Controlling Opponents with the Short Serve

with Cliff Hastings,
Parkland College Head Coach;
2021 NJCAA National Champions;
Back-to-Back NJCAA DII National Champions (2015-16) - finished a perfect 57-0 in 2015;
8x Mid-West Athletic Conference Champions (2009-16);
Director of the Prime Time Volleyball Club (IL)

Cliff Hastings and his team are known for implementing the short serve into their volleyball arsenal, which has helped the Parkland College Cobras win back-to-back national championships. The approach to strategically using the short serve will lead to your opponent spending more time hitting out of system, which will help your team's defensive effectiveness and ability to control the opponent.

Hastings walks through the purposes of using the short serve, specific technical approaches to performing a short serve effectively, and how to defend against the short serve. Throughout this video, he provides tips for helping players disguise their short serve, recognize situations where a short serve will be most effective, and maneuvers to pass a short serve to target in game situations.

Executing the Short Serve and Alternating Between Short to Deep Serves

Coach Hastings uses a series of seven drills to teach the technical aspects of serving short in zones 2 and 4 while emphasizing the importance of a higher trajectory for the ball and proper follow through for the serving arm. These include engaging and competitive drills to serve in targeted locations to hit flat targets, to knock a ball off a cone, and others that have teammates work together to serve to each other in rotating short serve zones.

Hastings then migrates to drills that help players find control to be able to serve deep immediately after completing a short serve and vice versa to keep teams off balance. He also shares an effective technique of serving high and deep when you face a team that can pass short serves well. One drill focuses on players learning to approach short and deep serves with the same speed and body position while finishing with a solid contact for a punishing float serve.

Short Serve Strategy

You'll get rotation-specific strategies for short-serve options that will put the most pressure on the other team's passers. The strategies will also try to force the other team's setter to backtrack to find the pass and/or be forced to set to the outside, where your team can more easily defend.

Defending the Short Serve

Hastings shows how to implement a partner drill that teaches sliding forward on two knee pads to be able to pass the short serve more effectively, followed by a full game-like drill that integrates this passing technique with execution of an attack. He ends the video describing a strategy to break another team out of short serving by pushing the serve into a deep corner location.

Take advantage of this video to systematically teach your team how to serve short consistently, implement a strong short-deep serving strategy, know the best game situations and zones for the short serve, and defend against the short serve!

55 minutes. 2018.