Volleyball Tip

Volleyball Tips: How to Overhand Serve

Campers will learn to improve their serving skills and elevate their game for the volleyball season

Learning how to overhand serve is an important volleyball skill to master. Although learning to serve overhand can be a challenging skill to master, players can join us at our Nike Volleyball Camps this winter to get more practice ! Below are some helpful tips for those looking to learn or improve their overhand serve technique.

Bow & Arrow Technique to Learn the Overhand Serve:

Tip #1 Toss: The toss is important for ball positioning when you are trying to make contact with the ball. First, have the volleyball in your non-dominant hand, extended out in front of you, and keep your dominant hand tucked behind your back. Now practice tossing the ball up with your non-dominant hand until you get a feel for the perfect toss. A good toss will stay right above your hand.

Tip #2 Making Contact: It is crucial to have an open palm when serving the ball so you have 5 points of contact. Avoid serving with a closed fist to avoid injury. Meet the ball with your hand at the highest point of the toss or as high as your dominant arm can extend to meet it. Once you’ve made contact, follow all the way through. Stopping short and not following through will cause the ball to lose power.

Tip #3 Form: To avoid a penalty, start your serve a few steps behind the serve line. Take a step forward as you toss the ball, step into the serve and make contact with the volleyball

Bonus Tip: As you are learning, start at the 10-ft line and start practicing your serve. Every time you make a serve over, take a step back and repeat. If you don’t make it over, keep trying from that spot till you have consistent success. Repeat until you make it behind the serving line.

Check out more volleyball tips on our website to help you improve your game!