This series of articles is intended to show some of the exercises we use in Super League 2 team training and some of the exercises we use in lower categories for training. We will try to include videos and other explanatory materials beyond the written explanation.

BLOCK

It is the most worked element in the elite in order to score points in K2, since the defense is very difficult at high level.

• It is the last one acquired by the player in formation.
• You have to work a lot of things in a team before blocking.
• Blocking technique:
  • influential factors:
    • speed of the pass.
    • Anthropometric characteristics of the player.
  • Critical aspects:
    • time.
    • Balance.
    • Contact.
• Objectives of the block:
  • to get the point (offensive element).
  • To cover a zone of the field (defensive element).

Phases of the block:

• Observation and analysis.
• Initial or waiting position.
• Displacements (very varied).
• Jump (when - where).
• Contact.
• Fall.

Initial or waiting position:

• Basic position:
  • weight of the body in front of the foot (all the plantar supported).
  • Hip and knees slightly bent.
  • Arms semi-flexed - elbows close - hands open slightly higher than head.
  • Distance from net (30-40 cm), Elbow to fingertips.
• Blocking 1st time:
  • feet closer together.
  • Arms more stretched (high players-reading block).
• There is no 1st time:
  • lower arms.
  • Feet further apart.

Displacements:

• Very varied.
• Key factor:
  • 1º- time.
  • 2º- distance.
• Types:
  • lateral.
  • Crossed.
  • Combinations of the previous ones.
  • Stroke with adjustment.

Jump:

• previous balance:
  • Jump from the front to the net.
  • Feet perpendicular to centerline.
• Leg flexion:
  • Low players + flexion.
  • High players - flexion (twin jump).
  • Arms in front (seal net).
  • Hip flexion (abdominal).
  • Head behind arms.
  • Look at the ball and arm of the attacker.

Contact:

• hands open, rigid and close.
• Oriented to the center of the opponent's field.
• Elbows blocked, shoulders tense.
• Do not move your arms.

Fall:

• Undo penetrating arms.
• With both feet, with slight flexion.
  Ankles and knees.
• The head rotates to follow the
  the ball's trajectory.
• Approximately in the same place
  than the jump.

Chronology observation in the blockade.

• Knowledge of the possibilities of the
  rival attack by rotation.

• Analysis of the quality of the reception
  in relation to the capabilities of the
  installer.

• Previous movements of the attacker.

• Positioner:

• preindexes.

• Pass direction.

• Attacker and communication (double blocks
  and triples).

• Attacks by the bands:

• lateral player fixes the position.

• Central player closes the block.

• Simultaneous and flightless jump (especially the blocker).
  lateral).

• Line block: internal hand of the side on the ball and hand
  external on the outside and oriented to rival zone 6.

• Diagonal block: external hand on the ball, possible.
  movement of arms from outside to inside coinciding with the contact of the
  finisher.

• Exception: very inner ball the central fixed and the
  side closes.

• Attacks through the center:

• central fixes the position.

• Lateral closes the lock.

Keys for training the block.

• Next phase: coupling of the block:
• Joint displacements.
• Simultaneous and vertical jump.
• Main difficulty: little feed-back: it is necessary to simplify the situations and the trainer's hit in the first stages.