I wanted to show people how to spike a volleyball and explain it to them. Why? It can be one of the hardest skills to master because there are a lot of moving parts to doing it. There is the approach, the arm swing, and adjusting to the ball. Let’s review each of those three parts…
The Approach
The approach of spiking is one of the hardest aspects for people to master when it comes to spiking. It takes some practice, and timing with the setter.
If you are hitting on the outside and you are right-handed, you will begin your approach with the right foot. The approach will be four steps…right, left, right, left.
The first step (right foot) should step to the outside (away from the setter). The reason for this is to help you adjust to the ball once it is in the air. If the setter sets the ball short (not far enough outside) it is easier to jump forward than it is to jump backwards in the air. The whole point of stepping outward to begin with is to making adjusting much easier. There is more on this below.
As far as timing goes, you should be taking your first step as the setter receives the ball. That way, you will be taking your last steps and jumping as the ball arrives to you. It takes a little practice and timing to get this down, but this is the easiest way to explain it.
For the approach, this is how to spike a volleyball.
The Arm Swing
The arm swing is next part of how to hit a volleyball. The easiest way to explain it is to use the comparison of a bow and arrow. Think of pulling back a bow and arrow and that should be the position of your hands.
As you pull down with your non-hitting arm, it will cause the rest of your body to follow and this will increase the force with which you strike the ball.
At the point you make impact with the ball, you want to snap your 
wrist downwards. This creates top spin on the ball and causes it to dive. This motion will cause the ball to go down instead of being a line drive that goes out of bounds. If you want to hit sharp angles and have the ball go in, you need to know how to create top spin.
It is also important to reach high when making impact with the ball and keeping it in front of you. That way, you can see the blocker’s hands and the rest of the defense when hitting.
Adjusting to the Ball
Adjusting to the ball is what I briefly described above. It is so much easier to move in towards the setter while jumping than it is to jump backwards if the ball is set too far outside.
If the ball is set too tight on the net, then the blockers will have an easier time blocking the ball. This is where you might want to tip the ball over the block, hit hard angle to go around it, or hit a roll shot over the block deep to the corner. This decision making process may sound hard when it comes to how to spike a volleyball, but it is part of the learning process.
As you hit more and more frequently, you learn how to make the right decision. Your kill percentage will increase over time too. It is part of the process of being an intelligent hitter. The best hit isn’t always the most powerful one. I would rather play with a smart hitter any day of the week than a player that just likes to swing as hard as they can. That is the best way of how to spike a volleyball.
