The Folly of Blocking

You know, if I can’t upset people every once in a while, it’s just not a good week.  So with that noted…here we go.

I think blocking in volleyball as a skill is overrated, especially considering the time required to get good at it.  When you look at available time, you get more bang for your buck from improving passing and hitting instead of blocking.  I say this and back it up with the fact that inmy programwe very, very rarely practice blocking; we just make it part of our 6v6 scrimmaging.  Never fear the block.

So–you want me to back it up?  Fair enough.  Let’s see what the numbers say (as always, I go and look them up as I do this…we may find I’m completely full of poop in my initial perception!…welcome to trying out the methods of science…).  Info below is the year, our W/L record, and where our blocks/set stands nationally.

• 2018: 29-14, 17th (finished 8th at Nationals, #12 in poll)

• 2017: 37-7,  38th  (finished 3rd at Nationals, #4 in poll)

• 2016: 40-9, 50th, (finished 2nd at Nationals, #3 in poll)

• 2015: 40-6, 33rd (finished 2nd at Nationals, #4 in poll)

• 2014: 25-19, 66th (#ARV in poll)

• 2013:  33-8, 63rd  (#11 in poll)

• 2012: 33-9, 27th (finished 11th at Nationals, #8 in poll)

It’s all over the place.  Our best finish was this year (going back past what’s here to 2006…). How about hitting though?  I’ve just listed our ranking below for each year, first for kills/set, then for team efficiency.

• 2018:  4th, 11th

• 2017:  7th, 18th

• 2016:  4th, 20th

• 2015:  3rd, 11th

• 2014: 13th, 21st

• 2013: 16th, 19th

• 2012: 15th, 32nd (but we had the best juco libero to ever play for the NJCAA on defense…)

Those numbers line up much better with our success–and I think we rank higher in efficiency than what is shown, but there are some teams in the NJCAA which keep…interesting…stats.  Of course, I get the arguments–a good block doesn’t necessarily go down for a point, etc., and that’s true enough.  Still, we scored 1900+ times hitting this past year and 300 with blocking…I don’t think that 1,600pt difference is being made up with our block channeling opposing hitters.

Two schools near here focus on blocking, making sure to spend at least 1/3 of their practice on it because in the words of one of those coaches “you can’t be a serious college program without teaching your kids blocking and being effective at it.” (Horse hockey).  The four-year records of those schools:  59-69 and 86-64…and to be fair, that 86-64 includes a lot of tough opponents.  Still, that’s 145-133 combining two schools which emphasize blocking compared to our 146-36 (emphasizing passing) and a rival of ours who’s gone 204-7 during that time (they hit that ball and play a zillion more matches than anyone else).  That’s 350-43.   Cherry-picking, yeah…but it says something.

Carl McGown told a story once about his team leading the nation in blocking–but finishing last in his conference.  Can you see why he told that story?

(And now you get to Jim’s opinion…)

I think it’s because blocking is reactive, not active.  The opponent controls the ball, they are making the choice where to set, who will hit.  Your blockers are left trying to decide/guess where the set will go–and even when right, the hitting team may be making that set because of a mismatch against a weak blocker, etc.  With blocking, you have to have perfect timing, you need to penetrate the net, avoid touching the net…and even so, a good hitter can use the block to disrupt the defense (our hitters are 25-35% more efficient when we can hit a ball into/against a blocker than if they swing cleanly past it)

And still teams emphasize their blocking.  Does my assertion hold true for national teams?  I doubt it–that’s a level far beyond normal players, and I don’t have the numbers anyways.  So let’s keep my conclusion to college-aged athletes and younger.  That 20-30 minutes per practice spent on blocking, blocking, blocking, is better spent on the other skills.

There’s actually a lot of wisdom in the words of young teams, yelling “Bump! Set! Spike!”  There’s no “Block!” there.  Pass the ball–so you can get the ball to the setter who can get it to the player most likely to score the kill.  You want to increase your success?  Work on what will let you kill the ball, score a point directly–>hitting.

**If you’re interested in more stuff on volleyball, check outLike Heck She Isn’t a Volleyball Playeravailable on Amazon and other internet bookstores.  It’s a collection of 27 essays on all parts of the most exciting indoor (and outdoor) sport in the world…and it’s inexpensive–under five dollars!