By Milton Volleyball Research Staff

Knowing how to serve is a very important skill and every volleyball player should aim to develop the perfect serve and always try improving their serving skills. It is quite simple to disrupt the offensive team’s serve. It’s also important to know that the perfectly executed serve makes it possible for a team to earn points during the game.

If you would like to benefit from a serve, then you should constantly work on serving and try everything you can to improve. Mastering the serving has to be your number one priority for a server.

When serving, you should accomplish several goals. First and foremost, you should send the ball over the net and land it successfully on the opposite side of the court. If this happens, your team will get a point. Also, you need to serve the ball accurately and make it difficult for the opposite team to receive the ball. If the opposite team handle the ball, they will get a chance at a successful volleyball attack. Above all, you should hit the ball as hard as possible. You should work on your serve consistently.

A serve in volleyball consists of three stages:

1) body positioning and preparation

2) tossing the ball

3) hitting the ball

If you would like to serve the ball perfectly, then each of the given steps have to be taken seriously. That means that volleyball players should work on each of these aspects in order to improve their serve.

Learning a serve in volleyball can be hard. Also, you must be prepared that it takes some time to develop a good serve and become a successful server. However, following the certain tips you’ll be able to improve your serve dramatically within a short period of time.

In this article, we would like to provide tips that will help athletes to serve. Follow these tips and develop serving skills on a regular basis. The success will not keep you waiting for too long. Sooner or later, you’ll become a good server, who can do great job for your team.

Volleyball Serving Tip #1, Prepare for a Serve: It all begins with preparation. Wrist has to be positioned behind shoulder and head. It’s incredibly important to serve the ball with an open hand. When serving the ball, you should aim to keep elbow high.

Volleyball Serving Tip #2, Contact the Ball Correctly: It’s crucial to contact the ball in the right way. Take advantage of your palm to make contact with the ball. You should aim to speed up your arm swing during the contact with a ball. This will make it possible for you to make a solid contact with a ball and hit it as hard as you can. Also, you should try to contact the ball’s middle panels.

Volleyball Serving Tip #3, Balance the Body Properly: You’ll find it easy to serve the ball if you manage to find your balance. With a well-balanced body you’ll be able to serve the ball successfully. Your dominant foot has to be placed in front of your non-dominant one. Your feet should be placed in a right angled position. The distance your feet have to be about 4 to 5 inches. It’s very important for athletes to spread their body weight correctly. The reality is, the lower body is almost not involved when you serve the ball. So, it would be better for a server to put their body weight on the back foot. When serving a ball, you should transfer your weight from your back foot to your front foot. You’ll find it easy to balance your body correctly this way.

Volleyball Serving Tip #4, Point Your Feet in the Right Direction: Your non-dominant foot as well as your hips and upper body have to be pointed in the direction where you are going to serve. Make sure that you feel yourself comfortable on the court.              

Volleyball Serving Tip #5, Master Different Types of Serves: As you may already know, there are three different main serves; float serve, jump serve and topspin serve. It’s a great idea to learn them. Over time, this will help you figure out which serve is more to your liking.

Volleyball Serving Tip #6, Contact the Ball in the Right Place: It’s incredibly important for you to find the right spot for contacting the ball. It all begins with tossing. First to toss the ball, take the ball in an open-palmed hand and toss it above your head. Throw the ball in front of you. Try your best to make the contact with a ball in the place where the distance between a ball and your head is approximately 2 feet.

Volleyball Serving Tip #7, Pay a Close Attention to Your Elbows’ Position: It’s worth noting that elbows play an important role in the serving process. The position of elbows matter a lot. You need to position your elbows in the way that allows you to serve the ball 9-foot net. When serving the ball you should do your best to keep your elbow high. Make sure that your elbow is above your ear when you are about to serve the ball. As a result, you’ll be able to serve the ball in the best possible way.

Volleyball Serving Tip #8, Toss the Ball the Same Way Every Time: It’s recommended to serve the ball the same way all the time. This will help you develop your own serving technique over time and serve the ball accurately.

Volleyball Serving Tip #9, Do Serving Drills on a Regular Basis: There is really no better way to develop the serving skill than practicing certain drills. There is no doubt that serving drills need to be a key part of a volleyball player’s training program. Keep in mind that there are so many great drills that allow volleyball players to master the art of serving easily, quickly and successfully. The big question is – what volleyball drills are the best for developing serving drills? Let’s get the answer right away! Volleyball players should do the following drills for serving–

• 2 player volleyball drill for serving
• amoeba drill
• arm toss drill
• jump and catch drill
• target aim drill
• target practice drill
• serve ‘n sprint volleyball drill
• and many more. Doing each of these drills will contribute greatly to your serving skills. You’ll get better at volleyball serving over time. So, you’ll be able to improve your volleyball serving skill dramatically if you choose to do these drills on a regular basis.

Volleyball Serving Tip #10, Make More Time for Serves During Volleyball Practices: Servers are volleyball players, who are responsible for serving during a game. And of course, servers have to work on volleyball serving skills. It’s crucial for volleyball servers to get the special training. Their training program has to contain volleyball serving drills. Servers have to spend time on volleyball serving drills during their volleyball practices.

Thank you so much for reading the article above. We’ve just provided you with top 10 volleyball serving tips. If you would like to become a good volleyball server, then developing the serving skills need as a part of your training program. Follow our training tips to take your volleyball serving skills to the next level. Best of luck!