Libero Volleyball Tips

November 7, 2018

Pakmen volleyball libero huddling with volleyball team

Libero is a volleyball player who plays a very important role on the court. Libero occupies a back row position on the court and he/she is responsible for defence. It’s fair to say that the job of a libero is all about receiving serves, digging hits and making passes.

In fact, being a libero is not easy. A digger should aim to dig successfully as many balls during a game as possible. A libero should have his/her hands in a neutral position to be able to receive the ball and pass it to a teammate accurately. On the other hand, it’s very important for a libero to read the opponent’s hitter efficiently. Obviously, a libero needs special training.

Below, we’ll explain to you what it takes to be a good libero. Also, we’ll provide you with libero training tips to help you improve your volleyball defence skills. All of this will help you become a better libero and do a great job on the court.

– Learn how to dig hits in the best possible way. It’s clear that a libero should be able to master the art of digging. That’s why it’s so important for a libero to focus on volleyball digging drills. Among the best volleyball drills for a libero are: double decker, knockout digging drill, team-on-3-digging drill, wall digging drill and many others. There is no doubt that practicing each of these volleyball drills will contribute greatly to your volleyball digging skills.

– Learn how to land after digs correctly. Mastering the art of landing after digs also needs to be a part of libero’s training program. In other words, a volleyball player should always aim to land in the right way and do everything possible to reduce the risk of injuries dramatically. The task of a coach is to teach a libero how to land correctly on the court. When digging, a libero always has to stay low. By doing so, a libero will be able to dig the ball quickly and efficiently. However, the most important thing is that staying low helps a libero minimize the risk of volleyball injuries dramatically. It’s a great idea for a libero to do such volleyball exercises as shoulder roll and the pancake. It’s worth noting that doing this type of exercises helps a libero minimize the risk of volleyball injuries significantly. Plus, it’s incredibly important for a libero to wear reliable protective gear during volleyball games and practices. Protective gear helps a libero avoid different types of volleyball injuries. Even if bad things happen and a libero gets injured during the games or practices, he/she will be able to recover after injuries much faster.

– Warm up properly ahead of time. There has been a lot of talk about the importance of a proper warm up for volleyball players. And of course, a libero is no exception. It all begins with the proper warm-up. That means that a libero should always warm up properly before volleyball matches and volleyball practices.

– A libero should always watch the game carefully. As we have already mentioned, a libero must be able to read the game as well as opposing team’s volleyball players. When watching the game a libero has to pay a close attention to the opposing team’s servers and hitters. Obviously, an opposing team’s attackers will do everything possible to hit the ball as hard as possible. So, a libero must be very careful during the game. Actually, a libero has to try his/her best to predict where the ball is likely to land on the court after hit. This will help you dig the ball successfully and resist an opposing team’s attack.

– A libero also has to watch his/her teammates closely all the time. First and foremost, a libero has to resist an attack hit. Then, a libero has to make an accurate pass. That’s why it’s so important for a libero to know where his/her teammates are located on the volleyball court.

– A libero should do everything possible to improve his/her explosiveness as well as lateral speed. It’s clear that a libero must be able to move quickly in any direction on the court at anytime. That’s the reason why it’s very important for a libero to focus on improving his/her explosiveness. On the other hand, a libero needs to work hard on improving lateral movements and diagonal mobility. All of this means that a libero needs to concentrate on plyometric training. In fact, plyometric training has to be a key part of a regular libero’s volleyball training program. The big question is – what helps a libero improve explosiveness as well as lateral movements? It’s recommended for a libero to do exercises with a jumping rope and sprinting. Among the best plyometric exercises for volleyball are: different types of jumps (such as broad jumps, depth jumps, lateral barrier jumps, squat jumps and others) as well as over the back toss, single arm throws, squat throws from chest and wall throws. Above all, it makes a lot of sense to include volleyball exercises with a so called medical ball in the libero’s plyometric training program. Doing all of these exercises will have a huge positive impact on volleyball player’s ability to move laterally on the court quickly when such a need arises.

– A libero should learn how to communicate with his/her teammates in the right way. Another important thing that you need to be aware of is that the success of a libero largely depends on communication. It’s worth noting that a libero should develop good communication skills and should be able to coordinate the work of his/her teammates on the court. As a result, a libero will be able to demonstrate great serve receive game and make a good pass. The task of a head coach is to create a good environment in his/her team and teach volleyball players respect each other. The task of a libero is to explain to his/her teammates how he/she is going to pass a ball to them. So, it would be nice for a libero to discuss passing with his/her teammates in advance.

– A libero should pay a close attention to position of his/her hands. As we mentioned earlier, a libero has to position his/her hands correctly during the game. According to the opinion of an assistant volleyball coach at Tennessee Technological University, Cassandra Joyner, a libero should keep hands around his/her hands with fingers up. Later, a libero may need to change the position of his/her hands many times during the game. The task of a libero is to predict the game. If, for example, a libero feels that the ball is going to be low, then he has to keep his/her hands down. Is a ball going to go up? If so, a libero must have hands up. Does a libero feel that the ball is likely to go to the side of a volleyball court after a hit? If this is the case, a libero has to turn his/her shoulders as soon as possible. It’s important to point out that this position makes it easy for a libero to resist an attack hit successfully. Thus, a libero has to analyze the game carefully all the time and change the position of his/her hands accordingly.

That’s it. Thank you so much for reading this article. This article contains everything that you need to know to improve your defensive volleyball skills significantly. Follow our tips to train smart and become a good libero over time. And remember, the success of a libero is all about consistency. That means that you should always work hard and train on a regular basis. So, the success will not keep you waiting for a long time. Sooner or later, you’ll begin to demonstrate better performance on the court. Best of luck!