Learn the Spikeball set: bump set and hand set, the right height and spot for the hit, rules on catch and double contact, with drills and milestones.
How do you play a good set in Spikeball? The set is the second touch: you play the ball calmly and softly into a spot from which your partner can hit it from outside the 100 cm zone around the net, and you never catch it [1].
The honest answer: the set is the invisible touch. If it works, nobody notices and the point belongs to your partner. If it fails, it looks like the hitter's mistake. Many beginners underestimate it and hit the ball too high, too close to the net or catch it.
There is no study on set technique in roundnet. Rules come from the rulebook of the International Roundnet Federation [1], part of the learning advice from motor-learning research (TRANSFER), everything else is practical experience without a number. How long you need for a reliable set depends on how often you practise with a partner; I cannot give you a serious time frame.
The prerequisite is a secure dig: you must be able to bring the ball high and controlled to your partner (see our guide on the dig).
You will meet two variants later: the bump set (ball from below with forearm or flat surface) and the hand set (open hand, single contact). Both are allowed as long as the ball is not caught.
Stay in the athletic stance: knees bent, chest over the feet [1]. Hands or forearm in front of the body, eyes on the ball. The rules allow any body part for a hit, but no two-handed hit [1]. Play the set with one hand or the forearm, not with both hands as a grip.
Milestone: 10 balls that you play calmly upward from the stance.
Play the ball softly upward and do not catch it, not even “just briefly”: if the ball comes to rest on a body part, it is a catch [1]. A second touch by the same person right afterwards is only allowed if the ball has not started falling yet, and it counts as the second contact [1].
Milestone: 10 sets in a row that you reach again under control each time.
Choose a fixed target point in front of your partner and play the ball there. The ball should arrive softly and not carry too much speed from your touch (practice). While practising, focus on the target, not the hand: in meta-analyses people learn better when they concentrate on the effect of the movement than when they focus on individual body parts [2] (TRANSFER from other movement tasks).
Milestone: 8 of 10 sets land where your partner can hit them with one step.
The final hit of a possession has to start outside the 100 cm zone around the net, and swing and follow-through must not touch it either [1]. Your set should therefore lie so that your partner can hit without stepping into the zone (practice). Too close to the net means: he or she steps into the zone and loses the point [1].
Important: if you touch the ball again yourself after the dig, you must not hit it straight onto the net but must pass it to your partner [1].
Milestone: 8 of 10 sets can be hit by your partner without entering the zone.
Now comes the chain: dig, set, hit with alternating players, always all three touches [1]. Agree who takes the ball before it leaves the net (“mine!”). When receiving a serve you have to use all three touches [1].
Milestone: 5 rallies in a row with a clean three-touch chain and no catch.
You often stand close to the net when setting. If a player touches the set (rim, legs or net) during a rally, it is a set contact and the point is lost [1] — rim and legs are also real trip hazards. Keep a little distance from the rim.
Among professional roundnet players about half of the reported injuries (52%) affected the upper extremity (arm and shoulder), chronically mainly the shoulder and lower back [3]. So do not practise the same drill for hours but vary tasks and take breaks. This guide explains and motivates but does not replace supervised training.
Tell your partner briefly before the set where the ball is going: “Middle!” or “Line!”. It costs you no time, but your partner can already move into the right position before the touch. This is practical experience and not a study result, but it costs nothing and almost always helps.
The set is a team's second touch: a calm, controlled ball from the first to the second player so that the second player can hit the ball onto the net. A team may use at most three touches, which alternate between the partners [1].
A two-handed hit is not allowed [1]. Exception: on a team's first touch the ball may contact several body parts at once. That does not apply to the set, so you play it with one hand or the forearm.
Yes, once, but only if the ball has not started to fall. That second touch counts as the second contact and must go to the partner, not straight onto the net. It is not allowed when receiving a serve [1].
The final hit has to start outside the 100 cm zone around the net centre [1]. So your set should lie where your partner can hit from outside that circle without touching the zone.
Spikeball Hit and Spike: Attack the Net Cleanly