Step-by-step series: Volleyball serves with Andrea Simovski
Leading her team in aces, Andrea Simovski has continued to be an asset on the Utah State Volleyball team. The team has gone 18-0 in conference play and 20-0 including the Mountain West Tournament.
A serve in volleyball is one of the only aspects of the game the individual player controls on their own. Just like most players, Simovski has her own way of serving that produces results.
I had the opportunity to be given a quick lesson on serving by Simovski herself. While I certainly don’t have it down like her, after a couple practice serves, I wasn’t doing half-bad.
Simovski walked me through her personal serving routine, starting with her mental state.
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“You get focused as much as you can,” Simovski said.
While many athletes have certain rituals they perform before serving, Simovski’s routine doesn’t include any.
“I’m not superstitious, so I don’t do those things,” Simovski said.
Instead, she hits the ball on the court a couple times — not as a ritual but to ensure her hand is lined up correctly on the ball. According to Simovski, it’s very important to make full contact with your palm.
After watching Simovski, I figured I could give it a try. As I began her routine, Simovski noticed a couple more things that were important to the serve.
Because she is right-handed, Simovski plants her feet with her left foot forward and right foot backing it up. She also pointed out the toss is very important when it comes to serving. I needed to throw the ball directly in front of me so I could make contact in the most ideal spot.
After giving me these pointers, Simovski let me loose to try it myself. My first attempt went in the net, and Simovski pointed out I needed to make better contact with my hand. After fixing this, my next serve was, in my opinion, pretty good. It went over the net, at least.
Simovski’s serve doesn’t stop there, though. Next up was a jump serve. Simvoski explained most players in the United States use one hand for a jump serve to toss the ball.
“I usually do it with two though because I think it’s easier and it’s easier to manage where the ball goes,” Simovski said.
Instead of serving from a fixed position like the first serve, Simovski starts further back and approaches the line in four steps. Between her second and third steps, Simovski tosses the ball slightly in front of her.
As the ball is in the air, Simovski takes her final steps, and then meets the ball above the court, sending it flying across the net. No wonder she’s leading in aces. But then it was my turn.
If I was confident with the first serve, that was not the case with the second. Adding a jump turned out to be very difficult. Simovski helped me go through the motions of the serve before trying for real.
When I attempted the jump serve, the result wasn’t nearly as promising as the stationary serve. My ball fell to the court before ever reaching the net, and my second try wasn’t any better as my ball rolled over to the other courts, interrupting the rest of practice.
Nevertheless, Simovski continued to cheer me on and reassured me I could get it with a little more practice. And while I won’t be playing on any professional teams soon, I’ll hopefully be able to turn some heads when I’m playing for fun.
With Simovski as my coach, I understand the importance of cheering on your teammates and keeping their spirits high. That’s certainly what she did for me.