tvtotalforever Hahaha thanks! 😅 So many times I have coached this concept to people having this wood model in my mind and trying to explain it with words, but realized people aren't "seeing" it as clearly as I am so I decided I had to actually go out and create it and film it so that I could show people rather than explain hahah! Glad to hear people are appreciating it! :)
I have to say, this is a great video because it not only elaborates on how to wristsnap, but also analyzes the counterarguments. It's a great explanation overall. Great job!
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast sure thing! One question: even though you focus on beach volleyball, would you say this applies to indoor/olympic volleyball as well?
@@wrlzz Honestly I haven't been hitting many indoor volleyballs in general, and barely any since I learned this technique, but yes I think so. Same thing in indoor volleyball, some people swear by the wristsnap while others (who don't know how to wristsnap) go and look at slowmo video and conclude that wristsnap doesn't exist, strengthening their beliefs since when they try to wristsnap (without knowing how), it doesn't work.. (Not saying this is the exact scenario for all "anti-wristsnappers", but for sure for some, including me in the past.) I'll probably be experimenting a bit more with indoor volleyball in the coming year(s), might as well build that understanding also since its so closely related..!
The explanation of separating your finger relaxation and wrist relaxation completely makes sense! I’ve been wondering why no matter how much I relaxed my hand I still got such a poor contact on the ball (and didn’t produce topspin). Thank you so much for bringing this to light
Awesome! Yeah I'd recommend experimenting with it like try "all the possible settings" (100% relaxed hand and wrist, 100% tense hand and wrist, 100% tense hand 0% tense wrist, 30% tense hand and 70% tense wrist etcetc I think you get the point) until you jusy learn the best balance for you in a sense. I'd want to claim the best balance is at 80% tense hand and 5% tense wrist or something like that, but by experimenting with different tensions you will both learn to control these tensions and learn by experience what works best! :)
Great Video! I am 5'8'' guy, and one of my best coaches just started teaching me this technique. So far, this hitting technique has completely changed my game, and has open up angles I never knew were possible. Sadly, this coach lives in another state which has made learning this technique a little more difficult but watching this video and seeing you actually doing it is huge. Thank you for your effort it really does make learning this technique much easier.
The breakdown of the wrist-snap in this video is top tier. Of all the videos I have been watching, this is the only one that has given such scientific insights into the teaching. Well done sir.
@@jrgtheradical Thank you! :) The whole idea for this channel, and my coaching, in one way stems from frustration haha.. About 11 years ago when I started playing and decided I'd try to become good at this sport, I became mightily frustrated by the lack of quality of instruction I could find. I hope this project will change that for future players! Thank you for being here and commenting, it helps!
You're welcome! :) More will come, this is far from a one video topic hehe. Let me know if you are able to find any kind of success with the instruction in this video! What I talk through after 6:30 in the video is roughly what I usually tell players when I teach this in a coaching session, but I can of course also watch them and correct them then and there since it is live, and watching a TH-cam video is not the same as live teaching, so it would be really fun to hear if this works in terms of learning from a video! :)
i watched this full video a few hours before going to play some pickup beach volleyball, and it made an immediate difference!! even the people i normally play with noticed!! they all asked what changed and i told them i watched this video, they all asked for the link and i sent them your way. thanks for all the amazing tips!!
Wow! Amazing!! This makes me so happy to read..! And thanks for sending people my way! :) Actually it's funny, I just today recorded some video for a case study of another player that changed her game quite significantly from seeing this video.. It should be out in a few days! :) But as I say in the video, this package of information in this video is THE thing I have found as a coach that can make big changes in peoples hitting quality in a very short time! :)
You're welcome! :) Yeah, that's the idea with this channel to talk about those very important things that nobody else seems to be doing..! :) It's good that the visuals (wood model in this case) seem to be helpful for people, they take quite a bit of time to make but it seems to be worth it! :)
I have been struggling with this concept for the longest time. This video really helped me better understand what I was feeling. Going to play tonight and I can't wait to make some adjustments!
@@bri325ci Nice! Just as a heads up, in my experience, people who do not know how to do this movement, usually needs to learn it in a bit of a more isolated environment first, before they can do it in games! But who knows, it might work straight in games for you, especially if you have been visualizing/conceptualizing it at home beforehand! Let me know how it goes! :)
Very nice simple explanation. The additional science behind it is like a catapult. All the sections contribute to the build up of power from the thick base and that cumulates at the small tip. Same as the spike. The power generation starts from the big torso base, builds up with multiple body parts, and leaving the body through the hand to the ball. Leaving out the torso, and just talking about the power generation after the shoulder, it's a combination of momentum power (= mass x velocity). So the first momentum power starts from your torso, which then transfer through your shoulder. Meaning the torso generates the circular speed (velocity) to swing the entire arm/hand (mass) through a circular distance. The power builds up with the additional momentum generated from your upper arm (Triceps) to create swinging velocity to carry the lower arm/hand mass through. Then more power is added with the forearm generating the velocity to swing the hand mass through. (This is the snapping portion.) Then it's the smaller hand muscles helping out the forearm to generate a little more power to bend the finger mass around the ball. Finally, the hand and forearm muscles will stiffen the fingers to efficiently transfer that power to the ball. Flimsy hand will generate energy much less efficient. Flexibility will give you additional rotational angle, which in turn will give more rotational distance to build up your speed (basically more time to accelerate the arm). Arm length will also contribute to more rotational distance. (Think of a short arm catapult versus a longer arm catapult.) Fast twitch muscles will give you quick acceleration, which contributes to speed (velocity = acceleration x time).
@@Midnighter1886 Hahah I have never seen such an elaborate explanation, but I like it, it's pretty damn spot on. A couple of comments: Yes I agree the catapult starts from the core (or even all the way from the hips) in a core powered hit, and then in a shoulder powered hit the catapult starts from a "later stage" in a sense. A "shoulder powered" hit probably still requires at least stability from the core so it's not like the core isn't a part of the whole thing, but the player's experience is more like it's coming from the shoulder. Then regarding the triceps, I have never had an EMG machine or whatever it is that they measure muscle contraction with on my triceps when hitting, but I am fairly sure that in a well timed, relaxed and smooth hit, the triceps is actually relaxed throughout, and the elbow joint "just lets the force from further down pass through" without trying to "add more" with the help of a triceps extension. Then again, there are hits where the timing is a bit off and the body cannot produce a fluid motion to make the hand hit the ball, where the "arm tenses up" to some degree (these hits will usually be less powerful), in these hits I wouldn't be surprised if the tricep is in there trying to add some power to make up for the "power loss" from the fact that the power from further down (core or shoulder depending on technique) got lost because the "natural flow" of it got disrupted. Does that make sense? And the last comment is, you weite something like the hand tenses up like after the flow of the movement has gone through the wrist.. Again I have not measured this with a machine, but in my experience the way this works the best for me and what tends to lead to breakthroughs for players I coach is to already before the wrist snaps make the hand semi-tense, while keeping the wrist relaxed, and then just let the semi tensed up hand flick or snap onto the ball by letting the arm extend fully. But I am open to the possibility that in reality, what happens is actually something else if you'd measure it, but I always find that the actual descriptions that make the movement actually happen for the player, are more important than the descriptions of what actually happens. I'd rather have an athlete that knows how to do it than one who can in full detail describe the movement but not do it (although I think if you know both, it's the best, at least for a coach.. an athlete kind of really only needs to be able to make it happen.) This just reminded me that I need to make a video about descriptions that make a player learn a movement vs descriptions of the actual movement.
@LearnBeachVolleyballFast I'm a beach volleyball and engineering nerd. Lol. Been playing for 35 years on 3 continents so I love talking about beach VB. Ha ha. Nice channel you have. Also, very good English for a non-native speakers!
@@Midnighter1886 Hahah nice, I can see that! Your description here could almost be made into a video itself! For the English, I have to thank my ex girlfriend who is American, my English would never be at the level it is without the day to day communication with her for years, and her correcting me here and there. Apparently she left some corrections out because she thought "I sounded cute" with certain errors (😅) but it is what it is haha, still have to be forever grateful for a lot of things (including a higher proficiency of English) that I learned from her!
Dude, I dont believe I never figured this out. As soon, as I watched this, it all made sense. It was like watching the universe unravel itself in front of you.
Hahahahaha! 😅😎 That's amazing man, thanks for this kinda feedback hahah! Hope it helps! Soon I'll start getting more videos out again, there's still a few videos to be done before this spiking series is done! :)
I'm basically binging all of your videos, you're the only person that talk in-depth about these topics, which is kind of strange because these are the questions that I (and I think a lot of other beginners) have been asking myself without being able to find an interesting discussion like the one you put in this video.
Hey! Thanks! Literally I was in your shoes (with the questions) almost 8 years ago when I started playing. Looked absolutely everywhere for answers, there were none to be found. So I started thinking/experimenting etc myself and the vision is to create the project I wish had existed when I started playing. Thank you so much for letting me know, and it gives me reassurance that I am on the right path! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Hey Alex, I was trying to practice this by myself and I was thinking: in the beginning, do you advise of practicing just moving the arm or even trying to generate power from the rotation of the body? I find that, when rotating the body, I get kinda stuck in that pattern of spiking with the arm that extends just as the hand touches the ball (which is not bad by any means, actually I think it's the best way to generate power, the problem is that I am not tall at all and I am still working on my vertical on the beach, so the wristnap would probably be wiser to practice for me). Also, do you think that the wristnap allows this maximum high contact of the ball because of the spin created that makes the ball go down faster? Because in my mind, I imagine that all the power generated (by the arm or the body, it's not important in this case) is channeled through the fingers, so the power that would normally be spread over a larger area is now accumulated in this little area of the hand , so when you hit the ball the "wrap-up" of the hand on the ball is a lot more aggressive than the one of a traditional spiking, resulting in more topspin. Does this make sense? If you think the situation is different in your mind, please tell me, I find this mental-cue like things useful when trying to learn something new.
Alright just tried this on a wall, and I felt like the "standard" spike was like a wooden staff: you hit with the hand because it's the extremity of the staff, but the hand doesn't act in any particular way, even though you try to relax it it will come out pretty "flat" (just like a staff) , so the ball will follow the trajectory of the arm in a straight line. The wrist snap felt more like a whip, because at the times when (at least based on what I think) I timed it in a good way there was a huge slap sound, and the ball definitely had a lot of top spin which wasn't happening even If I spiked with a relatively relaxed wrist: I think that this is the case because keeping the wrist relaxed just allows the wrist to move, it doesn't actually move it, so If you tike a wristsnap you will have this particular effect, but If you don't the wrist won't have time to actually move and change the effect on the ball, which will travel straight down in the direction of the hitting arm; this makes the traditional spike more like a staff and the wristsnap more like a whip to me, don't know if it makes sense to you.
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Hey, today I was casually watching the Olympics beach match between Italy and Australia, and to me it seemed like they were using this technique a lot! I wonder If it's something that women do more naturally being shorter and jumping less than men, anyway it was really cool to see, there should be some highlight video where you could spot the technique.
Hahah thanks! :) It is a bit of a confusing subject, and actually there might be even more ways to do it to be honest, I'm doing some exploration myself right now. But this is definately one way to do it that works quite well! :) Is there anything else in beach volleyball that is confusing you? :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast not really I mainly play grass volleyball! But ig hitting techniques are still the same between indoor, grass, and beach. Was still a very useful guide !
This is Dilip,from india...Wonderful thanks for sharing,what I was looking for ...my friends where asking me to finish it in this way...but, i thought such a thing never exists...but ,you have made a eye opener... definitely take your tips...your presentation is very nice and good... scientific and coming from your heart 🙏🙏🙏👍
Thank you! "Scientific and from the heart" - I like that description hahah, it sure comes from the heart and I try to explain things with models that make sense! I hope you will find an easier/better way to spike! :)
5:12, that is transfer of momentum we are seeing. Think about those exec toy swinging, clicking steel balls; at contact, the last ball rockets but the one that sent it stays motionless.
Yes, agree with the 80/20 result. In the middle of play, we instinctively put all effort into the hardest swing, which increases the odd of making a mistake. (Low ball contact point = net ball, or high contact point but no snap = out of bound.) But if you just put a little more focus on the wrist snap (and less other parts) rather than focusing on the entire body motion (complete body torquing and complete arm swing), we'll have less power, but much less mistakes. I'll take the much less mistakes.
@@Midnighter1886 Yes I agree fully! And once core powered wristsnap hits are fully mastered, we can stay very relaxed and hammer away in a relaxed way even without sacrificing speed. But at the point where that is not yet an option, I'd much rather also sacrifice a bit of speed to make sure you don't hit out or into the net. And I think the same applies always on sets that are so bad that you cannot adapt your body position into one where you can full swing (core powered) in a fairly relaxed manner, then one ought to do something else, and a shoulder powered wristsnap spike is one of those options (among with pokies, various shots, etc.)
I learned how to spike with just a wrist snap when I started having shoulder issues. Spiking with a full swing ending in a follow-through causes some sharp pain in my shoulders that I cannot continue playing anymore. In order for me to attack without much pain, I did this wrist snap without a follow-through technique. I likewise changed position from wing spiker to middle blocker where wrist snap is utilized more to avoid touching the net.
Ohh, interesting! This makes total sense though, this smaller movement wristsnap without a big swing is quite forgiving for the shoulder so even people with shoulder injuries can often do it! :) Are you also doing something to make the shoulder better at the same time or just adapted the technique? :)
I feel like one reason why this is useful in beach is that it allows a higher contact point than the traditional spiking method. A traditional contact point has the arm more bent (elbow not yet fully extended) and angled forward to get the ball to go downward, but you lose inches (I'm American...) in reach. If people are 6'3" (190cm) and playing indoors with a spike reach over 11ft / 335cm, it's probably not as critical. If you're only 6' / ~182cm and on sand, that extra reach is likely to be much more useful, and the ball still is on a slightly more downward trajectory due to the angling of the wrist. One big reason why the "wrist snap" got a bad reputation is because non-scientific/engineering types thought it's the primary way you get spin, and that you HAD TO wrist snap to get spin. Timing a conscious wrist snap when swinging full speed is hard, and I think that just led to issues. The place where spin would be most important for dropping the ball is the jump serve (due to the trajectory angle) and even then, the best servers have only 8 rotations on the ball before it hits ground. And I bet a good amount of that spin will come merely from contacting the ball slightly off center for torque and a limp wrist. Even if you could actively time a conscious wrist snap, it probably won't add much more than a few rotations. Then people started doing high-speed video to disprove it, some people in USA volleyball had a thread discussing it (www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2012/July/20/STOP-Teaching-Hitting.aspx), and there are volleyball trajectory studies showing that while spin does help, the magnitude of it isn't as big as what some think it might be. I definitely like your limp wrist method, and in general, your videos are all very intelligent and analytical which is nice.
Yes absolutely. The high contact point is the main advantage, all of the sudden you "access" hitting angles that were unthinkable before if one used to hit with a slightly bent elbow etc! I went ahead and read the article ( www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2012/July/20/STOP-Teaching-Hitting.aspx linked it again because your ending parenthesis happened to make the link broken) and in it, it seems to me like they argue that the wrist is just flat (like it is on my videos too), but according to me they miss the fact that if the wrist/hand would have moved forward/into an angle in case the ball hadn't stopped it, it still transfers "forward/topspin energy" into the ball during the contact. Not sure if this is clear enough, this is the part I said I might need to make a followup video on to properly show what I mean, didn't wanna make this video longer than it already is. Thanks alot, and thanks for the engagement, I love getting these comments that force me to go read/think even more! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast I agree that the article is a little extreme on its view about wrist snap. Unfortunately, the topic of what creates spin hasn't been studied well in volleyball. I think the reality is that it's mixed, and the loose wrist is probably the best. It takes less practice on timing than if you use your forearm muscles to try to consciously time a wrist snap, and probably gets almost all the benefits. If you used a heavier "ball" in that hinged forearm-wrist demonstration, it will probably more clearly show the reason why the wrist doesn't move forward when it actually contacts the ball. I have heard the "loose wrist" comment from a few knowledgable sources before (likely less than 10% of experienced vballers though, and they were from very analytically minded coaches, including the ones at Gold Medal Squared www.goldmedalsquared.com/ ). Most people still think "snap wrist for spin" and that if the ball goes out, that it's the main reason. The concept of the arm reaching full extension and transferring momentum to the hand is even more rare, and I think very useful because it captures the physics behind what you're trying to do in a simple way. I've seen that form before but without a clean description or visualization; I think your description and the hinged arm-wrist model shows the important concept much better. A lot of the best videos I've seen on ball contact and spin are from tennis. It's good because the tennis racquet also gets moved by the ball, similar to how a volleyball prevents your wrist from moving much. You don't see this much in gold because the club is too stiff and heavy. th-cam.com/video/YooWW_CfYAM/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/Q6-9AJzIZwA/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/r2lW4HKMT2I/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/OitkVxMGKXU/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/Yl3-WHh4SEI/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/c0LiT3ZQFzY/w-d-xo.html all get into the subject with slightly different nuances. There have been a few volleyball spin-trajectory studies, though they don't look at how the hand and wrist contribute except "KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF VOLLEYBALL JUMP TOPSPIN AND FLOAT SERVE" by Chenfu Huang and Lin-Huan Hu. This looks at some of the joint speed differences between topspin and float, though they don't do any correlation to say what's important for spin. I think what is interesting is that when teaching float, I tend to focus on stiff wrist, smaller hands, more linear arm motion, and center of ball, which are all the opposite of topspin jump serves and spiking, and some of that shows in their data. Most volleyball and spin studies mainly look at the path of the ball with and without spin. "A Mathematical Model for the Trajectory of a Spiked Volleyball and its Coaching Application" by Shawn S. Kao, Richard W. Sellens, Joan M. Stevenso is one of the oldest ones. "Optimizing a Volleyball Serve" by Dan Lithio and Eric Webb "FLUID MECHANICS ANALYSIS IN VOLLEYBALL SERVICES" by Pedro Deprá, René Brenzikofer, Marlos Goes, and Ricardo Barros are some others. Takeshi Asai and colleagues have a number of papers: "Aerodynamics of a New Volleyball", "AERODYNAMIC EFFECTS OF A PANEL ORIENTATION IN VOLLEYBALL FLOAT SERVE", "Surface Patterns for Drag Modification in Volleyballs", "On the Flight of the Volleyball", and "Fundamental Aerodynamics of a New Volleyball" though most deal with float serves, and has data that is too abstract to be useful in practice.
@@tomosato7788 Hahahaha I think you just won the award for the longest comment ever, I love it! Will reply better tomorrow, its almost 2 AM here. But yes I agree, John Kessel is very extreme with some of his views (this is not the only one), and the problem is that he is so well known that you then get a herd of coaches that can't even listen to anyone saying something aganst Kessel, simply because they think he cannot be wrong or something like that.. And then these coaches keep spreading this knowledge that apparently is backed up by both science and Kessel and on it goes, all of the sudden we have a whole generation of coaches teaching something that is not 100% true because one leader did a mistake. Haha, I'll make a podcast episode about this one day, it will be called the dark ages of volleyball coaching... :)
Great lesson. I've tried to teach people this concept and it is not easy to do. I use a whip illustration to explain where the power in the hit comes from.
Thanks! Yeah, depending a bit on how long the whip is (if it starts from the core or if the whip is only the arm I find it takes people different amounts of time to grasp the movement. This wristsnap without core power technique a lot of people end up grasping standing in a few minutes, one way to describe it that helps some people is that "it's like shooting the ball but faster." If the whip comes all the way from the core and the player hasn't for example thrown balls like this earlier in his/her life, then it usually takes some more work to grasp the whole thing..!
Thanks! :) Upcoming videos in the video series will explain things even more! There's a quite distinct difference between wristsnap only powered hits, vs wristsnap+core powered hits. Then there are also the core powered hits without wristsnap of course! :)
Hahah amazing! :) Yeah, a lot of different information about it out there and honestly there are also different ways of doing it and different armswing types will naturally have different amounts of "wrist snap" feel natural so it's no wonder there is confusion about it. Also there is a part of me that thinks snapping your wrist like I do in the video but adding just a hint of forearm contraction in the very end of the ball touch (so forearm muscles definitely don't initiate the wrist movement but help it a bit after it has been initiated) might be a good idea to add a hint more power into the hit. And someone who might have been doing that since they were children might feel like "I snap the wrist with my forearm muscles" and then go and teach that.. So this video is definitely not the last say on everything about wristsnap, but it is information that alone has helped a lot of players start hitting way better in just one session! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Well if you locked your wrist using your forearm muscle just at the moment it hits the ball, it would give a better resistance to the shock, and all the power would transfer to the ball, with no energy lost in the counter reaction of the wrist, awesome ! But I guess it has to be timed very precisely if you don't want to waste the kinetics of your wristsnap by keeping it locked by your forearm muscles before you hit the ball. You could modify the wood model so that the wrist only rotates one way but does not go back, and check the difference ;) Anyway, very nice theory, now I guess I'm gonna have to put in the hours of practice in order to "feel" it haha
Muito interessante essa técnica, por isso já vi jogadores usar somente o encaixe de pulso ao bater na bola e ser muito eficaz. Gostaria de aprender a técnica de como pisar na areia e não afundar na hora do ataque. Por favor existe algum vídeo explicando???. Agradeço.
Obrigada! :) Sobre não afundar na areia, você já jogou vôlei de salão antes? No vôlei de praia, você precisa "empurrar suavemente" a areia para baixo com os pés, em vez de "bater os pés nela", especialmente se você tiver muito impulso lateral. Saltar "para cima" em vez de "para a frente" pode ajudar, talvez (!) também ajude pensar em "alargar os pés" para que eles peguem mais areia..!
Hi, I was wondering if you can make a video of stationary (meaning not jumping) placement of the balls from dinking and hitting the balls to back corners. I'm short and I can't jump very high and wanted to get better at placing the ball. Love your videos! Thank u!
Hey! How nice to hear! :) Did you watch the video with my friend Eric that uses the tomahawk as an attacking tool without jumping? I have followup videos to that one coming up soon, that I think might be super helpful for you! Then other than that, regardless of what technique you use, there's a bit of a simple formula you can do to "teach yourself" what you are trying to do. Step 1 is to film yourself doing a short and long ball, and notice if there is a significant technique difference, is it possible to see way before you hit if you are about to hit long or short? If yes, try to rebuild either the short ball or the long ball technique so that it is very similar to the other one, they should look the same until right before the contact. If you are doing pokeys for example that are easy to make go short, you might have to stiffen your whole core and sort of "punch" the ball last millisecond to make it go long without you showing to the opponent that you are about to go long way ahead in time. Once you have this technique down, then it's all about calibrating. Repping it out until you find the "feeling" for the right distances. Notice that the distance to a long corner is different if going diagonally over the whole court vs going line, notice that the wind strength and direction, ball type, how pumped the ball is, how contracted your hand is when you hit the ball etcetc all influence how far the ball will go. Some of these variables will shift day to day like wind. If you see ypur body as a "machine" that learns from every rep no matter if you go too short, perfect or too long, then over time it will get better and better at using just the right amount of power. I have an old video somewhere where I try to explain this kind of "discovery" mindset, let me see if I can find it..!
Here it is! So this is kinda the mindset to have just to calibrate the shots after you have a technique where you can disguise to the opponents whether you are going short or deep! :) th-cam.com/video/i4tTAQmtjl0/w-d-xo.html
could you make a video on how to block with in the "step close" version? i tend to use my arms a lot to get upward momentum. some people say thats dumb because i would touch the net at the bottom (which i dont do. at least not at the bottom) i like the extra cm i get from that hand movement though. I really like your videos especially that you explain the mechanics. i somehow learn much better if i know WHY something is done in a certain way and you seem to be the only one who really goes to the bottom of things.
Hey! Thanks for the kind words, and I completely agree with the why part, it does so many things, provides motivation, understanding and also allows the player to think for themselves the day some other coach comes and says something different. It literally drove me nuts when I started playing this sport that different coaches said different things that countered eachother, and damn noone had cared to say why they thought what they thought so me as a "student" had no tools except basically become a thinler and teacher myself to overcome that frustration and confusion. So yeah, I guess I ended up on a mission to change that bullshit in the beach volleyball space forever (😅), we will see if I succeed haha! Regarding blocking my honest answer to that is that because of the in depth type of approach I have taken to figuring this game out, I actually haven't yet had enough time to dive deep into the skill of blocking. It has basically been the least "urgent" skill for my own playing career and I have been more than busy figuring serve receive, setting, attacking and defense out that I haven't gotten there yet. In blocking I am still at the stage where I have just heard other peoples theories etc but have neither had the time to learn them or the time to run a shitton of experiments (like I have with the other parts of the game), and I am actually a pretty bad blocker myself still (again I have in total maybe spent 3 hours of conscious blocking practice vs probably closer to 1000 hours on attacking for example), so I still feel like if I'd create videos on blocking the chances I'd spread misinformation is too big. And sort of the whole point with this project is to attempt to end the endless spreading of misinformation within this beach volleyball world..! Hopefully quite soon I'll be able to "turn my brain and experimentation power" towards blocking though, it is actually starting to become one of the weakest links in my game now too for me to get to the next level, so there are several different motivators to make that happen. But meanwhile.. If you actually do the step close blocking, I'd say go ahead and use the arms fpr jumping power, especially if you never actually hit the net with them. Amd if you did, you can always keep your elbows a bit more bent and pretty much get the same jumping power anyway. At least that's what I'd say today but I haven't thought too hard around this issue. One thing that I think is smart (again my opinion could change in the future) is to basically decide to do normal blocking or step close blocking depending on a combination of the quality of the serve receive in combination with the setters average ability to make a bad pass go to the net anyway. At least in the mens game with solid attackers it is probably a mistake to use the step close method if the pass is good, or the setter is good at setting bad passes. Or maybe the step close is stupid only if the pass is good, and you have enough time to block with the step close method if the setter makes magic happen because then it is usually quite clear where the set will go. But on a good pass I think you wanna stay close and parallel with the net, especially today when quicksets and jumpsets and wide and backsets etc are becoming more normal, it might be too difficult to adapt to those things from the step close position.. Hahah not sure if there is any value in these ramblings, as you can see I'm not really sure what I think myself yet, need those hours trying, thinking, discussing and experimenting in the sand! :)
Could you try and hit a balloon with wristsnap and film it in slo-mo? then the wristsnap hand movement should be visible, due to the lack of weight/mass of the ball.
Damn! Never thought about that but you are absolutely right, and it would work as a strengthening "proof" or a weakening "disproof" (not sure what the English actual word for that would be) of my theory...! I gotta do that, thanks for the idea!! 🤩
Nice! :) Yes, it is definitely not the only spiking technique that works, but it has some benefits, mostly that it works relatively well and is pretty easy to learn! :) There will be more videos discussing this later! :)
Hmm, good question. A jump serve with a lot of spin but not so much power, yes. A more powerful jump spin serve you need to also find power from your core into the hit, and that can be done with or without wristsnap I'd say. So this thing I talk about in the video can kinda be added "as extra spice" on top of a jumpserve, but don't rely on only the wristsnap for generating power if you want to have hard powerful jumpserves. That said, for some people taking power from the core comes naturally so for those people if you showed them this video and asked them to do it on a jumpserve, they just might end up doing the power from your core+wristsnap combo. Hope this makes sense! :)
As someone who has had exposure to high levels in both sports, you find the same arguments/counterarguments in tennis also. When slow motion video showed the ball is already off the strings before any follow-through has occurred, some tennis teaching pros took this to mean that the follow-through is unnecessary. Maybe you've already covered this in another video but, if not, could you do something about where the hand makes contact on the ball? I've worked with and talked to some young players who have ONLY been told to "snap over top of the ball". Therefore they constantly "cover" the top of the ball and struggle by playing with small margins over the net. Their hitting is only "steep angle". Btw, I'm an indoor coach but I look for anything that might help my teaching of the game.
I can imagine the same discussion exists in tennis.. I think what people miss, is that the trajectory/momentum/shape of the hitting object at contact matters in terms of what kind of forces will be sent to the ball, and those forces will be different depending on what kind of movement one is doing. So even if the "snap" doesn't put power into the ball from the actual snap itself (because ball has already left the hand at that point), whatever forces are in the hand at the point of contact will be different if one is intending to "snap" vs "club" the ball, and it's that difference that will make the difference. Hmm, regarding to your second question, no I haven't made a video like that but it could be an interesting video idea actually. In my mind, this changes if one uses the "snap" technique or more of a "hit through" technique. As to what the kids are doing I can't say without seeing it, but it almost sounds like they are "snapping" their wrist with muscle power instead of letting the snap happen effortlessly with the help of biomechanics. In my opinion, with the effortless biomechanical snap it's very easy to vary the contact point between hitting deep into the court vs steep down close to the net. Hope that makes sense!
Thanks a lot for a great videos man! i realy like the way you explain things using your creative imagination world. thanks for your insights and the detailed explanations. keep doing what you do best. and now its time to make theorey to reality!! reps, and more reps ✌️
Gidon Goldman Thanks man, really appreciate it! :) Absolutely, coming up with these theories, running experiments to see what works and what doesn't and mixing it all together into these hopefully highly helpful videos and coaching is definately one of my favorite activities, and the more this channel grows the more seriously I can take all of this and make it all happen, part or the goal is to in the long run sort of radically transform how this sport is taught and learned because I believe it's currently very far from it's full potential! :) Hope you have a good dat and as you say, time to make theory into reality! :)
Awesome! It's a very counterintuitive technique at first, because you in some senses do the complete opposite of what you have earlier done to create power, and then all of the sudden there is like this new form of power applied to the ball that "suddenly appears"..! It's not so weird people aren't teaching this technique very much, because I think that people who generate speed in the "non wristsnap way" simply don't understand and can't imagine this technique exists, while people who happened to naturally learn the wristsnap by luck or chance maybe can't articulate quite what they are doing.. They often say they use the wrist but almost assume they usethe forehand muscles to make the wrist "snap"! Hope this helps somehow. Going to a wall and really just exploring the ball contact and armswing and experimenting with it can help tons, tweak it in various ways until you find something that feels good and produces a high contact that puts pace on the ball. I do have another video planned for more tips on how to find this contact, but I have some other videos I will create before that one unfortunately..!
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast It's definitely helping with my high line shot and getting the ball there faster. What it's helping most with is disguising a short shot. My friend always had a great disguised short doing this, but I couldn't replicate it until yesterday. I still need to practice it more ofc. Oh, and I hope the next video you're doing is the nygard one.
So how do I produce the wrist snap? I used to have an excellent one, and the ball would follow a parabola and go in from when I hit the ball deep, but now after hurting my shoulder, I have forgotten how exactly I did it. Trying to get it back, but unsuccessful~
The way I do it in this video it is all about extending that elbow fully before hitting the ball (at least that is what it feels like) and letting the hand land on the ball, rather than extending the elbow "into" the ball. Hand semi contracted while wrist is loose. Thinking about leaving the hand high can help. More videos to the series coming later! :)
I can't hit spike even my approach and everything is correct and can i send a video of mine doing spike so you can identify and please explain what's the problem is?
Always happy to take a quick look! Normally people who describe your problem, get it fixed by learning the wristsnap technique in this video, but of course there can also be other problems. For a longer in depth analysis and step by step instruction how to fix it I have to refer to my online coaching options (www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com/coaching), but happy to have a quick look and write a few sentences of what I see, might give a good clue on where I think you should start! :) Upload the video somewhere and send it to alex@learnbeachvolleyballfast.com ! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast in my opinion, the theory(!) of wristsnap is covered full enough, I think u could show some exercises, with rubber bands for example. Maybe some solo drills with a net/wall. Ps. I tried this technique after ur explanation and now I think that u are really very good in explaining techniques! Good for you!
@@konstantinb.1841 Yes I agree! I have been thinking of maybe putting together another video like that actually, but haven't decided yet if it's needed or not, I think some people learn the technique just from seeing this video also. But I could definitely put together one more video that goes even more specifically into some excercises and stuff that can be done to learn this technique, I think it would be helpful for some people for sure..! :)
Good question! First I'd want to say that there are people who already mix this wrist mechanic into their normal spiking technique without knowing it, so to really answer this question for a specific individual, one would have to analyze their mechanics first to really see whats going on. Also if their normal swing is high or low elbow drawback could matter. So I can only answer this question right now with some generalizations, hope that makes sense! But in general, I'd say it's about becoming familiar withthe feeling of the wrist-"action" of the wristsnap, and then mixing the old and the new technique together, which will often feel a bit more like hitting "up" at the ball, rather than hitting "through" the ball (which often emphasizes a big followthrough.) Ignoring the people who say you WILL (without a doubt) hurt your shoulder if you stop it at the top with no followthrough and explore doing that anyway could be a good idea (of course if every rep you do hurts, there's something wrong and you should stop and do some reassessing, but a fully functional injuryless shoulder with the "proper" mechnics can easily bang a ball hard with wristsnap without a big followthrough, without getting injured. I do believe that some players who know how to generate power with their core, will to some degree tend to automatically mix their old power generation mechanics with the added wrist mechanics when they learn the wrist technique, which then basically becomes a mix between the techniques (which you asked for.) Others won't and they will have two very distinctly separate techniques until they learn to blend them together. I hope this answered your question at least somewhat, let me know! I also think my future videos in this series might provide some more insight to the question.. And if one wants the full video analysis and specific answers for ones own situation (for example if nothing else works, there is pain, or one just wants the most efficient way forward), my online and offline coaching info (to be a bit updated soon) is on my website www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com! :)
Seems like this would be something very practice-able while peppering. Just crack it instead of taking your normal indoor swing hitting motion. I'm 5'10, 40 years old and average vertical. I often find that my power hits go out of bounds by 6 inches in the back of the court, frustrating me. I might shift into this swing more and see if it gives me better control of my hits. I need more consistency.
Absolutely. The first drill I take people through when teaching this technique is to find the "snap" feeling while standing first (one analogy that tends to help some people is "throw your hand with a relaxed wrist on top of the ball", and another that some people resonate with is "just do like you do when you shoot the ball but faster"), after that people usually have quite an easy time to be able to do it also in the air after jumping. Actually this swing technique uses so little body and pretty much only the arm to the point that the armswing in the air is not as "dependent" on for example how the arms swing upwards from the backswing and jump.. Which means I believe practicing this technique standing transfers easier to jump and swing than with other swinging technique that use more core and full body motion for power into the hit. Hope this makes some sense..! Try it out and see how it feels, and feel free to come back and report after! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Yes it does make sense. You're saying that this wrist snap technique doesnt require a normal arm swing loadup as compared to a traditional indoor power hit (the "Nike sign" posture). I often find myself close to the net on a broken play without a lot of room to approach. I think this may be a good alternative :)
@@markanthony2495 Yes exactly! :) The wristsnap is amazing in close to the net no blocker situations, and also a good one in situations with a block but close to the net! :) Sometimes you can do it so quickly into steep angles that the blocker in a sense doesn't have time to react, if that makes sense!
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Hey I played pickup last night for 3 or 4 hours and I was using this technique a lot. Just in general I was trying to "statue of liberty" wrist snap in various situations including: -Pepper :) -Broken play where the set is 5 or more feet off the net -Serving!! -Hitting situations with wonky or minimal approach Like I said before my height and avg vertical have always been limiting factors for me in the sand but last night I felt like I had better ball control and more top spin. I'm definitely going to invest more energy into this technique :) I was surprised while peppering the velocity that I was able to achieve with such minimal muscle engagement.
@@markanthony2495 Hahaha sounds amazing! :) Yes the surprizing amounts of speed you can put into the ball with so little effort when you time it right is amazing! So happy to hear this!
Hi, I just recently discovered your channel and it has totally changed the way I was thinking of playing and practicing. Thank you for taking your time to prepare such indepth videos for us. Can you please accept my request to the facebook community, I just can't get enough of your videos :D
Hahaha that's amazing, thank you!! :) I accepted the Facebook group entrys now, hope you enjoy it in there! :) Wanna tell me about one good thing my content has changed your thinking around? :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Well, I used to be one of these people that though repetition is the best way of developing. I thought if I do something enough times, the solution or development will come. And your "frustration is the key to breakthrough" makes a lot of sense. That is the time to analyze and make the right conscious changes to the technique or mental approach in order to overcome the obstable which caused the frustration in the first place
Härra Erko Ahh, makes complete sense! :) Yeah, the tricky thing is that to some degree and for some problems, the "just practice more" type of approach works perfectly fine, and we have all probably experienced that more than once in life. The danger lies in that our minds tend to be lazy and automatically think that what has worked in the past in some sense will work for every future problem of every sort too.. Which becomes very bad when we one day end up trying to solve complex problems like becoming a significantly better beach voleyball player as adults with the "just practice more"-approach. I'm super glad to hear some of the "deeper" videos I have made are also starting to bring value to some people out there! :)
Great insight and explanation Alex. I have experimented with this theory myself and can confirm that when I implement it correctly I can hit much steeper and faster than before. Also the hand being a little more tense while the wrist remains floppy is a good point which I will try. I tend to struggle with too much tension in the body and the arm as a whole in game situations so it takes a lot of practise at least for me. I often try to hit the ball hard with a tense arm and wrist rather than throwing my hand through the ball as quickly as possible with a relaxed arm and wrist. This can still be a problem for me at times. Do you have any other insights or tips on how to remain relaxed during the swing to enable the wrist to snap fully? As I said when I occasionally do it the results are awesome. 🙂
Thanks! :) I see what you mean, in a way it seems like you have made it "halfway" into learning the technique, it's like your body can do two different techniques, the old stiffer one, and the new loose one, but you still need to consciously think about making the loose one happen. This is when you basically need reps, in more and more challenging and stressful situations. Go out and make a few happen on a perfect set, then make a few happen on an unperfect set, then add some ballcontrol stuff before excecuting on a bad set etcetc until you can play full on games and no matter how chaotic the situation is, you can make this technique happen. After you get to that stage, you just keep doing that for a little bit more and soon it will be very automatic and second nature for you. But it's important that before you start all of this you have an internal awareness of when you do the old and new technique without a coach needing to tell you from the outside, but it sounds to me like you have that part handled! :) Does this make sense?
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast thanks yeah it sure does. I find it easier when not jumping to execute the technique so maybe I do just need to drill it and focus on relaxing when I'm in the air. I can definitely tell the difference between the tense one and the relaxed one and sometimes it's even somewhere in between, but I'll certainly work on it. 🙂👍
I like your explanations. It works well with the way my mind works, probably the details you provide, like you mentioned. I prefer indoor, but I can definitely apply your videos...so thanks for your efforts! Oh, also..where is the backdrop for this video? It looks beautiful. Cheers!
apmech46166 Thanks! I almost feel like there are two categories of people out there, one that just wants quick pointers without a bunch of details, and one that wants all the extra details possible, who understands that videos might end up being 10 minutes rather than 3 minutes but instead the extra 7 minutes might end up saving you hours of practice time over the span of months to maybe one day figure those details out on your own! :) Not sure if this is what you meant but I felt like the beach volleyball world lacked this type of instruction so here I am haha. Anyway, this particular video is shot in Oslo, Norway, or at least the part where I'm speaking! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Hi, yes, I agree with your evaluation, and that is what I meant. You might find this interesting. I received personality training at one of my jobs to help communicate better with other people. The program states there are 4 personality types, and one type for sure does not like details, and then there's my type which loves the details, lol. The program was called "DISC". Anyway, take care...I think you're doing a great job with your instructional videos. Keep them coming.
I noticed you asked one commenter for a video. I have one if you would like to view it. I didn't get the full approach in this one, but I'm curious if you can help me with opening up more with my shoulders and body as I rise in the air, how to relax my arm and hand, and how to torque my body through the ball. I am 5'6", lol, but love to hit. My touch height is only about 9'4" currently so I have to have great timing with my approach steps from the set, and i need to generate as much topspin as I can because I can't always hit down due to my touch height. I often play with different setters, and most are inconsistent in their placement and heights of sets, so any suggestions you see from the clip would be appreciated. th-cam.com/video/ICP2mlzwaks/w-d-xo.html
@@apmech46166 Haha yeah that's interesting! I am definately also the details guy, except maybe in sports I don't really have too high goals in, if it's just something I'm trying once or whatever then I'd probably just take the quick pointers but as soon as I'm getting serious about something then I know the details will save me tons of time and frustration.. That video was interesting! Would of course be beneficial to see a real hit with a real set, but assuming you hit the same way in reality as on the spike trainer, there really are two ways to go: It would be quite easy to get you to hit the "wristsnap" way, it works relatively well with a high contact point, topspin and angles, but lacks a bit of power in the hits. The other way to go is as you say to learn to open up your core and use those muscles for hitting. This is a bit more of a process but very possible to do. Unfortunately I haven't gotten around to creating my hitting course yet but I just recently changed my online coaching policy to the first session being free so you can always go ahead and claim one of those and we can see how far we can get in one session! :)
Really good question. Honestly I have personally played too little indoor volleyball to have a strong opinion on this. I guess just as in beach, a high contact point, a lot of options for angles and being able to decide which angle you hit very late, amd hitting power are all beneficial. I'd say the way I did hit in this video makes it easy to have a high contact point and a lot of angle options, but is a bit limited on how hard you can hit. So as a general rule with this technique you have to hit somewhere where no player is, whereas with techniques that produce even more speed in the ball you can sometimes even hit straight at a defender and simply overpower them.. I think this might be an easier feat (to hit where no defender is) in beach compared to indoor. This technique might also work slightly worse in indoor because the ball is pumped harder, but I'd need to experiment a bit with that to be sure. All of that being said, last time I played indoor I did score with this technique (was able to go over blocks/at fingertips of blocks) and it ended up working somewhat well. I also believe more tools in the toolbox is seldom a bad idea. If you end up experimenting, please let me know how it goes! :)
for sure. Like he says, strong hitters use snap and body to get power. I don't know if people do it at a super high level, but more snappy shots are good for getting past blockers high, ad getting really short angles.
Soo again (like in the reply to your comment in the other video), there are different techniques to get the elbow high earlier. But in this particular technique I am teaching in this video which is a wristsnap without swing power from the core (I will later make a video with several different spiking techniques I can do and teach a bit like a "menu" for different spike forms with pros and cons for each of them), getting the elbow up is simpler than you think.. you just put it up there. Since there is very little power coming from the core compared to other spiking techniques and we are basically only relying on the elbow extension and wristsnap action to provide power into the hit, you can just find the quickest way for tour elbow to go up from however you are jumping. That is a bit of the magic with this technique, you can do pretty much whatever type of jump (whether "correct" or "incorrect" form) and still have a decent hit because the hitting power isn't so dependent on how you jump and use your core etc. That's why it is so effective in terms of getting a lot of people to hit "pretty good" with minimal effort. Other techniques you often first need to change how people jump and teach them to activate their core etc so teaching these techniques is often something that takes more than one lesson, several lessons that build on top of each other are needed. Anyway, hope this gave some clarity. But for this particular technique, you get your elbow up im a simolar fashion as if you were to jump up and grab a cookie from a shelf that is too high for you to reach standing. You wouldn't overthink the elbow movement at all you would just get it up there, really simple.
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast I think I understand what you mean. For a high elbow plus wrist snap it is not necessary to have the perfect arm swing or perfect arm draw, nor the right torque motion. I presume you know the Torqvb channel. What do you think of his arm swing videos?
@@SteveMcMief Yes exactly. Perfection not needed for e very functional wristsnap "swing". Hahah been waiting for when I get that question. According to me, he is very focused on only the torque generation, to the point that he seems to ignore a lot of other very important aspects of the spike like for example hitting early in the jump etc. Building torque is a very important aspect of spiking but if you only rely on that and ignore 5 other important aspects, well, you will get suboptimal results. I'd like to see much more "complete" coaching in a sense, where pieces of the movement are fitted together with other pieces, the whole movement is more allowed to be seen as a whole if that makes sense. I do get a feeling that he knows the names of certain muscles etc so well that he might be fooling others and himself into thinking he must know everything about spiking because it sounds good, but that really is some of the most dangerous coaching and biggest chance for misleading when you stop seeing your own blindspots.. But that is just my picture/opinion I have built from watching his videos and listening to at least one podcast episode with him. I have never talked to him or met him and he could very well know more than he portrays in the videos for whatever reason so I could be wrong. But for example even in his own hitting, he is sort of hitting on the way down (yes many people do this), which I'd be vary before I'd start modelling it as "perfect hitting". So yeah, I don't think he has all the answers unfortunately. Neither do I, I still have questions I haven't been able to find answers to unfortunately. Hopefully I'll find them soon but the whole beach volleyball spike has shown to be a wayy more complex thing to analyze than I'd have ever imagined hahah there's so many dimensions to it..
Ah yes, true and good point! One could probably use this technique as a part of a energy saving strategy in a full day tournament for example as well. Using less energy in certain games to have energy later in the day, slightly risky business but might be rewarding if done right! :)
Thanks! :) Feel free to let me know if you actually end up being able to implement something tangible to your game from it or if it just ends up being "intellectual insights" that you are not able to implement in reality! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast When I'm warmed up, the wrist snap comes naturally to me but when I'm not I've noticed that my hand is stiffer. I think that after seeing the video I'm more aware of that and maybe it will help me to relax my hand from the beginning.
Just saw this one of I believe Stoklos the other day, th-cam.com/video/ToAfdFPOCXYa/w-d-xo.htmlt 4 min 25 sec and then slowmo replay at 4 min 39 sec. They knew what they were doing back then, and then it's almost like the knowledge has been lost to a big extent. Working on bringing all that sh** back to the world! 💪😇😅
That's exactly what I believe. Some people still refuse to accept that the wristsnap would be a real phenomenon even after that explanation, I am not sure really what could be done to change that. Maybe if one built the wooden model I built but a bigger version of it where the "hand" actually has the same weight as a normal hand, and one made it hit a volleyball to see what would happen, if it also would "stop" or even "bounce back" from the impact with the ball.. So many interesting experiments could be made with unlimited time and resources! 😅
Yup, that's exactly what it is! Although with the "wristsnap only" technique (basically powered by your arm) it's like the whip is shorter (and therefore a bit less powerful) compared to a full body swing from your core that ends up in a wristsnap. Same concept in both just that length of whip is different! :)
the wood model is a wrong anolgy, the is only snapping because your are stopping it and momentum driving the top forword. But i guess no one is stoping its swing in the middle of the spike, its actually the oppsite force wich u have to counter by the accerleration of your arm
Hmm I am not completely sure I understand what you mean in the end with the opposite force that you have to counter? People do stop their swing in the middle of the spike. Surely you will probably never find a pro player that does it all of the time but it does happen. It is supposed to be like an additional tool used side by side with other attacking techniques. :) Actually I al planning to make a video where I actually explain more why I am teaching this method and in what ways and for what players it gan be a better solution than other ways to spike/attack, but I haven't made that video yet unfortunately.. But if its possible in words please explain a bit more what you mean! I always want to listen to the counter-arguments for whatever I am teaching! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Well i think stopping only happens if you make a shot or a cut. I am a pretty avid defender of the wrist snap beeing a myth. i will try out some of what you said maybe it will change my mind. However for indoors at least you hit with such power the wrist does not make much difference imo. Maybe its similar to the tennis forehand where you try to have your racket very loose before you hit so kind of a snap? What would you say about that theory?
@@1nf3ct3dTT Ahh yes this makes a lot of sense. So I agree the way most people attack in indoor volleyball, the wrist doesn't do much of a difference. This specific technique I teach in this video is kindof a weird almost cheating technique that is pretty effective still, but I actually believe it will not be even close to as effective in indoor volleyball, and actually the harder indoor ball might also make the technique itself work way worse. So it's kinda like a possible side technique that many people don't know exists, and some players can build basically their whole beach offense around this technique if they want. One way to describe it is almost like a "very fast shot", so it's not really one of those full body spikes. Then if we go further I'd wanna go as far as saying that some players have a type of a full body spike that you can also combine with a wristsnap (not a must to add the snap into it but a possibility for extra angles.) But this is a very small minority of players, I think less than 10% of pro players even, but it's usually the ones with the most mindblowing hard and steep highlight spikes haha. I'll make videos about this in the future I think I have just figured out myself how to make these types of swings happen... After 2.5 years of experimentation hahah. But back to your comment, yes I think it's very similar to the tennis forehand. I actually haven't quite experimented with tennis enough I think to maybe experience that fully myself, but when I watch tutorial videos about it I get a feeling they are talking about basically the same thing. If you take a beach ball (if it's a bit on the softer side even better) and try to make what the wood model does in this video, basically a very fast shot, you might be able to find the feeling that makes the types of "spikes" in this video happen. They are not the absolute hardest ones you will ever see, but they can still become fairly hard and really easy to manipulate the hitting angle last millisecond before contact with ball! :)
Bad technique I have snap wrist smash it gives more control but shoulder pain freeze the shoulder but spike force is coming from spine in this way techneak
@@muhammadusmanusman8276 That being said, in the probably unlikely case that you'd have video of the technique that causes you shoulder pain, I'd love to see it actually! That way I could better determine if it is what I teach or something else! :)
@@រៀនរស់ជាមួយបញ្ហា Hmm, I am not completely sure what you mean, but soft shots you can try hitting the ball "up" at an angle with "the heel of your hand" while twisting the wrist in different directions.. Might help!
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast It was kind of random, I got my friend to set and kind of just did it. I kind of compared it to different beats of music as I’ve been a pianist since 6.
@@Angiepangie101 Hahah that's amazing! Sounds like you have this "superlearner" skill in a way, you are good at imagining things and then making thrm happen, and probably good at noticing also when you do it or not. The first course I'm gonna do is about this topic (and other things that make your process of learning beach volleyball faster) but I think the piano playing in your childhood has made you a "natural" in this learning part, which is amazing! Would be super fun to see video of you using this technique if you have it? :) Also in the upcoming videos in this series I am going to talk about this hitting style definately not being the only one that works, so remember this is a tool you can use from time to time (and for intermediate players it's usually a tool that makes them hit wayyy better super fast) but it's not necessarily the end all be all. If you have other hitting techniques that also work well, use them also and start figuring out which technique works the best in which situation! :)
@@michaelandrew83 Good observation. Yes, this technique allows for not having to follow through (without hurting your shoulder), or one can also decide to follow through. I think the main benefit of not needing to follow through is that you can hit also balls that are set too tightly. There's examples of professionals doing this as well so it's not just me! 😄 I have a video planned on this topic for the future, the followthrough stuff is actually somewhat interesting because there's some differences also between followthroughs depending on swing type!
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast love to see that video. I often do not follow through near the net, however off the net I like to follow through to guarantee I am feeling the top of the ball to roll it. If I am 4-6 feet off the net and I do not follow through the ball goes flat and out
@@michaelandrew83 I see, interesting! I would have to see it to be sure, but for me it sounds then like you might not be using wristsnap, at least not the times you hit a bit off the net and do not follow through... Because the wristsnap really creates topspin in my experience, whether you wristsnap with or without a followthrough!
@@hbrbuyandsell9539 Yess, that is one of the planned videos! Unfortunately (😬) I think that video will be the last one in the video series, video number 7 (this video is number 3 and I have published 4 videos so far).. But in a sense the drills aren't too complicated, do some standing hits similar to what I did in this video until you find the feeling, then learn to do the same in the air. One "visualization" that can help people is to think of it as a shot, but super fast. It is not a full body movement the same way as many other spiking techniques are, this one comes mainly just through the shoulder and elbow and whips through the wrist so it's a fairly simple movement (compared to other spiking techniques where energy is generated by the core to a bigger extent and whips through shoulder elbow and wrist.) Another cue that works for some people is "throw your hand onto the top of the ball", or "imagine you are trying to reach for a cookie on top of a very high shelf, but really fast." Hope some of that helps! :)
Hahaha regarding pike vs peak, yes I know hahah I fuck my english up from time to time, especially in speech. Latest video I relaized I said are instead of is (or the other way around) etc.. :) I guess as long as people understand hahah.
@@vbsand5882 Regarding if you should snap or not: I think hitting a little out can depend on a lot of different things and it's difficult to say which one(s) without seeing how you hit.. So I guess my answer to your question is I don't know, maybe, but as a general rule I am usually for experimentation and having more tools in the toolbox. In case you are using a "core powered" hit today and that sometimes works but sometimes goes out, there could be an idea in learning this wristsnap technique also, and then learning to decide which technique to use in which situation over time. But in general the wristsnap technique will give you the easiest time to have a very high and early and quick contact on the ball and the angle is really easy to manipulate, so getting balls into the court is generally easier than with other techniques. You might or might not lose out on some hitting power though, depending on how much power you are putting into the balls today! :) Hopes that makes sense!
Great video I used it today and won 5 games in a row. I think also snapping wrist forces you to get to the ball quicker and naturally gets you on top of the ball
Dude... That wood-model is next level teaching
tvtotalforever Hahaha thanks! 😅
So many times I have coached this concept to people having this wood model in my mind and trying to explain it with words, but realized people aren't "seeing" it as clearly as I am so I decided I had to actually go out and create it and film it so that I could show people rather than explain hahah! Glad to hear people are appreciating it! :)
It really is!
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast I really like how you are invested in your teaching!
@@arvindkashyap8327 Thank you! I love doing it and I hope it helps people with a similar fascination as me to the sport! :)
Agree 100% the wood model goes on fire!! Wish you could come to.spain to teach my group
I have to say, this is a great video because it not only elaborates on how to wristsnap, but also analyzes the counterarguments. It's a great explanation overall. Great job!
Thanks a lot! I try to make properly elaborated videos that take into account how complex this sport really is! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast sure thing! One question: even though you focus on beach volleyball, would you say this applies to indoor/olympic volleyball as well?
@@wrlzz Honestly I haven't been hitting many indoor volleyballs in general, and barely any since I learned this technique, but yes I think so. Same thing in indoor volleyball, some people swear by the wristsnap while others (who don't know how to wristsnap) go and look at slowmo video and conclude that wristsnap doesn't exist, strengthening their beliefs since when they try to wristsnap (without knowing how), it doesn't work.. (Not saying this is the exact scenario for all "anti-wristsnappers", but for sure for some, including me in the past.)
I'll probably be experimenting a bit more with indoor volleyball in the coming year(s), might as well build that understanding also since its so closely related..!
The explanation of separating your finger relaxation and wrist relaxation completely makes sense! I’ve been wondering why no matter how much I relaxed my hand I still got such a poor contact on the ball (and didn’t produce topspin). Thank you so much for bringing this to light
Awesome! Yeah I'd recommend experimenting with it like try "all the possible settings" (100% relaxed hand and wrist, 100% tense hand and wrist, 100% tense hand 0% tense wrist, 30% tense hand and 70% tense wrist etcetc I think you get the point) until you jusy learn the best balance for you in a sense. I'd want to claim the best balance is at 80% tense hand and 5% tense wrist or something like that, but by experimenting with different tensions you will both learn to control these tensions and learn by experience what works best! :)
Great Video! I am 5'8'' guy, and one of my best coaches just started teaching me this technique. So far, this hitting technique has completely changed my game, and has open up angles I never knew were possible. Sadly, this coach lives in another state which has made learning this technique a little more difficult but watching this video and seeing you actually doing it is huge. Thank you for your effort it really does make learning this technique much easier.
Amazing to hear! :) Do you happen to have video of you using this technique?
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast I could get one.
@@brahmaheitz2906 Please do if you find value for yourself in doing it! Would be super fun and interesting to see! :)
The breakdown of the wrist-snap in this video is top tier. Of all the videos I have been watching, this is the only one that has given such scientific insights into the teaching. Well done sir.
@@jrgtheradical Thank you! :)
The whole idea for this channel, and my coaching, in one way stems from frustration haha.. About 11 years ago when I started playing and decided I'd try to become good at this sport, I became mightily frustrated by the lack of quality of instruction I could find. I hope this project will change that for future players! Thank you for being here and commenting, it helps!
Wow, finally someone that really knows how to explain volleyball technique. Great job, thanks!
Thanks for the compliment! 🙏😊 Hope it helps and that maybe you find other helpful videos too!
Thank you for an excellent video. The wrist snap has been a mystery to me since day one. Looking forward to more videos on this topic. 👍🏻
You're welcome! :) More will come, this is far from a one video topic hehe. Let me know if you are able to find any kind of success with the instruction in this video! What I talk through after 6:30 in the video is roughly what I usually tell players when I teach this in a coaching session, but I can of course also watch them and correct them then and there since it is live, and watching a TH-cam video is not the same as live teaching, so it would be really fun to hear if this works in terms of learning from a video! :)
i watched this full video a few hours before going to play some pickup beach volleyball, and it made an immediate difference!! even the people i normally play with noticed!! they all asked what changed and i told them i watched this video, they all asked for the link and i sent them your way. thanks for all the amazing tips!!
Wow! Amazing!! This makes me so happy to read..! And thanks for sending people my way! :)
Actually it's funny, I just today recorded some video for a case study of another player that changed her game quite significantly from seeing this video.. It should be out in a few days! :) But as I say in the video, this package of information in this video is THE thing I have found as a coach that can make big changes in peoples hitting quality in a very short time! :)
Thanks for tackling a topic no one ever talks about! Love the wood model too!
You're welcome! :) Yeah, that's the idea with this channel to talk about those very important things that nobody else seems to be doing..! :)
It's good that the visuals (wood model in this case) seem to be helpful for people, they take quite a bit of time to make but it seems to be worth it! :)
I have been struggling with this concept for the longest time. This video really helped me better understand what I was feeling. Going to play tonight and I can't wait to make some adjustments!
@@bri325ci Nice! Just as a heads up, in my experience, people who do not know how to do this movement, usually needs to learn it in a bit of a more isolated environment first, before they can do it in games! But who knows, it might work straight in games for you, especially if you have been visualizing/conceptualizing it at home beforehand! Let me know how it goes! :)
Best explanation from you than what everyone’s been trying to tell me all these years. Thank u.
Awesome to hear, happy to help!!
And more videos in this video series are upcoming! :)
Very nice simple explanation. The additional science behind it is like a catapult. All the sections contribute to the build up of power from the thick base and that cumulates at the small tip. Same as the spike. The power generation starts from the big torso base, builds up with multiple body parts, and leaving the body through the hand to the ball. Leaving out the torso, and just talking about the power generation after the shoulder, it's a combination of momentum power (= mass x velocity). So the first momentum power starts from your torso, which then transfer through your shoulder. Meaning the torso generates the circular speed (velocity) to swing the entire arm/hand (mass) through a circular distance. The power builds up with the additional momentum generated from your upper arm (Triceps) to create swinging velocity to carry the lower arm/hand mass through. Then more power is added with the forearm generating the velocity to swing the hand mass through. (This is the snapping portion.) Then it's the smaller hand muscles helping out the forearm to generate a little more power to bend the finger mass around the ball. Finally, the hand and forearm muscles will stiffen the fingers to efficiently transfer that power to the ball. Flimsy hand will generate energy much less efficient. Flexibility will give you additional rotational angle, which in turn will give more rotational distance to build up your speed (basically more time to accelerate the arm). Arm length will also contribute to more rotational distance. (Think of a short arm catapult versus a longer arm catapult.) Fast twitch muscles will give you quick acceleration, which contributes to speed (velocity = acceleration x time).
@@Midnighter1886 Hahah I have never seen such an elaborate explanation, but I like it, it's pretty damn spot on.
A couple of comments:
Yes I agree the catapult starts from the core (or even all the way from the hips) in a core powered hit, and then in a shoulder powered hit the catapult starts from a "later stage" in a sense. A "shoulder powered" hit probably still requires at least stability from the core so it's not like the core isn't a part of the whole thing, but the player's experience is more like it's coming from the shoulder.
Then regarding the triceps, I have never had an EMG machine or whatever it is that they measure muscle contraction with on my triceps when hitting, but I am fairly sure that in a well timed, relaxed and smooth hit, the triceps is actually relaxed throughout, and the elbow joint "just lets the force from further down pass through" without trying to "add more" with the help of a triceps extension. Then again, there are hits where the timing is a bit off and the body cannot produce a fluid motion to make the hand hit the ball, where the "arm tenses up" to some degree (these hits will usually be less powerful), in these hits I wouldn't be surprised if the tricep is in there trying to add some power to make up for the "power loss" from the fact that the power from further down (core or shoulder depending on technique) got lost because the "natural flow" of it got disrupted. Does that make sense?
And the last comment is, you weite something like the hand tenses up like after the flow of the movement has gone through the wrist.. Again I have not measured this with a machine, but in my experience the way this works the best for me and what tends to lead to breakthroughs for players I coach is to already before the wrist snaps make the hand semi-tense, while keeping the wrist relaxed, and then just let the semi tensed up hand flick or snap onto the ball by letting the arm extend fully. But I am open to the possibility that in reality, what happens is actually something else if you'd measure it, but I always find that the actual descriptions that make the movement actually happen for the player, are more important than the descriptions of what actually happens. I'd rather have an athlete that knows how to do it than one who can in full detail describe the movement but not do it (although I think if you know both, it's the best, at least for a coach.. an athlete kind of really only needs to be able to make it happen.)
This just reminded me that I need to make a video about descriptions that make a player learn a movement vs descriptions of the actual movement.
@LearnBeachVolleyballFast I'm a beach volleyball and engineering nerd. Lol. Been playing for 35 years on 3 continents so I love talking about beach VB. Ha ha. Nice channel you have. Also, very good English for a non-native speakers!
@@Midnighter1886 Hahah nice, I can see that! Your description here could almost be made into a video itself!
For the English, I have to thank my ex girlfriend who is American, my English would never be at the level it is without the day to day communication with her for years, and her correcting me here and there. Apparently she left some corrections out because she thought "I sounded cute" with certain errors (😅) but it is what it is haha, still have to be forever grateful for a lot of things (including a higher proficiency of English) that I learned from her!
Dude, I dont believe I never figured this out. As soon, as I watched this, it all made sense. It was like watching the universe unravel itself in front of you.
Hahahahaha! 😅😎 That's amazing man, thanks for this kinda feedback hahah! Hope it helps! Soon I'll start getting more videos out again, there's still a few videos to be done before this spiking series is done! :)
I'm basically binging all of your videos, you're the only person that talk in-depth about these topics, which is kind of strange because these are the questions that I (and I think a lot of other beginners) have been asking myself without being able to find an interesting discussion like the one you put in this video.
Hey! Thanks!
Literally I was in your shoes (with the questions) almost 8 years ago when I started playing. Looked absolutely everywhere for answers, there were none to be found. So I started thinking/experimenting etc myself and the vision is to create the project I wish had existed when I started playing. Thank you so much for letting me know, and it gives me reassurance that I am on the right path! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Hey Alex, I was trying to practice this by myself and I was thinking: in the beginning, do you advise of practicing just moving the arm or even trying to generate power from the rotation of the body? I find that, when rotating the body, I get kinda stuck in that pattern of spiking with the arm that extends just as the hand touches the ball (which is not bad by any means, actually I think it's the best way to generate power, the problem is that I am not tall at all and I am still working on my vertical on the beach, so the wristnap would probably be wiser to practice for me). Also, do you think that the wristnap allows this maximum high contact of the ball because of the spin created that makes the ball go down faster? Because in my mind, I imagine that all the power generated (by the arm or the body, it's not important in this case) is channeled through the fingers, so the power that would normally be spread over a larger area is now accumulated in this little area of the hand , so when you hit the ball the "wrap-up" of the hand on the ball is a lot more aggressive than the one of a traditional spiking, resulting in more topspin. Does this make sense? If you think the situation is different in your mind, please tell me, I find this mental-cue like things useful when trying to learn something new.
Alright just tried this on a wall, and I felt like the "standard" spike was like a wooden staff: you hit with the hand because it's the extremity of the staff, but the hand doesn't act in any particular way, even though you try to relax it it will come out pretty "flat" (just like a staff) , so the ball will follow the trajectory of the arm in a straight line. The wrist snap felt more like a whip, because at the times when (at least based on what I think) I timed it in a good way there was a huge slap sound, and the ball definitely had a lot of top spin which wasn't happening even If I spiked with a relatively relaxed wrist: I think that this is the case because keeping the wrist relaxed just allows the wrist to move, it doesn't actually move it, so If you tike a wristsnap you will have this particular effect, but If you don't the wrist won't have time to actually move and change the effect on the ball, which will travel straight down in the direction of the hitting arm; this makes the traditional spike more like a staff and the wristsnap more like a whip to me, don't know if it makes sense to you.
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Hey, today I was casually watching the Olympics beach match between Italy and Australia, and to me it seemed like they were using this technique a lot! I wonder If it's something that women do more naturally being shorter and jumping less than men, anyway it was really cool to see, there should be some highlight video where you could spot the technique.
I was so confused about the so called "wrist-snap". Great explanation and video
Hahah thanks! :) It is a bit of a confusing subject, and actually there might be even more ways to do it to be honest, I'm doing some exploration myself right now. But this is definately one way to do it that works quite well! :)
Is there anything else in beach volleyball that is confusing you? :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast not really I mainly play grass volleyball! But ig hitting techniques are still the same between indoor, grass, and beach. Was still a very useful guide !
@@henrypark7009 Nice! I need to try grass volleyball one day, seems fun! :)
This is Dilip,from india...Wonderful thanks for sharing,what I was looking for ...my friends where asking me to finish it in this way...but, i thought such a thing never exists...but ,you have made a eye opener... definitely take your tips...your presentation is very nice and good... scientific and coming from your heart 🙏🙏🙏👍
Thank you! "Scientific and from the heart" - I like that description hahah, it sure comes from the heart and I try to explain things with models that make sense! I hope you will find an easier/better way to spike! :)
Dude is a great teacher. Awesome video.
Thankss, appreciate it! :)
5:12, that is transfer of momentum we are seeing. Think about those exec toy swinging, clicking steel balls; at contact, the last ball rockets but the one that sent it stays motionless.
True! Good analogy! :)
Yes, agree with the 80/20 result. In the middle of play, we instinctively put all effort into the hardest swing, which increases the odd of making a mistake. (Low ball contact point = net ball, or high contact point but no snap = out of bound.) But if you just put a little more focus on the wrist snap (and less other parts) rather than focusing on the entire body motion (complete body torquing and complete arm swing), we'll have less power, but much less mistakes. I'll take the much less mistakes.
@@Midnighter1886 Yes I agree fully! And once core powered wristsnap hits are fully mastered, we can stay very relaxed and hammer away in a relaxed way even without sacrificing speed. But at the point where that is not yet an option, I'd much rather also sacrifice a bit of speed to make sure you don't hit out or into the net. And I think the same applies always on sets that are so bad that you cannot adapt your body position into one where you can full swing (core powered) in a fairly relaxed manner, then one ought to do something else, and a shoulder powered wristsnap spike is one of those options (among with pokies, various shots, etc.)
I learned how to spike with just a wrist snap when I started having shoulder issues. Spiking with a full swing ending in a follow-through causes some sharp pain in my shoulders that I cannot continue playing anymore. In order for me to attack without much pain, I did this wrist snap without a follow-through technique. I likewise changed position from wing spiker to middle blocker where wrist snap is utilized more to avoid touching the net.
Ohh, interesting! This makes total sense though, this smaller movement wristsnap without a big swing is quite forgiving for the shoulder so even people with shoulder injuries can often do it! :) Are you also doing something to make the shoulder better at the same time or just adapted the technique? :)
I feel like one reason why this is useful in beach is that it allows a higher contact point than the traditional spiking method. A traditional contact point has the arm more bent (elbow not yet fully extended) and angled forward to get the ball to go downward, but you lose inches (I'm American...) in reach. If people are 6'3" (190cm) and playing indoors with a spike reach over 11ft / 335cm, it's probably not as critical. If you're only 6' / ~182cm and on sand, that extra reach is likely to be much more useful, and the ball still is on a slightly more downward trajectory due to the angling of the wrist.
One big reason why the "wrist snap" got a bad reputation is because non-scientific/engineering types thought it's the primary way you get spin, and that you HAD TO wrist snap to get spin. Timing a conscious wrist snap when swinging full speed is hard, and I think that just led to issues. The place where spin would be most important for dropping the ball is the jump serve (due to the trajectory angle) and even then, the best servers have only 8 rotations on the ball before it hits ground. And I bet a good amount of that spin will come merely from contacting the ball slightly off center for torque and a limp wrist. Even if you could actively time a conscious wrist snap, it probably won't add much more than a few rotations. Then people started doing high-speed video to disprove it, some people in USA volleyball had a thread discussing it (www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2012/July/20/STOP-Teaching-Hitting.aspx), and there are volleyball trajectory studies showing that while spin does help, the magnitude of it isn't as big as what some think it might be.
I definitely like your limp wrist method, and in general, your videos are all very intelligent and analytical which is nice.
Yes absolutely. The high contact point is the main advantage, all of the sudden you "access" hitting angles that were unthinkable before if one used to hit with a slightly bent elbow etc!
I went ahead and read the article ( www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2012/July/20/STOP-Teaching-Hitting.aspx linked it again because your ending parenthesis happened to make the link broken) and in it, it seems to me like they argue that the wrist is just flat (like it is on my videos too), but according to me they miss the fact that if the wrist/hand would have moved forward/into an angle in case the ball hadn't stopped it, it still transfers "forward/topspin energy" into the ball during the contact. Not sure if this is clear enough, this is the part I said I might need to make a followup video on to properly show what I mean, didn't wanna make this video longer than it already is.
Thanks alot, and thanks for the engagement, I love getting these comments that force me to go read/think even more! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast I agree that the article is a little extreme on its view about wrist snap. Unfortunately, the topic of what creates spin hasn't been studied well in volleyball. I think the reality is that it's mixed, and the loose wrist is probably the best. It takes less practice on timing than if you use your forearm muscles to try to consciously time a wrist snap, and probably gets almost all the benefits. If you used a heavier "ball" in that hinged forearm-wrist demonstration, it will probably more clearly show the reason why the wrist doesn't move forward when it actually contacts the ball. I have heard the "loose wrist" comment from a few knowledgable sources before (likely less than 10% of experienced vballers though, and they were from very analytically minded coaches, including the ones at Gold Medal Squared www.goldmedalsquared.com/ ). Most people still think "snap wrist for spin" and that if the ball goes out, that it's the main reason.
The concept of the arm reaching full extension and transferring momentum to the hand is even more rare, and I think very useful because it captures the physics behind what you're trying to do in a simple way. I've seen that form before but without a clean description or visualization; I think your description and the hinged arm-wrist model shows the important concept much better.
A lot of the best videos I've seen on ball contact and spin are from tennis. It's good because the tennis racquet also gets moved by the ball, similar to how a volleyball prevents your wrist from moving much. You don't see this much in gold because the club is too stiff and heavy. th-cam.com/video/YooWW_CfYAM/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/Q6-9AJzIZwA/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/r2lW4HKMT2I/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/OitkVxMGKXU/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/Yl3-WHh4SEI/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/c0LiT3ZQFzY/w-d-xo.html all get into the subject with slightly different nuances.
There have been a few volleyball spin-trajectory studies, though they don't look at how the hand and wrist contribute except "KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF VOLLEYBALL JUMP TOPSPIN AND FLOAT SERVE" by Chenfu Huang and Lin-Huan Hu. This looks at some of the joint speed differences between topspin and float, though they don't do any correlation to say what's important for spin. I think what is interesting is that when teaching float, I tend to focus on stiff wrist, smaller hands, more linear arm motion, and center of ball, which are all the opposite of topspin jump serves and spiking, and some of that shows in their data.
Most volleyball and spin studies mainly look at the path of the ball with and without spin.
"A Mathematical Model for the Trajectory of a Spiked Volleyball and its Coaching Application" by Shawn S. Kao, Richard W. Sellens, Joan M. Stevenso is one of the oldest ones.
"Optimizing a Volleyball Serve" by Dan Lithio and Eric Webb
"FLUID MECHANICS ANALYSIS IN VOLLEYBALL SERVICES" by Pedro Deprá, René Brenzikofer, Marlos Goes, and Ricardo Barros
are some others.
Takeshi Asai and colleagues have a number of papers: "Aerodynamics of a New Volleyball", "AERODYNAMIC EFFECTS OF A PANEL ORIENTATION IN VOLLEYBALL FLOAT SERVE", "Surface Patterns for Drag Modification in Volleyballs", "On the Flight of the Volleyball", and "Fundamental Aerodynamics of a New Volleyball" though most deal with float serves, and has data that is too abstract to be useful in practice.
@@tomosato7788 Hahahaha I think you just won the award for the longest comment ever, I love it! Will reply better tomorrow, its almost 2 AM here. But yes I agree, John Kessel is very extreme with some of his views (this is not the only one), and the problem is that he is so well known that you then get a herd of coaches that can't even listen to anyone saying something aganst Kessel, simply because they think he cannot be wrong or something like that.. And then these coaches keep spreading this knowledge that apparently is backed up by both science and Kessel and on it goes, all of the sudden we have a whole generation of coaches teaching something that is not 100% true because one leader did a mistake. Haha, I'll make a podcast episode about this one day, it will be called the dark ages of volleyball coaching... :)
Great lesson. I've tried to teach people this concept and it is not easy to do. I use a whip illustration to explain where the power in the hit comes from.
Thanks! Yeah, depending a bit on how long the whip is (if it starts from the core or if the whip is only the arm I find it takes people different amounts of time to grasp the movement. This wristsnap without core power technique a lot of people end up grasping standing in a few minutes, one way to describe it that helps some people is that "it's like shooting the ball but faster."
If the whip comes all the way from the core and the player hasn't for example thrown balls like this earlier in his/her life, then it usually takes some more work to grasp the whole thing..!
Awesome video, clearly one of the best videos I have seen about wrist snap
Thanks! :) Upcoming videos in the video series will explain things even more! There's a quite distinct difference between wristsnap only powered hits, vs wristsnap+core powered hits. Then there are also the core powered hits without wristsnap of course! :)
Amazing video ! Thanks a lot, that explained lots of obscure stuff about the wrist snap, sounds a lot more logical now ! Can't yet to try it :)
Hahah amazing! :) Yeah, a lot of different information about it out there and honestly there are also different ways of doing it and different armswing types will naturally have different amounts of "wrist snap" feel natural so it's no wonder there is confusion about it. Also there is a part of me that thinks snapping your wrist like I do in the video but adding just a hint of forearm contraction in the very end of the ball touch (so forearm muscles definitely don't initiate the wrist movement but help it a bit after it has been initiated) might be a good idea to add a hint more power into the hit. And someone who might have been doing that since they were children might feel like "I snap the wrist with my forearm muscles" and then go and teach that..
So this video is definitely not the last say on everything about wristsnap, but it is information that alone has helped a lot of players start hitting way better in just one session! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast
Well if you locked your wrist using your forearm muscle just at the moment it hits the ball, it would give a better resistance to the shock, and all the power would transfer to the ball, with no energy lost in the counter reaction of the wrist, awesome !
But I guess it has to be timed very precisely if you don't want to waste the kinetics of your wristsnap by keeping it locked by your forearm muscles before you hit the ball.
You could modify the wood model so that the wrist only rotates one way but does not go back, and check the difference ;)
Anyway, very nice theory, now I guess I'm gonna have to put in the hours of practice in order to "feel" it haha
Muito interessante essa técnica, por isso já vi jogadores usar somente o encaixe de pulso ao bater na bola e ser muito eficaz.
Gostaria de aprender a técnica de como pisar na areia e não afundar na hora do ataque. Por favor existe algum vídeo explicando???. Agradeço.
Obrigada! :) Sobre não afundar na areia, você já jogou vôlei de salão antes? No vôlei de praia, você precisa "empurrar suavemente" a areia para baixo com os pés, em vez de "bater os pés nela", especialmente se você tiver muito impulso lateral. Saltar "para cima" em vez de "para a frente" pode ajudar, talvez (!) também ajude pensar em "alargar os pés" para que eles peguem mais areia..!
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Muito legal as suas orientações, só não entendi "alargar os pés" para que eles peguem mais areia. ??
Hi, I was wondering if you can make a video of stationary (meaning not jumping) placement of the balls from dinking and hitting the balls to back corners. I'm short and I can't jump very high and wanted to get better at placing the ball. Love your videos! Thank u!
Hey! How nice to hear! :)
Did you watch the video with my friend Eric that uses the tomahawk as an attacking tool without jumping? I have followup videos to that one coming up soon, that I think might be super helpful for you!
Then other than that, regardless of what technique you use, there's a bit of a simple formula you can do to "teach yourself" what you are trying to do. Step 1 is to film yourself doing a short and long ball, and notice if there is a significant technique difference, is it possible to see way before you hit if you are about to hit long or short? If yes, try to rebuild either the short ball or the long ball technique so that it is very similar to the other one, they should look the same until right before the contact. If you are doing pokeys for example that are easy to make go short, you might have to stiffen your whole core and sort of "punch" the ball last millisecond to make it go long without you showing to the opponent that you are about to go long way ahead in time.
Once you have this technique down, then it's all about calibrating. Repping it out until you find the "feeling" for the right distances. Notice that the distance to a long corner is different if going diagonally over the whole court vs going line, notice that the wind strength and direction, ball type, how pumped the ball is, how contracted your hand is when you hit the ball etcetc all influence how far the ball will go. Some of these variables will shift day to day like wind. If you see ypur body as a "machine" that learns from every rep no matter if you go too short, perfect or too long, then over time it will get better and better at using just the right amount of power. I have an old video somewhere where I try to explain this kind of "discovery" mindset, let me see if I can find it..!
Here it is! So this is kinda the mindset to have just to calibrate the shots after you have a technique where you can disguise to the opponents whether you are going short or deep! :)
th-cam.com/video/i4tTAQmtjl0/w-d-xo.html
The most detailed description of the wrist snap technique. Thank you 🙏🏼
Thanks! Hope it helps! :)
could you make a video on how to block with in the "step close" version? i tend to use my arms a lot to get upward momentum. some people say thats dumb because i would touch the net at the bottom (which i dont do. at least not at the bottom) i like the extra cm i get from that hand movement though.
I really like your videos especially that you explain the mechanics. i somehow learn much better if i know WHY something is done in a certain way and you seem to be the only one who really goes to the bottom of things.
Hey! Thanks for the kind words, and I completely agree with the why part, it does so many things, provides motivation, understanding and also allows the player to think for themselves the day some other coach comes and says something different. It literally drove me nuts when I started playing this sport that different coaches said different things that countered eachother, and damn noone had cared to say why they thought what they thought so me as a "student" had no tools except basically become a thinler and teacher myself to overcome that frustration and confusion. So yeah, I guess I ended up on a mission to change that bullshit in the beach volleyball space forever (😅), we will see if I succeed haha!
Regarding blocking my honest answer to that is that because of the in depth type of approach I have taken to figuring this game out, I actually haven't yet had enough time to dive deep into the skill of blocking. It has basically been the least "urgent" skill for my own playing career and I have been more than busy figuring serve receive, setting, attacking and defense out that I haven't gotten there yet. In blocking I am still at the stage where I have just heard other peoples theories etc but have neither had the time to learn them or the time to run a shitton of experiments (like I have with the other parts of the game), and I am actually a pretty bad blocker myself still (again I have in total maybe spent 3 hours of conscious blocking practice vs probably closer to 1000 hours on attacking for example), so I still feel like if I'd create videos on blocking the chances I'd spread misinformation is too big. And sort of the whole point with this project is to attempt to end the endless spreading of misinformation within this beach volleyball world..! Hopefully quite soon I'll be able to "turn my brain and experimentation power" towards blocking though, it is actually starting to become one of the weakest links in my game now too for me to get to the next level, so there are several different motivators to make that happen.
But meanwhile.. If you actually do the step close blocking, I'd say go ahead and use the arms fpr jumping power, especially if you never actually hit the net with them. Amd if you did, you can always keep your elbows a bit more bent and pretty much get the same jumping power anyway. At least that's what I'd say today but I haven't thought too hard around this issue. One thing that I think is smart (again my opinion could change in the future) is to basically decide to do normal blocking or step close blocking depending on a combination of the quality of the serve receive in combination with the setters average ability to make a bad pass go to the net anyway. At least in the mens game with solid attackers it is probably a mistake to use the step close method if the pass is good, or the setter is good at setting bad passes. Or maybe the step close is stupid only if the pass is good, and you have enough time to block with the step close method if the setter makes magic happen because then it is usually quite clear where the set will go. But on a good pass I think you wanna stay close and parallel with the net, especially today when quicksets and jumpsets and wide and backsets etc are becoming more normal, it might be too difficult to adapt to those things from the step close position.. Hahah not sure if there is any value in these ramblings, as you can see I'm not really sure what I think myself yet, need those hours trying, thinking, discussing and experimenting in the sand! :)
Could you try and hit a balloon with wristsnap and film it in slo-mo? then the wristsnap hand movement should be visible, due to the lack of weight/mass of the ball.
Damn! Never thought about that but you are absolutely right, and it would work as a strengthening "proof" or a weakening "disproof" (not sure what the English actual word for that would be) of my theory...! I gotta do that, thanks for the idea!! 🤩
While watching this video it makes me motivated to learn this spiking technique 💗thank you coach Alex💗
Done subscribe from the Philippines
Nice! :) Yes, it is definitely not the only spiking technique that works, but it has some benefits, mostly that it works relatively well and is pretty easy to learn! :) There will be more videos discussing this later! :)
I'm hitting my best spikes with the wrist snap.5/'8" more reach and control for me. less stress on my shoulder.
You're not the only one, it's simply physics and mechanics doing it's work! 🤩🤠
I love any volleyball player. I love you. And your games. Great great
Hahah thanks! :)
Would this be the same motion for jump serving?
Hmm, good question. A jump serve with a lot of spin but not so much power, yes. A more powerful jump spin serve you need to also find power from your core into the hit, and that can be done with or without wristsnap I'd say. So this thing I talk about in the video can kinda be added "as extra spice" on top of a jumpserve, but don't rely on only the wristsnap for generating power if you want to have hard powerful jumpserves. That said, for some people taking power from the core comes naturally so for those people if you showed them this video and asked them to do it on a jumpserve, they just might end up doing the power from your core+wristsnap combo.
Hope this makes sense! :)
Your lessons are so good!
Thank you!! 🙏The point with the channel is to walk that extra mile that others don't do, but that makes a significant difference in the end! 😊😇
As someone who has had exposure to high levels in both sports, you find the same arguments/counterarguments in tennis also. When slow motion video showed the ball is already off the strings before any follow-through has occurred, some tennis teaching pros took this to mean that the follow-through is unnecessary. Maybe you've already covered this in another video but, if not, could you do something about where the hand makes contact on the ball? I've worked with and talked to some young players who have ONLY been told to "snap over top of the ball". Therefore they constantly "cover" the top of the ball and struggle by playing with small margins over the net. Their hitting is only "steep angle". Btw, I'm an indoor coach but I look for anything that might help my teaching of the game.
I can imagine the same discussion exists in tennis.. I think what people miss, is that the trajectory/momentum/shape of the hitting object at contact matters in terms of what kind of forces will be sent to the ball, and those forces will be different depending on what kind of movement one is doing. So even if the "snap" doesn't put power into the ball from the actual snap itself (because ball has already left the hand at that point), whatever forces are in the hand at the point of contact will be different if one is intending to "snap" vs "club" the ball, and it's that difference that will make the difference.
Hmm, regarding to your second question, no I haven't made a video like that but it could be an interesting video idea actually. In my mind, this changes if one uses the "snap" technique or more of a "hit through" technique. As to what the kids are doing I can't say without seeing it, but it almost sounds like they are "snapping" their wrist with muscle power instead of letting the snap happen effortlessly with the help of biomechanics. In my opinion, with the effortless biomechanical snap it's very easy to vary the contact point between hitting deep into the court vs steep down close to the net.
Hope that makes sense!
Thanks a lot for a great videos man!
i realy like the way you explain things using your creative imagination world. thanks for your insights and the detailed explanations.
keep doing what you do best.
and now its time to make theorey to reality!! reps, and more reps ✌️
Gidon Goldman Thanks man, really appreciate it! :) Absolutely, coming up with these theories, running experiments to see what works and what doesn't and mixing it all together into these hopefully highly helpful videos and coaching is definately one of my favorite activities, and the more this channel grows the more seriously I can take all of this and make it all happen, part or the goal is to in the long run sort of radically transform how this sport is taught and learned because I believe it's currently very far from it's full potential! :) Hope you have a good dat and as you say, time to make theory into reality! :)
This is finally starting to click for me after coming back to it multiple times. There are some people I play with that do this which helps.
Awesome! It's a very counterintuitive technique at first, because you in some senses do the complete opposite of what you have earlier done to create power, and then all of the sudden there is like this new form of power applied to the ball that "suddenly appears"..!
It's not so weird people aren't teaching this technique very much, because I think that people who generate speed in the "non wristsnap way" simply don't understand and can't imagine this technique exists, while people who happened to naturally learn the wristsnap by luck or chance maybe can't articulate quite what they are doing.. They often say they use the wrist but almost assume they usethe forehand muscles to make the wrist "snap"!
Hope this helps somehow. Going to a wall and really just exploring the ball contact and armswing and experimenting with it can help tons, tweak it in various ways until you find something that feels good and produces a high contact that puts pace on the ball. I do have another video planned for more tips on how to find this contact, but I have some other videos I will create before that one unfortunately..!
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast It's definitely helping with my high line shot and getting the ball there faster. What it's helping most with is disguising a short shot. My friend always had a great disguised short doing this, but I couldn't replicate it until yesterday. I still need to practice it more ofc. Oh, and I hope the next video you're doing is the nygard one.
So how do I produce the wrist snap? I used to have an excellent one, and the ball would follow a parabola and go in from when I hit the ball deep, but now after hurting my shoulder, I have forgotten how exactly I did it. Trying to get it back, but unsuccessful~
The way I do it in this video it is all about extending that elbow fully before hitting the ball (at least that is what it feels like) and letting the hand land on the ball, rather than extending the elbow "into" the ball. Hand semi contracted while wrist is loose. Thinking about leaving the hand high can help. More videos to the series coming later! :)
I can't hit spike even my approach and everything is correct and can i send a video of mine doing spike so you can identify and please explain what's the problem is?
Always happy to take a quick look! Normally people who describe your problem, get it fixed by learning the wristsnap technique in this video, but of course there can also be other problems. For a longer in depth analysis and step by step instruction how to fix it I have to refer to my online coaching options (www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com/coaching), but happy to have a quick look and write a few sentences of what I see, might give a good clue on where I think you should start! :)
Upload the video somewhere and send it to alex@learnbeachvolleyballfast.com ! :)
We need to learn the wristsnap, Alex! ))
Haha! :) Do you mean you'd want another video with more thoughts on how to actually learn it?
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast in my opinion, the theory(!) of wristsnap is covered full enough, I think u could show some exercises, with rubber bands for example.
Maybe some solo drills with a net/wall.
Ps. I tried this technique after ur explanation and now I think that u are really very good in explaining techniques! Good for you!
@@konstantinb.1841 Yes I agree! I have been thinking of maybe putting together another video like that actually, but haven't decided yet if it's needed or not, I think some people learn the technique just from seeing this video also. But I could definitely put together one more video that goes even more specifically into some excercises and stuff that can be done to learn this technique, I think it would be helpful for some people for sure..! :)
I know that this video is old, but how do you mix this technique with the normal spiking mechanics?
Good question!
First I'd want to say that there are people who already mix this wrist mechanic into their normal spiking technique without knowing it, so to really answer this question for a specific individual, one would have to analyze their mechanics first to really see whats going on. Also if their normal swing is high or low elbow drawback could matter. So I can only answer this question right now with some generalizations, hope that makes sense!
But in general, I'd say it's about becoming familiar withthe feeling of the wrist-"action" of the wristsnap, and then mixing the old and the new technique together, which will often feel a bit more like hitting "up" at the ball, rather than hitting "through" the ball (which often emphasizes a big followthrough.) Ignoring the people who say you WILL (without a doubt) hurt your shoulder if you stop it at the top with no followthrough and explore doing that anyway could be a good idea (of course if every rep you do hurts, there's something wrong and you should stop and do some reassessing, but a fully functional injuryless shoulder with the "proper" mechnics can easily bang a ball hard with wristsnap without a big followthrough, without getting injured.
I do believe that some players who know how to generate power with their core, will to some degree tend to automatically mix their old power generation mechanics with the added wrist mechanics when they learn the wrist technique, which then basically becomes a mix between the techniques (which you asked for.) Others won't and they will have two very distinctly separate techniques until they learn to blend them together.
I hope this answered your question at least somewhat, let me know! I also think my future videos in this series might provide some more insight to the question.. And if one wants the full video analysis and specific answers for ones own situation (for example if nothing else works, there is pain, or one just wants the most efficient way forward), my online and offline coaching info (to be a bit updated soon) is on my website www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com! :)
Seems like this would be something very practice-able while peppering. Just crack it instead of taking your normal indoor swing hitting motion. I'm 5'10, 40 years old and average vertical. I often find that my power hits go out of bounds by 6 inches in the back of the court, frustrating me. I might shift into this swing more and see if it gives me better control of my hits. I need more consistency.
Absolutely. The first drill I take people through when teaching this technique is to find the "snap" feeling while standing first (one analogy that tends to help some people is "throw your hand with a relaxed wrist on top of the ball", and another that some people resonate with is "just do like you do when you shoot the ball but faster"), after that people usually have quite an easy time to be able to do it also in the air after jumping. Actually this swing technique uses so little body and pretty much only the arm to the point that the armswing in the air is not as "dependent" on for example how the arms swing upwards from the backswing and jump.. Which means I believe practicing this technique standing transfers easier to jump and swing than with other swinging technique that use more core and full body motion for power into the hit. Hope this makes some sense..! Try it out and see how it feels, and feel free to come back and report after! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Yes it does make sense. You're saying that this wrist snap technique doesnt require a normal arm swing loadup as compared to a traditional indoor power hit (the "Nike sign" posture). I often find myself close to the net on a broken play without a lot of room to approach. I think this may be a good alternative :)
@@markanthony2495 Yes exactly! :) The wristsnap is amazing in close to the net no blocker situations, and also a good one in situations with a block but close to the net! :) Sometimes you can do it so quickly into steep angles that the blocker in a sense doesn't have time to react, if that makes sense!
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Hey I played pickup last night for 3 or 4 hours and I was using this technique a lot. Just in general I was trying to "statue of liberty" wrist snap in various situations including:
-Pepper :)
-Broken play where the set is 5 or more feet off the net
-Serving!!
-Hitting situations with wonky or minimal approach
Like I said before my height and avg vertical have always been limiting factors for me in the sand but last night I felt like I had better ball control and more top spin. I'm definitely going to invest more energy into this technique :) I was surprised while peppering the velocity that I was able to achieve with such minimal muscle engagement.
@@markanthony2495 Hahaha sounds amazing! :) Yes the surprizing amounts of speed you can put into the ball with so little effort when you time it right is amazing! So happy to hear this!
Hi, I just recently discovered your channel and it has totally changed the way I was thinking of playing and practicing. Thank you for taking your time to prepare such indepth videos for us. Can you please accept my request to the facebook community, I just can't get enough of your videos :D
Hahaha that's amazing, thank you!! :) I accepted the Facebook group entrys now, hope you enjoy it in there! :) Wanna tell me about one good thing my content has changed your thinking around? :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Well, I used to be one of these people that though repetition is the best way of developing. I thought if I do something enough times, the solution or development will come. And your "frustration is the key to breakthrough" makes a lot of sense. That is the time to analyze and make the right conscious changes to the technique or mental approach in order to overcome the obstable which caused the frustration in the first place
Härra Erko Ahh, makes complete sense! :) Yeah, the tricky thing is that to some degree and for some problems, the "just practice more" type of approach works perfectly fine, and we have all probably experienced that more than once in life. The danger lies in that our minds tend to be lazy and automatically think that what has worked in the past in some sense will work for every future problem of every sort too.. Which becomes very bad when we one day end up trying to solve complex problems like becoming a significantly better beach voleyball player as adults with the "just practice more"-approach. I'm super glad to hear some of the "deeper" videos I have made are also starting to bring value to some people out there! :)
Great insight and explanation Alex. I have experimented with this theory myself and can confirm that when I implement it correctly I can hit much steeper and faster than before. Also the hand being a little more tense while the wrist remains floppy is a good point which I will try.
I tend to struggle with too much tension in the body and the arm as a whole in game situations so it takes a lot of practise at least for me. I often try to hit the ball hard with a tense arm and wrist rather than throwing my hand through the ball as quickly as possible with a relaxed arm and wrist. This can still be a problem for me at times. Do you have any other insights or tips on how to remain relaxed during the swing to enable the wrist to snap fully? As I said when I occasionally do it the results are awesome. 🙂
Thanks! :)
I see what you mean, in a way it seems like you have made it "halfway" into learning the technique, it's like your body can do two different techniques, the old stiffer one, and the new loose one, but you still need to consciously think about making the loose one happen.
This is when you basically need reps, in more and more challenging and stressful situations. Go out and make a few happen on a perfect set, then make a few happen on an unperfect set, then add some ballcontrol stuff before excecuting on a bad set etcetc until you can play full on games and no matter how chaotic the situation is, you can make this technique happen. After you get to that stage, you just keep doing that for a little bit more and soon it will be very automatic and second nature for you. But it's important that before you start all of this you have an internal awareness of when you do the old and new technique without a coach needing to tell you from the outside, but it sounds to me like you have that part handled! :)
Does this make sense?
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast thanks yeah it sure does. I find it easier when not jumping to execute the technique so maybe I do just need to drill it and focus on relaxing when I'm in the air. I can definitely tell the difference between the tense one and the relaxed one and sometimes it's even somewhere in between, but I'll certainly work on it. 🙂👍
I like your explanations. It works well with the way my mind works, probably the details you provide, like you mentioned. I prefer indoor, but I can definitely apply your videos...so thanks for your efforts! Oh, also..where is the backdrop for this video? It looks beautiful. Cheers!
apmech46166 Thanks! I almost feel like there are two categories of people out there, one that just wants quick pointers without a bunch of details, and one that wants all the extra details possible, who understands that videos might end up being 10 minutes rather than 3 minutes but instead the extra 7 minutes might end up saving you hours of practice time over the span of months to maybe one day figure those details out on your own! :) Not sure if this is what you meant but I felt like the beach volleyball world lacked this type of instruction so here I am haha.
Anyway, this particular video is shot in Oslo, Norway, or at least the part where I'm speaking! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Hi, yes, I agree with your evaluation, and that is what I meant. You might find this interesting. I received personality training at one of my jobs to help communicate better with other people. The program states there are 4 personality types, and one type for sure does not like details, and then there's my type which loves the details, lol. The program was called "DISC". Anyway, take care...I think you're doing a great job with your instructional videos. Keep them coming.
I noticed you asked one commenter for a video. I have one if you would like to view it. I didn't get the full approach in this one, but I'm curious if you can help me with opening up more with my shoulders and body as I rise in the air, how to relax my arm and hand, and how to torque my body through the ball. I am 5'6", lol, but love to hit. My touch height is only about 9'4" currently so I have to have great timing with my approach steps from the set, and i need to generate as much topspin as I can because I can't always hit down due to my touch height. I often play with different setters, and most are inconsistent in their placement and heights of sets, so any suggestions you see from the clip would be appreciated.
th-cam.com/video/ICP2mlzwaks/w-d-xo.html
@@apmech46166 Haha yeah that's interesting! I am definately also the details guy, except maybe in sports I don't really have too high goals in, if it's just something I'm trying once or whatever then I'd probably just take the quick pointers but as soon as I'm getting serious about something then I know the details will save me tons of time and frustration..
That video was interesting! Would of course be beneficial to see a real hit with a real set, but assuming you hit the same way in reality as on the spike trainer, there really are two ways to go:
It would be quite easy to get you to hit the "wristsnap" way, it works relatively well with a high contact point, topspin and angles, but lacks a bit of power in the hits. The other way to go is as you say to learn to open up your core and use those muscles for hitting. This is a bit more of a process but very possible to do. Unfortunately I haven't gotten around to creating my hitting course yet but I just recently changed my online coaching policy to the first session being free so you can always go ahead and claim one of those and we can see how far we can get in one session! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast thanks for your time and suggestions. I will check out your site, and give that some consideration!
Is this technique useful in indoor volleyball?
Really good question. Honestly I have personally played too little indoor volleyball to have a strong opinion on this. I guess just as in beach, a high contact point, a lot of options for angles and being able to decide which angle you hit very late, amd hitting power are all beneficial. I'd say the way I did hit in this video makes it easy to have a high contact point and a lot of angle options, but is a bit limited on how hard you can hit. So as a general rule with this technique you have to hit somewhere where no player is, whereas with techniques that produce even more speed in the ball you can sometimes even hit straight at a defender and simply overpower them.. I think this might be an easier feat (to hit where no defender is) in beach compared to indoor. This technique might also work slightly worse in indoor because the ball is pumped harder, but I'd need to experiment a bit with that to be sure.
All of that being said, last time I played indoor I did score with this technique (was able to go over blocks/at fingertips of blocks) and it ended up working somewhat well. I also believe more tools in the toolbox is seldom a bad idea.
If you end up experimenting, please let me know how it goes! :)
for sure. Like he says, strong hitters use snap and body to get power. I don't know if people do it at a super high level, but more snappy shots are good for getting past blockers high, ad getting really short angles.
How do I get my ellbow high earlier? (minute 7:30)
Soo again (like in the reply to your comment in the other video), there are different techniques to get the elbow high earlier. But in this particular technique I am teaching in this video which is a wristsnap without swing power from the core (I will later make a video with several different spiking techniques I can do and teach a bit like a "menu" for different spike forms with pros and cons for each of them), getting the elbow up is simpler than you think.. you just put it up there. Since there is very little power coming from the core compared to other spiking techniques and we are basically only relying on the elbow extension and wristsnap action to provide power into the hit, you can just find the quickest way for tour elbow to go up from however you are jumping. That is a bit of the magic with this technique, you can do pretty much whatever type of jump (whether "correct" or "incorrect" form) and still have a decent hit because the hitting power isn't so dependent on how you jump and use your core etc. That's why it is so effective in terms of getting a lot of people to hit "pretty good" with minimal effort. Other techniques you often first need to change how people jump and teach them to activate their core etc so teaching these techniques is often something that takes more than one lesson, several lessons that build on top of each other are needed.
Anyway, hope this gave some clarity. But for this particular technique, you get your elbow up im a simolar fashion as if you were to jump up and grab a cookie from a shelf that is too high for you to reach standing. You wouldn't overthink the elbow movement at all you would just get it up there, really simple.
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast I think I understand what you mean. For a high elbow plus wrist snap it is not necessary to have the perfect arm swing or perfect arm draw, nor the right torque motion.
I presume you know the Torqvb channel. What do you think of his arm swing videos?
@@SteveMcMief Yes exactly. Perfection not needed for e very functional wristsnap "swing".
Hahah been waiting for when I get that question. According to me, he is very focused on only the torque generation, to the point that he seems to ignore a lot of other very important aspects of the spike like for example hitting early in the jump etc. Building torque is a very important aspect of spiking but if you only rely on that and ignore 5 other important aspects, well, you will get suboptimal results. I'd like to see much more "complete" coaching in a sense, where pieces of the movement are fitted together with other pieces, the whole movement is more allowed to be seen as a whole if that makes sense. I do get a feeling that he knows the names of certain muscles etc so well that he might be fooling others and himself into thinking he must know everything about spiking because it sounds good, but that really is some of the most dangerous coaching and biggest chance for misleading when you stop seeing your own blindspots.. But that is just my picture/opinion I have built from watching his videos and listening to at least one podcast episode with him. I have never talked to him or met him and he could very well know more than he portrays in the videos for whatever reason so I could be wrong. But for example even in his own hitting, he is sort of hitting on the way down (yes many people do this), which I'd be vary before I'd start modelling it as "perfect hitting".
So yeah, I don't think he has all the answers unfortunately. Neither do I, I still have questions I haven't been able to find answers to unfortunately. Hopefully I'll find them soon but the whole beach volleyball spike has shown to be a wayy more complex thing to analyze than I'd have ever imagined hahah there's so many dimensions to it..
Awsome video!
Thankss!! :)
thing is, the snap saves energy... just a bit can make the difference in a longer game/ rally
Ah yes, true and good point! One could probably use this technique as a part of a energy saving strategy in a full day tournament for example as well. Using less energy in certain games to have energy later in the day, slightly risky business but might be rewarding if done right! :)
Very helpful, tomorrow ill try it oyt
Awesome, feel free to let me know how it went! :)
Loved it bro
Thanks, that's awesome! :) Hope it helps!
Great video, thanks
Thanks! :) Feel free to let me know if you actually end up being able to implement something tangible to your game from it or if it just ends up being "intellectual insights" that you are not able to implement in reality! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast When I'm warmed up, the wrist snap comes naturally to me but when I'm not I've noticed that my hand is stiffer. I think that after seeing the video I'm more aware of that and maybe it will help me to relax my hand from the beginning.
Obrigado
Obrigado! Espero que ajude! :)
Good stuff:)
@@olivergrah4629 Thanks! :)
More coming soon!
Look at 90's beach volleyball, Karch, Steffes, Stoklos, Sinjin, all their swings were focused on heavy snap, high high contact
Just saw this one of I believe Stoklos the other day, th-cam.com/video/ToAfdFPOCXYa/w-d-xo.htmlt 4 min 25 sec and then slowmo replay at 4 min 39 sec. They knew what they were doing back then, and then it's almost like the knowledge has been lost to a big extent. Working on bringing all that sh** back to the world! 💪😇😅
It looks not snapped because the force from thw ball stopped the wrist and the force has transferred to the ball to change its direction.
That's exactly what I believe. Some people still refuse to accept that the wristsnap would be a real phenomenon even after that explanation, I am not sure really what could be done to change that. Maybe if one built the wooden model I built but a bigger version of it where the "hand" actually has the same weight as a normal hand, and one made it hit a volleyball to see what would happen, if it also would "stop" or even "bounce back" from the impact with the ball.. So many interesting experiments could be made with unlimited time and resources! 😅
The crack of the whip
Yup, that's exactly what it is! Although with the "wristsnap only" technique (basically powered by your arm) it's like the whip is shorter (and therefore a bit less powerful) compared to a full body swing from your core that ends up in a wristsnap. Same concept in both just that length of whip is different! :)
the wood model is a wrong anolgy, the is only snapping because your are stopping it and momentum driving the top forword. But i guess no one is stoping its swing in the middle of the spike, its actually the oppsite force wich u have to counter by the accerleration of your arm
Hmm I am not completely sure I understand what you mean in the end with the opposite force that you have to counter?
People do stop their swing in the middle of the spike. Surely you will probably never find a pro player that does it all of the time but it does happen. It is supposed to be like an additional tool used side by side with other attacking techniques. :) Actually I al planning to make a video where I actually explain more why I am teaching this method and in what ways and for what players it gan be a better solution than other ways to spike/attack, but I haven't made that video yet unfortunately..
But if its possible in words please explain a bit more what you mean! I always want to listen to the counter-arguments for whatever I am teaching! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Well i think stopping only happens if you make a shot or a cut.
I am a pretty avid defender of the wrist snap beeing a myth. i will try out some of what you said maybe it will change my mind. However for indoors at least you hit with such power the wrist does not make much difference imo.
Maybe its similar to the tennis forehand where you try to have your racket very loose before you hit so kind of a snap? What would you say about that theory?
@@1nf3ct3dTT Ahh yes this makes a lot of sense. So I agree the way most people attack in indoor volleyball, the wrist doesn't do much of a difference.
This specific technique I teach in this video is kindof a weird almost cheating technique that is pretty effective still, but I actually believe it will not be even close to as effective in indoor volleyball, and actually the harder indoor ball might also make the technique itself work way worse. So it's kinda like a possible side technique that many people don't know exists, and some players can build basically their whole beach offense around this technique if they want. One way to describe it is almost like a "very fast shot", so it's not really one of those full body spikes.
Then if we go further I'd wanna go as far as saying that some players have a type of a full body spike that you can also combine with a wristsnap (not a must to add the snap into it but a possibility for extra angles.) But this is a very small minority of players, I think less than 10% of pro players even, but it's usually the ones with the most mindblowing hard and steep highlight spikes haha. I'll make videos about this in the future I think I have just figured out myself how to make these types of swings happen... After 2.5 years of experimentation hahah.
But back to your comment, yes I think it's very similar to the tennis forehand. I actually haven't quite experimented with tennis enough I think to maybe experience that fully myself, but when I watch tutorial videos about it I get a feeling they are talking about basically the same thing. If you take a beach ball (if it's a bit on the softer side even better) and try to make what the wood model does in this video, basically a very fast shot, you might be able to find the feeling that makes the types of "spikes" in this video happen. They are not the absolute hardest ones you will ever see, but they can still become fairly hard and really easy to manipulate the hitting angle last millisecond before contact with ball! :)
Bad technique I have snap wrist smash it gives more control but shoulder pain freeze the shoulder but spike force is coming from spine in this way techneak
@@muhammadusmanusman8276 Hmm, not sure if this is the same technique.. The technique I teach tends to be very gentle for the shoulder..!
@@muhammadusmanusman8276 That being said, in the probably unlikely case that you'd have video of the technique that causes you shoulder pain, I'd love to see it actually! That way I could better determine if it is what I teach or something else! :)
How curve to corner
Hmm, which corner? :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast left. Or right how use palm?
@@រៀនរស់ជាមួយបញ្ហា Hmm, I am not completely sure what you mean, but soft shots you can try hitting the ball "up" at an angle with "the heel of your hand" while twisting the wrist in different directions.. Might help!
Nice best
Thank you! :)
Huh, I somehow got it first try. It’s not tricky, you just need to have an opened mind.
Hahah wow, that's amazing! Never seen that happen. Did you visualize it beforehand?
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast It was kind of random, I got my friend to set and kind of just did it.
I kind of compared it to different beats of music as I’ve been a pianist since 6.
@@Angiepangie101 Hahah that's amazing! Sounds like you have this "superlearner" skill in a way, you are good at imagining things and then making thrm happen, and probably good at noticing also when you do it or not. The first course I'm gonna do is about this topic (and other things that make your process of learning beach volleyball faster) but I think the piano playing in your childhood has made you a "natural" in this learning part, which is amazing! Would be super fun to see video of you using this technique if you have it? :)
Also in the upcoming videos in this series I am going to talk about this hitting style definately not being the only one that works, so remember this is a tool you can use from time to time (and for intermediate players it's usually a tool that makes them hit wayyy better super fast) but it's not necessarily the end all be all. If you have other hitting techniques that also work well, use them also and start figuring out which technique works the best in which situation! :)
It appears like you have no follow through in your examples of your swing, most arm techniques have a follow through.
@@michaelandrew83 Good observation. Yes, this technique allows for not having to follow through (without hurting your shoulder), or one can also decide to follow through. I think the main benefit of not needing to follow through is that you can hit also balls that are set too tightly. There's examples of professionals doing this as well so it's not just me! 😄 I have a video planned on this topic for the future, the followthrough stuff is actually somewhat interesting because there's some differences also between followthroughs depending on swing type!
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast love to see that video. I often do not follow through near the net, however off the net I like to follow through to guarantee I am feeling the top of the ball to roll it. If I am 4-6 feet off the net and I do not follow through the ball goes flat and out
@@michaelandrew83 I see, interesting! I would have to see it to be sure, but for me it sounds then like you might not be using wristsnap, at least not the times you hit a bit off the net and do not follow through... Because the wristsnap really creates topspin in my experience, whether you wristsnap with or without a followthrough!
More wrist snap
Yess more videos coming soon! :)
@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast would love to see drills on Wristsnap!
@@hbrbuyandsell9539 Yess, that is one of the planned videos! Unfortunately (😬) I think that video will be the last one in the video series, video number 7 (this video is number 3 and I have published 4 videos so far).. But in a sense the drills aren't too complicated, do some standing hits similar to what I did in this video until you find the feeling, then learn to do the same in the air. One "visualization" that can help people is to think of it as a shot, but super fast. It is not a full body movement the same way as many other spiking techniques are, this one comes mainly just through the shoulder and elbow and whips through the wrist so it's a fairly simple movement (compared to other spiking techniques where energy is generated by the core to a bigger extent and whips through shoulder elbow and wrist.)
Another cue that works for some people is "throw your hand onto the top of the ball", or "imagine you are trying to reach for a cookie on top of a very high shelf, but really fast."
Hope some of that helps! :)
9 minutes in - think of core as the handle of the whip. Fingers the end of the whip
Yup, that's also an analogy that works for some people! :)
It’s Pike’ing not peak’ing 😂😂👍🏽🏐
But I have a very solid game but hit out and deep a little too much so I should snap more?
Hahaha regarding pike vs peak, yes I know hahah I fuck my english up from time to time, especially in speech. Latest video I relaized I said are instead of is (or the other way around) etc.. :) I guess as long as people understand hahah.
@@vbsand5882 Regarding if you should snap or not: I think hitting a little out can depend on a lot of different things and it's difficult to say which one(s) without seeing how you hit.. So I guess my answer to your question is I don't know, maybe, but as a general rule I am usually for experimentation and having more tools in the toolbox. In case you are using a "core powered" hit today and that sometimes works but sometimes goes out, there could be an idea in learning this wristsnap technique also, and then learning to decide which technique to use in which situation over time. But in general the wristsnap technique will give you the easiest time to have a very high and early and quick contact on the ball and the angle is really easy to manipulate, so getting balls into the court is generally easier than with other techniques. You might or might not lose out on some hitting power though, depending on how much power you are putting into the balls today! :)
Hopes that makes sense!
Great video I used it today and won 5 games in a row. I think also snapping wrist forces you to get to the ball quicker and naturally gets you on top of the ball
@@vbsand5882 Hahah wow that's amazing! It's a simple technique in a way but can be super effective hahah! Hope it keeps working! :)