Virtues of Consistent Setting
Perhaps one of the most under-rated characteristics of a good team (or maybe I am biased because I'm a setter) is consistency of setting.
You see a lot of setter changes with competitive teams at the juniors level as well as in adult recreational open-gyms/leagues. Sometimes a coach decides to run a 6-2 simply to get more players involved in the game (rather than for proper strategic reasoning.) Other times at a recreational (however competitive) league, teams may decide to run a 6-2 or just rotate "middle setter" to keep more players involved or to "keep it simple."
I need to whole-heartedly disagree with the notion that having two drastically different setters splitting the touches, or changing setters upon every rotation, simplifies the game. I'll touch upon both points (6-2 and "middle-set") in today's post as well as the general concept of how having a good setter can clean up the game.
This post was inspired three-fold: Once, by all the open-gyms in which I have been participating; Second, by a league team for which I recently subsitituted as setter; Third, by the multitude of average to below-average high school teams I have watched over the years.
Point Number 1: Running a 6-2 for the heck of it has few advantages.
- From a coaching perspective:
There are legitimate reasons for running a 6-2 which will be covered in a future post on the strategic differences between a 5-1 and 6-2 rotation. What I want to discuss here is how coaches often-times decide to run a 6-2 rotation just to avoid making a decision on who is the starting setter. Usually this situation arises when a team has more than one legitimate option (or no legitimate options), and a coach prefers not to cause drama within the team by labeling a single player as the starter.Yes, you avoid a drama situation. Yes, you are able to get additional players into the game. However, the possibility remains that the two setters you are inserting into the game to run the offense will have drastically differing styles, and drastically different levels of consistency.This can throw off an offense's rhythm and cause the entire team to become more inconsistent. When you are in season and your team's goal should be to win...consistency is key. Consistency is what separates the teams with winning records from the teams who win it all.
- From an open-gym/recreational perspective:
Again, this usually comes about from either not having a single legitimate option to run the offense, or having too many options. It also comes about from wanting to get more players involved in the game.When you are playing with individuals who may be less experienced in the game, and may not full understand the concept of how to run a 6-2, teams can get confused as to who will be setting in each rotation. This can cause players to let a ball drop that perhaps should've been theirs, or worse, collisions between players.But as always, consistency is what is truly lost in this situation.
Point Number 2: Running a rotating "Middle-Set" causes confusion and inconsistency.
- Inexperience and laziness:
Usually the only times you'll run into a team who wants to have the player who has rotated into the front middle (or 3-position) be designated the setter are the more inexperienced teams. These are players and teams who have not had proper coaching, or have not had much indoor volleyball experience. Not only does that already put you at a disadvantage in playing with inexperience teammates, but it gives you a disadvantage in other ways.Having a single setter, or even running the 6-2, you know exactly who will be setting each ball. You would be (near) guaranteed to have your setter be somebody who can set the ball cleanly and make adjustments as necessary for different hitters' preferences.Running a "middle-set" rotation also eliminates one of your hitters in the front row - your middle. It also is more difficult to have your setter blocking in the middle (as the middle needs to block all across the net) and be in position to set during a transition play.
Teams who are feeling lazy often run the "middle-set" as well, to avoid the need to make rotation adjustments in serve-receive.
Point Number 3: Having a good setter cleans up the game.
- Consistency, consistency, consistency:
I'm sure you could sense a theme here. In having a single skilled setter (or two fairly equally skilled setters) you eliminate a lot of confusion and timing issues on the court. There is one voice running the offense, and everybody else knows their job.Having a good setter is a plus, as they are then able to not only be consistent with their setting, but also reach sub-par passes and still deliver an attackable ball. A good setter will be able to instill the confidence in their passers that they will reach any ball passed. This relaxes the passers - being anxious while in serve-receive is a killer, and is contagious.
A good setter will also be able to make adjustments on the fly to deliver the right kind of set for each hitter on the floor. A good setter will also be able to read what the opposing defense is doing and make strategic adjustments as necessary to give his/her team the advantage on offense.
Of course...the general rule is that "you can't get a good set if you don't get a good pass," but a truly good setter will often be able to make something out of nothing and still give your team the chance to go on the offensive.