In volleyball, a tip (or dink) is frequently regarded as an effective approach to salvage a failed play. Strong volleyball teams, on the other hand, employ this technique to change things up and tactically gain the upper hand on the opposition.
What does a volleyball tip mean? A tip is when a player controls the direction of the ball while putting it over the net using one open hand or their knuckles rather than their palm. Tipping is a softer, slower attack that can surprise the offensive team by sending the ball short or deep on the court.
Attacking your opponents normally entails swinging your arm to smash or spike the ball over the net at a fast rate of speed. Tipping differs greatly from this and isn’t as prevalent at every rally.
The players (and almost definitely their coaches too) can see how tipping can be used strategically to gain the upper hand, even though it is frequently utilized to save the team from a poorly played ball. And for for that reason, they practice tipping and study when to apply it.
What Are The Methods Of Tipping In Volleyball?
Because the regulations for beach volleyball and indoor volleyball differ, it’s crucial to understand the various tipping techniques and when they can be employed. For instance, it is forbidden to utilize open hand tipping techniques when playing beach volleyball. You’ll be flouting the law.
There are two major approaches to tipping:
- How to tip with an open hand in volleyball:
Keep in mind not to give anything away to your opponent that would indicate your desire to tip! This necessitates some degree of dishonesty on the part of the court.
You can accomplish this by approaching the situation as though you were about to spike or hit someone. Next, strike the volleyball in the middle or underneath with your open hand’s finger pads.
Hit it hard enough for the ball to gain momentum just above the block or the net’s lip. You have total control over where the ball lands using this technique. Once you’ve honed this technique, you ought to be able to position it extremely close to the ground, in a wide area, or even very far into the court.
- How to tip a volleyball using your knuckles:
A dink occurs when you tip the ball with your knuckles. Since it is forbidden to tip the ball in beach volleyball matches with an open hand, most players use their knuckles instead.
To accomplish this, approach as though you were going in for a spike or hit. In order to avoid giving anything away to your opponents, you can swing your arm. Make a fist with your hand while swinging, then strike the ball with two or three knuckles.
Use flat knuckles to get this right because you will be able to control the ball’s direction with them. To provide the volleyball height over the block and to direct it to your selected target, hit it fairly hard in the middle and bottom of the volleyball.
What Are Some Strategies For Tipping In Volleyball?
- Mask your move. To hide your attempt to spike or tip from the opposing team, use your elbow. Stride forward with your elbow held high. At the last second, tip the ball.
- Tip on a good set. Tipping is successful when done on a good set, but it may also be employed as a bailout option. Tip the balls you would typically hit and strike the slightly off-balance ones. Naturally, exercise caution and avoid attempting to tip balls that are much too low.
- Target the other team’s blocker. Aim the ball at their upper forearms or wrists. The goal is to tip the ball gently such that it “dies” between the net and the hands of the blocker. It’s a brilliant play on your part, and they will have a tough time saving it.
- Place the ball correctly. This can be accomplished by swiftly scanning the defensive alignment of the other team. Look for the gaps that nobody is addressing. Tip the ball to land in the space between or behind the defenders.’
- Don’t go overboard. If you do it frequently, the element of surprise is lost, and the goal is defeated. It becomes predictable, and your adversary may take advantage of it. Tipping works best when it is mixed up with a hard topspin spike.
How Often Should You Tip?
Don’t tip too much—in fact, too much tipping can be detrimental!
It’s crucial to avoid tipping excessively. Tipping is only very effective when combined with powerful, topspin spikes of the ball.
If you keep tipping, it stops being surprising and starts to become predictable and less tactical. Sometimes it makes sense to tip when you’re supposed to hit and hit when you’re supposed to tip.
This complements the unexpected attack of employing a setter dump. That move will be advantageous once or twice per game. If you do it too frequently, you’re essentially handing up a free throw.
How To Improve Tipping Technique In Volleyball
You want to hone your tactics and strategy as a volleyball team. Some coaches would instruct players only on tip defense during practice rather than tipping as a whole.
During practices, tipping shouldn’t be disregarded; in fact, strive to give it more emphasis to make sure everyone on the team is aware of their responsibilities. Take into account the following advice to improve your tipping:
- Transform your hobby into a powerful weapon for rehabilitation.
A tip to just barely keep the ball out of the blocker’s grasp will give you another opportunity to attack the ball and avoid broken plays. Tipping is a fantastic method to bounce back after potentially challenging plays.
- When you tip, focus on the opponent’s blocker.
One tactic is to direct the ball toward the wrists or upper forearms of the block. If you execute this as a gentle tip, there’s a strong possibility you’ll be able to let the ball die between the blocker’s hands and the goal, making it very difficult for them to make a stop.
They will feel powerless if you give off the impression that you are going to swing extremely forcefully yet the ball only barely brushes their palms.
- Get comfortable tipping the block over and high to the deep court.
Play behind the block to access deep court open areas. As a result, the opposition team must choose a player to recover the ball, and that player will only have a little window of time to do so.
Use this when you’re up against a team that often leaves just its libero and perhaps one other player in the back row while packing the net. That is a huge area to defend.
- Pick your moments to tip, hit, and volley the ball carefully.
Don’t just tip bad sets, either. This kind of game is practically anticipated. The opposing team anticipates a tip if a ball is too low for you to effectively hit it or out of your normal range. In order to keep the opposition team guessing, vary your hits and tips.
- Down the middle, tip.
Pay attention to your adversaries. Does anyone have the court’s middle covered? If they frequently leave it open, vary where you place your tips. Tip to the block occasionally, tip down the middle other times.
Recap
Tipping in volleyball is frequently referred to as a way out of a bad situation. However, it can also be a part of a calculated play to defeat or surprise the opposition.
Tipping, often known as a dink, is the act of sending the ball over the net while controlling its direction with an open palm or knuckles. The ball can be sent short or deep in the court as part of this slower surprise attack.
