Volleyball is a modern team game, the popularity of which is increasing every year in all countries of the world. Interest in it is associated, first of all, with the presence of a large number of attacking and defensive tactics, which give it fascination and diversity. In this article, we will consider one of the most formidable attacking combinations. What is a pipe in volleyball?
A little bit about the game
Many experts call volleyball the most team sport. This is no coincidence, since it is characterized by the highest density of players on the site in comparison with other types, for example, football or handball. Therefore, it is not surprising that the variety of attacking combinations in it will impress any beginner.
Two teams play volleyball, each of which has 6 players. Three of them occupy the front line, they perform blocking and attacking functions, the other three are located on the back line, they usually perform protective functions. In addition to this strict distribution of roles, there are players such as libero and binder. The Libero enters the court when it is necessary to strengthen the reception of the team. The binder will be discussed below.
The goal of volleyball is to bring the ball to touch the opponent’s court by throwing it over the net. In this case, one point counts. With 25 points, the team wins the set. If she wins three out of five sets, she wins the match.
Team Actions
The essence of the game in question was described briefly above. Before talking about the “pipe” combination in volleyball, you should become more familiar with the actions of the rival teams.
So, the game begins with a pitch. The first touch of the ball that the players of the second team will make is called a trick. If it is performed well, then they talk about a high-quality refinement of the ball to the binder. The second touch performed by the next player is called a pass. In general, a pass can be given to absolutely any player of a given team, except for the libero. The third touch of the ball is the attack itself. Its goal is to lower the ball through the net by any means on the opponent's court.
While the first team carries out the actions described above, which end with a conceived and correctly executed attack, the opponent is also not inactive. Its main task is to prevent the completion of maneuvers. An effective way to obstruct is a technique such as a block. It is performed by one, two or three first-line players. In essence, a block is a wall from the opponent's hands raised up and thrown forward. A well-placed block ensures that the ball closes free space above the net, and if the ball hits an obstacle, it will rebound to the attacking team's area.
Thus, in order to conduct an effective attack, it is necessary to choose a tactic that will deprive the opponent of his main defensive weapon - the block.
The essence of attacking tactics
As already clear from the above information, a “pipe” in volleyball is a certain attacking scheme. In addition to it, there are other similar tricks, for example, “train” or “wave”. Their idea is to deceive the opponent and to create such conditions on the site in order to confuse the other team as much as possible.
After the group takes the ball and the binder gives a normal (relatively slow and high) pass to the attacking player, such actions are extremely transparent to the opponent. It is not difficult for him to put a double or even a triple block, and then the chances of a successful attack are practically reduced to zero. The attacking schemes mentioned above are executed quickly and with the connection of two players to the attack, one of which makes a false backswing. In addition, both of them show a willingness to complete the attack with some delay relative to each other (it is a split second).
What is a pipe in volleyball?
Now back to the topic of the article and give a brief definition of the combination, which in English is called pipe, that is, "pipe". By "pipe" we mean an attack from zone 6 (the center position of the back line), which is accompanied by a false jump of the attacker at the first pace of the player in zone 3 (center position of the first line). If the "pipe" is executed competently and harmoniously, then it is almost a 100% guarantee of success.
Execution technique
Now we will describe in detail the technique of “pipe” in volleyball. Let’s deal with the idea first. As soon as the ball has been qualitatively brought to the binder, he has two options for a pass in the considered combination:
- Give the ball to the player of the first pace in the 3rd zone. This pass is carried out very quickly, the length of its trajectory is about half a meter or less. In this case, the player of the first pace makes a jump for the attack, when the binder has not yet begun to give him a pitch. The opponent reacts to these actions by setting the block and closing the third zone.
- Give the ball to the back line in zone number 6. In this case, the ball trajectory is slightly longer than in the first case. However, from this part of the field the player strikes already on the falling block. That is, he faces a free field, and he independently chooses which part of the opponent’s court to direct the ball to.
Option number 2 is called "pipe" in volleyball. From the photo you can see how the combination is performed.
The technical effectiveness of the "pipe" is as follows: in order to reliably block the first pace in the 3rd zone, the block must begin to rise with it. The player of the 6th zone jumps out for a blow a little later, when the block is already lowered.
What is needed to complete a quality pipe?
Theoretically, the described attack tactics are relatively simple. In practice, for its successful implementation, the following conditions must be met:
- high-quality finishing to the binder;
- an experienced technical binder that can determine in a split second whether an opponent’s block has risen at the first pace or not;
- in the current arrangement, the presence of good players to perform the first pace and attack from the second line.
Errors while executing pipe
Errors are mainly related to failure to fulfill one of the conditions listed in the paragraph above. For example, with poor finishing, the binder does not have enough time to complete a good pass to the 6th zone. It also happens that when passing a pass to this area, the binder did not notice that the opponent’s block did not rise at the first pace.
Many amateurs call any attack from the 6th zone “pipe”, however this is incorrect, since the considered combination must necessarily be performed with the participation of the 3rd zone player.
It is also important to note that the "pipe" is sometimes played from the 5th zone. In this case, it is possible to attack not only on the lowering, but also on the stretched block. In any case, experts advise to practice this powerful attacking element only after numerous trainings of the team and in the presence of a high level of professionalism of its players.