectures, this video clip was pointed out to me.  It was seriously one of the most impressive things I have ever seen!  The show was called, “Cristiano Ronaldo: Tested to the Limit”.  The first video is part 2 where the show tests his “mental ability” and the second video is the full show.  Skip to 5:30 minutes in part 2 and you will be seriously wowed.  Watch before reading on.

VOLLEYBALL APPLICATION

Didn’t I say it was impressive?!  It got me thinking about its application to volleyball: the importance of reading the game. I am sure there are many advanced cues that elite players can pick up on that intermediate players can learn from and use.  I am sure that predicting where a spiker will attack is a simple case of predicting ball trajectory (close net = tip, good set = power, set too short, too long, too far back = 3/4 power), spiker’s approach direction (straight at the net = line hit, angled = cross court), speed of approach (fast = power hit, slow = soft hit), hitting arm (full coiled swing = power hit, extended arm = tip), body shape at ball contact (calculated what is biomechanically possible from that position) etc.  When player tendencies are taken into account, then it should be easier.

So maybe when a spiker goes and hits the ball, a libero will be able to know where the ball is going, even if the light is switched off at the point of ball contact.  That would be impressive too.

*** Update 2 February 2021 | I actually blogged about this on whether you can spike a volleyball without looking at it – see link ***