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Volleyball Filming 101: What You Need & How to Do It Right
You might think filming a volleyball match is a simple process. To be honest, it is. However, whenever I ask somebody to film a game for me, especially someone who hasn’t done it before, there’s always something that goes wrong.
I did write a blog post back in 2012 on five simple rules for filming a volleyball match. However, I wanted to update it because things have changed since then. So here is a guide to filming a volleyball match.
Equipment Needed
Filming Device | PhoneYou need something to film the match. For me, the best option is a phone. Everybody has a phone, so there’s no excuse. It tends to survive hits from balls and drops from a tripod (with a good case). However, it may not survive cracked screens. Due to this, I recommend using an old phone. I currently use my old Samsung S10+. The screen is cracked already (not from volleyball). Despite being an old phone (it was released in 2019), the camera still works perfectly and the video quality is still great.
You can use other filming devices like camcorders, cameras, tablets, and GoPros, but I find they all have disadvantages. Most tend not to survive hits from a ball or drops from a tripod. The GoPro will, but the battery won’t last a whole match, and the resulting video file is massive.
TripodYou need a tripod with an attachment for the phone. This is so you can get some height on the video and adjust the angle so it doesn’t look wonky. I would go for a monopod with a tripod base, rather than a tripod, because it becomes less of a target for spiked balls. You can also have a flexible tripod to wrap around poles. I have both, so I have both options.
Floor TapeI recommend using floor tape to tape down the tripod. This stops small nudges from spiked balls. The worst thing is the tripod being nudged, so only half the court is in view.
External Power BankIf your filming device doesn’t survive 2.5 hours of filming on its own battery, then you need an external power bank. I’m not actually sure if my Samsung S10+ can film for 2.5 hours but I use an external power bank just to be sure.
Before the Match
Fully charge your devices Make sure your phone and external power bank are fully charged.
Clear Memory Space If Needed Make sure you have enough memory to film the match. You don’t want your memory capacity to be full midway through the match. This is best done after you have transferred the video of your last match.
Venue Arrival
Find the Best Vantage PointYou want to find the best vantage point. The best vantage point is ideally:
At the back of the court, i.e. behind the baseline
In the middle, i.e. not from the corner of the court
Elevated, e.g. up in the stands/ balcony, on top of a table, or stuck on a goal post
The whole court is in view
Both referees are in view – it helps to see what the referee called, which affects what is statted
Level, i.e. not at an wonky angle
The scoreboard is in view – it helps with statting accuracy
The sound of the referee’s whistle – an earlier referee whistle may indicate a different violation, e.g. an attacker got the kill, but the second referee called the blocker for a net touch.
Below is a good example of a good vantage point. It has everything, even the scoreboard. The only thing it doesn’t have is the sound of the referee’s whistle.
Set Up Early I tend to set up as soon as I arrive at a venue. This involves setting up your tripod in the best vantage point and taping it down with floor tape. You might need to look for tables to put your tripod on for a higher vantage point. The opposition team may set up their filming equipment too, so you want to get there first so you get the view in the middle. At a minimum, you want to set up your tripod and tape it down.
Protect Your Equipment If the filming equipment is in danger of being hit during the warm-up, e.g. back of the court, then I tend to put the tripod in place and tape it down. However, I don’t extend the tripod up and I leave the phone on the floor. I sometimes stand in front of the tripod and swot any stray balls.
If the filming equipment is not in danger of being hit during the warm-up, e.g. it’s upstairs, then you can set it up fully. However, you do have to keep an eye on it in cases of theft. However, I haven’t had this happen to me in my 14 years of experience doing this.
PRESS RECORD! The biggest issue is that you forget to press the record button, or you do it after the match has started. This is a big no-no! You want to have the whole match in full. I found there are two good spots to press the record button. The first spot is the start of the hitting section of the official warm-up. I would recommend doing this if you’re coaching or playing. You will have other things to worry about. I would also do this if the equipment is far away, e.g. upstairs, so I don’t need to rush. The second spot is during or just after the serve section of the official warm-up. It will serve you around 8-10 minutes of memory, which can add up when you have several matches on your laptop. I tend to do it this way when I’m the Performance Analyst.
Don’t Pause/ Stop Recording Between Sets or Time-Outs I understand you don’t want dead time on your video file. However, pausing the recording between sets and time-outs causes more issues than it’s worth. The main issue is that you may forget to start filming again or you miss recording portions of the match. The other issue is that it comes out as 3+ video files, which requires extra work when syncing the video in DataVolley. This means you can’t check the stats immediately after the match. I would just press it and forget it.
Stop Recording Straight After the Match Has Finished The idea is to reduce the size of the video file. Of course, it may not be possible because there could be a post-match team talk.
Final Thoughts
So that’s it. If you don’t remember everything, just remember to bring your fully charged phone and a tripod, set it up and press “record” before the match. Press “record” again when the match finishes.
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