Learn the double block in volleyball: net distance, timing, closing the gap and landing safely. With milestones, common mistakes and safety notes for practice.
What is a double block? The honest answer: Two front-row players jump close together at the net and form a wall together. The rules call this a collective block: it is executed by two or three players close to each other and is completed as soon as one of them touches the ball [1]. A block touch does not count as a team contact, afterwards your team has three contacts again [1].
Technically the double block is a single block, just done by two. The teaching material of the West German Volleyball Association points out that the difficulty lies less in the movement than in timing and correct positioning, that is, in perception [2]. The association sees the two-player block as a topic for stronger groups; in school sport the single block comes first [2]. So you have time to consolidate the basics.
The starting position is close to the net, about half an arm length away. Further away brings timing problems and a considerable risk of overstepping on the block [2]. When reaching over you build tension in fingers, hands, arms and shoulder, as firm "as a board", so that the hands are not knocked away and the risk of finger injuries drops [2]. Milestone: 10 clean block jumps with tension and a soft landing.
The association material gives you a perception strategy in questions: How does the ball get to the setter? How does the setter stand to the net and the ball? How have the hitters positioned themselves? Where is the setter playing? Then: first part of the trajectory, the hitter's run, shoulder axis, ball and arm pull [2]. Milestone: for 10 attacks you say before take-off where the ball is going and you are right 6 times.
You often have to move sideways quickly before you jump. The association material reduces lateral movement in the beginner range to side steps and practises blocking after a side step with a change of position [2]. Milestone: 8 of 10 times you stand level with the hitter's hitting shoulder after the side step [2].
Now the partner joins. The player at the ball sets the position, her partner closes tightly next to her so that no ball fits between the hands. This is practical experience, not a study finding. Agree beforehand who closes which half of the court. Helpful: take off at the same time, hands turned slightly inward, thumb to thumb. Milestone: out of 10 throws no ball goes through between you.
Two take-off techniques are available. In nine collegiate women the swing block brought more jump height, more blocking area and more hand penetration than the traditional block. On the other hand the time in the air was longer, which made mistimed jumps and uncontrolled deflections more likely [6]. The authors advise looking at more than jump height [6]. On the starting position: in ten collegiate women, the players jumped higher from an upright position than from a squat, and there was no difference in the time to take-off [7]. Milestone: you try both and decide deliberately.
Many ankle injuries happen while blocking. In a video analysis of 24 ankle injuries in world-class volleyball, 15 happened while blocking, all through landing on an opponent (11) or teammate (4) [5]. Landing control helps: with a step back from the net, 14 elite players showed a higher peak ground reaction force and a larger valgus moment, that is the knee collapsing inward, which counts as a risk for cruciate ligament injury [3]. Single-leg landings with subsequent movement have a higher risk potential [4]. The association material recommends soft, yielding landings in foot, knee and hip joints and a break after 6 to 8 block jumps [2]. This guide explains and motivates, it does not replace supervised training.
The blocker sees more than he thinks. The association material mentions the block shadow: your block covers parts of the court and the back-row defence then defends the rest [2]. Agree with your defenders beforehand which line you close and set the block accordingly. Then everyone has a job.
No. A block touch does not count as a team contact; afterwards the team has three contacts again, and the first contact after the block may be made by the player who blocked [1].
Two or three front-row players together. Back-row players and the libero may not block [1].
Yes, if you do not interfere with the opponent. Touching the ball in the opponent's space before the opponent has attacked is not allowed [1].
With jumps at the net and throws from a partner. Block height and hand-to-net distance are best practised in pairs. Count clean block jumps in a row, not total jumps, and take a break after 6 to 8 jumps [2].
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