N.S. Lesheva¹, senior lecturer
V.D. Get’man¹, professor, Ph.D.
N.V. Lutkova², associate professor, Ph.D.
M.B. Kolesnikov¹, senior lecturer
T.A. Grineva¹, senior lecturer
¹ Saint-Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, St. Petersburg
² National State University of Physical Culture, Sport and Health named after P.F. Lesgaft, St. Petersburg

Keywords: two-hand overhead pass, volleyball, psychomotor cycle, playing efficiency

Introduction

Success in modern volleyball game largely depends on how efficient the competing teams are in performing complicated combinations on the court. This is the reason why a top priority is being given in the training process to the attack-setting pass performance efficiency [5].

The purpose of the study was to develop practical psychomotor cycle structure to improve the accuracy of the two-hand overhead pass performed by the 17-18 years-old women players in volleyball.

Materials and methods

30 women’s volleyball players aged 17-18 from the Children’s and Youth Sport School of Olympic Reserve (CYSSOR) “Ekran” (St. Petersburg) and St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering were subject to the study. The study goals were addressed using the following methods: 1) Theoretical analysis and summaries of the literature on the subject; 2) Performance supervision by the trainers; 3) Knowledge and skill tests; 4) Educational experiment; 5) Mathematical processing of the findings.

Competitive performance of the 17-18 year-old players was supervised by the training team with the two-hand overhead pass technique of the Control Group A and Experimental Group B players being assessed by the researchers. Comparative analysis of the data obtained gives the grounds to conclude that the average performance efficiency criteria for the two-hand overhead pass of Control Group A were higher than that of Experimental Group B (34.1±5.5 versus 30.1±4.8, respectively), with the difference being statistically reliable (р≤0.05). In the course of the study, sport skills and knowledge levels were tested by control exercises with the physical, technical and tactical qualities, knowledge and skills of the players being assessed in compliance with the CYSSOR volleyball training program. Having analyzed the test results, we would conclude that the physical and technical skill criteria of both of the Groups showed no statistically significant differences (р>0.05); while the average tactical skill indicators were found reliably different (р≤0.05), with the Control Group A players valued at 3.0± 0.5 and the Experimental Group B players at 2.6± 0.7.

Study results and discussion

To attain the above study objective, we developed the psychomotor cycle structure geared to help the players master and step up the two-hand overhead pass technique. Psychomotor cycle means herein the set of mental and motor skills that provides a basis for every technical and tactical action in volleyball [4]. These actions will go in certain repeated sequence driven by the technical skills and may be broken up into the following four main phases:

– Readiness to act phase;

– Right timing and positioning phase;

– Ball control phase; and

– Actions joining and completion phase [4] (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Psychomotor cycle structure

Clockwise:

Readiness to act: starting stance; body stance; mental readiness; data gathering; decision making

Right timing and positioning: ball watching; move; ball contact

Ball control: contact point; focus on the contact; coordination of actions; body weight control

Actions joining and completion: body weight focusing; goal-and-action binding in mind; next action forecasting; going back to the starting point

We have developed the above structure of the psychomotor cycle for the two-hand overhead pass with breakdown by the following four action phases:

Phase one: readiness to act

Starting stance means that the player takes the best position on the playground to perform the pass and assist the partners.

Body stance determines that the player is physically ready to move fast in the ball passing sequence, with the feet being placed shoulders-wide in a free high stance, and the body being well balanced.

Mental readiness determines how well focused the player is on the upcoming actions.

Data gathering is designed to determine where and how high the ball will fly from the receiving partner.

Decision making to choose where to send the ball or what zone to serve it in.

Phase two: right timing and positioning

Ball watching: to accurately assess the ball flight and predict the right position needed to be taken to perform the two-hand overhead pass with due control of the ball;

Move to perform the two-hand overhead pass properly, with good coordination of the hand and leg movements, and with the eyes and hands being kept at the same level on the move.

Ball contact implies that the movement must be controlled and timed by the player so as to reach the ready-for-action position prior to the ball contact.

Phase three: ball control

Contact point implies that the player must be behind the ball to properly perform the two-hand overhead pass, with her hands being bent in elbows and raised at the moment of the contact, and wrists being over the forehead with the index finger and thumb forming a triangle.

Focus on the contact means that the player must keep her balance prior to the two-hand overhead pass and be mentally concentrated on the target, i.e. the place she is going to send the ball in;

Body weight control means that the ball speed and direction will be controlled by the body weight being pushed towards the target, with the arms and legs fully stretched out in the two-hand overhead pass sequence.

Phase four: actions joining and completion

Body weight focusing means that the player must push her body weight to the point where the ball is expected to contact the hands;

Goal-and-action binding in mind means that the player will direct her action sequence to the point where she sends the ball in, and in her mind she must see the ball flying right there;

Next action forecasting means that as soon as the player passes the ball with two hands overhead, she must move to assist the attacking partner;

Going back to the starting point means that the ball goes to the counter team’s court and it is time for the player to go back and get ready to the next two-hand overhead pass.

Knowledge of the psychomotor cycle structure was shaped up in the theoretical course of the training process prior to practical exercises designed to master and step up the two-hand overhead pass technique. These practices totalled 5-10 minutes in every training session, with the practice time being gradually cut down in the skill mastering process. We assumed the starting level of the psychomotor cycle knowledge in Experimental Group B being at zero level for the reason that the topic has never been studied by the group players. The average psychomotor cycle knowledge level after the course was estimated at 78% that may be indicative of the subject material being fairly well acquired, the training phase completed and the trainees ready for the next training process phase [3]. In order to successfully attain the fourth goal of the study, we developed practical modules to help the trainees apply the psychomotor cycle knowledge in the two-hand overhead pass practices. The practices were performed in the following three blocks [1, 2].

Block 1: individual actions in the two-hand overhead pass practice.

Block 2: team interactions in the two-hand overhead pass practice.

Block 3: team actions in the two-hand overhead pass practice.

Block 1 exercises were performed in every education and training session, with 10 minutes being scheduled for two Block 1 exercises in the preparatory part of the session. Block 2 and 3 exercises were performed in every education and training session, with 20 minutes being scheduled in the main part of the session for two exercises. The trainees were required to apply the technical and tactical knowledge they acquired in every training session and, in case of problems, analyze the actions by every element of the psychomotor cycle structure to detect and explain the errors.

To assess the effectiveness of the Block practices and the relevant knowledge base of the 17-18 years-old female players, they were subject to repeated knowledge-and-skill tests and supervision by trainers. The comparative analysis of the tactical skill performance indicators of both of the Groups gives the reasons to conclude that the average performance of the Control Group A players (3.4±1.2) is lower than that of  Experimental Group B (4.1 ± 0.65), the differences between the groups and inside the Experimental Group being statistically meaningful (р≤0.05). Analysis of the skill performance efficiency in practical competitions following the training experiment shows that the average pass performance indicators of Experimental Group (37.0±5.3) were higher than that of the Control Group (34.3± 5.5) with the difference being statistically significant (р≤0.05). This is the reason for us to believe that the study concept was proved and the study objective was attained.

Conclusion

We recommend that the psychomotor cycle structure and the relevant knowledge and skills in application to the two-hand overhead pass should be designed in the following four phases: readiness to act phase; right timing and positioning phase; ball control phase; and the actions joining and completion phase.

References

1. Belyaev, A.V. Voleybol: uchebnik dlya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedeniy fizicheskoy kul’tury (Volleyball: Textbook for higher education institutions of physical culture) / A.V. Belyaev, M.V. Savin. – Moscow: SportAkademPress, 2002. – 368 P.
2. Belyaev, A.V. Voleybol: uchebnik dlya vuzov (Volleyball: Textbook for universities) / A.V. Belyaev, M.V. Savin. – 3rd ed., rev. and sup. – Moscow: Fizkul’tura i sport, 2006. – 360 P.
3. Bespal'ko, V.P. Slagaemye pedagogicheskoy tekhnologii (Components of educational technology) / V.P. Bespal'ko. – Moscow: Pedagogika, 1989. – 192 P.
4. Voleybol (Volleyball) / translated from English by N.A. Chupeeva. – Moscow: Astrel’: AST: Poligrafizdat, 2012. – 32 P. (In Russian).
5. Kleshchev, Y.N. Voleybol (Seriya «Shkola trenera») (Volleyball: – (Series “Trainer’s School”) / Y.N. Kleshchev. – Moscow: Fizkul’tura i sport, 2005 – 400 P.

           Corresponding author: nataliya_lutkova@mail.ru