Basic Volleyball Skills

Volleyball is built on six core skills: serving, passing, setting, attacking, blocking and digging. A rally chains them together, and beginners improve fastest by working on passing and serving first. Below is the one thing to get right in each skill, plus a full guide and a step-by-step how-to.

Serving

Starts the rally

Passing

Controls the serve

Setting

Feeds the attack

Attacking

Scores points

Blocking

Stops attacks

Digging

Saves attacks

Serving

The serve starts every rally and is the one skill fully under your control. Beginners start with the underhand serve, then move to overhand serves for more speed and movement. There are five common serve types. Key cue: the same toss every time, in front of your hitting shoulder.

Guide: Serving · Step by step: How to Serve Overhand

Passing (bumping)

Passing, or the forearm "bump", is how you control a serve or a hard-hit ball. Key cue: feet first, then platform. Get your body behind the ball, then join your arms into a flat platform and angle it toward your setter instead of swinging. It is the foundation of serve receive.

Guide: Passing · Step by step: How to Pass

Setting

Setting directs the ball to an attacker, usually on the second contact; an overhead hand set and a forearm bump set are both options. For a beginner standing overhead set, arrive balanced and raise the hands early above the forehead. This is a starting cue, not a requirement that every set uses the same body position.

Guide: Setting · Step by step: How to Set

Attacking (spiking)

Attacking, or spiking, is how most points are scored. Power comes from the approach: a timed run-up (commonly a three-step approach: left–right–left for right-handers, the reverse for left-handers) into a two-foot jump and an arm swing that contacts the ball at full reach. Key cue: speed up through the last two steps and contact the ball in front of your hitting shoulder.

Guide: Attacking · Step by step: How to Spike

Blocking

Blocking is the defense at the net: front-row players jump with their hands over the net to stop or slow an attack. Key cue: watch the setter, then the hitter, and press your hands over the net. Close the gap with the blocker next to you so the ball can't split the block.

Guide: Blocking

Digging

A dig is a defensive save of a hard-driven attack, usually with the forearms, keeping the ball off the floor so your team can counter-attack. Key cue: be stopped and low before the hitter swings, and dig the ball high to the middle of your court.

Guide: Digging · Floor moves: How to Dive and Sprawl

Which positions use which skills

Every player needs all six skills, but each position leans on some more than others. The setter takes most second contacts. The outside hitter both passes and attacks. The opposite and the middle blocker attack and block. The libero and defensive specialists focus on passing and digging. See Positions Explained for what each role does.

Where to start

Work on passing and serving first, because players use those skills on nearly every rally. From there, add setting and attacking, then blocking at the net and digging in defense. The next steps below start with beginner drills, then training to support the skills.

Deep dive: how the skills fit together in a rally

A rally chains the skills together: a serve is passed, the pass is set, the set is attacked, the attack is met by a block, and anything that gets through is dug to start the next attack. Improving any one skill improves the whole chain. To see where each skill happens on the court, start with the six court zones.

Frequently asked questions