Hand Setting With Confidence

Having confidence in your hand setting is critical if you want to become a great setter. The more confidence you can develop in your hand setting, the more you will be able to fix bad passes and put your partner exactly where they want to be set.

So here are five ways that you can develop your hand setting and be more confident as a hand setter.

1: Form and Technique: It all starts with great technique and form when hand setting. You want to be able to absorb the contact of the ball while also not letting it sit in your hands for too long. You also want to focus on lifting the set with your legs, holding your follow-through, etc. (watch my instructional video on hand setting for more teaching points). After you have locked in on all of these areas, you will have the next important step.

2: Quality Repetitions: After you have learned the right way to hand set, it just takes hundreds and thousands of repetitions. The more you can train your muscle memory to set the right way, the more confidence you will have as a setter. Luckily, there are plenty of wall drills and solo drills that you can use to work on hand setting to get these repetitions.

3: Get Your Feet to the Ball: You can have great hands, but if you don't put yourself in the right spot with your feet to hand set the ball, you will really struggle to hand set. So, as that pass is in the air, do a great job getting your feet to the ball and staying light. As that ball is dropping, be light on your feet and make a last-second micro adjustment with your feet to get under the ball. You don't want to be reaching outside of your body when you go to hand set.

4: Understand the Elements: If you are an indoor setter, you can skip over this tip, but as a beach player, it is really important to understand what the elements are doing when you set, primarily the wind. As a beach setter, you must factor in the wind on every set. Depending on how the wind is blowing, you will have to set it differently. You may have to push into the wind on one set while setting straight up and down on another set. So, as you go to set, understand what the wind is doing.

5: Believe in Yourself: You can have all the skills, but if you doubt your hand setting, they will not matter. SO BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! Trust your hands and trust that you can execute a good set. Not only a legal set, but a set exactly where your partner wants the ball. And if you get called for a double of a lift, have a short memory and forget about it. Be ready to hand set the next ball with confidence.