Spike It!!!

Another long weekend for me. Yey! I thought I'd start it with some Anime. And since my goal was to laze around I didn't even bother to power up ny laptop and just go with the shows offered by Netflix on my TV. I browsed through the catalogue, back and forth and could not decide what to watch.

Watched some previews and I came across wih something I have already watched. Haikyuu! Their movies in particular. Although they are tagged as movies they were just compilations of the series itself sort of a recap or something focusing on the main parts of the story. So if you want to get into the series without watching through the whole thing, watching the movies is a great start.

Haikyuu!

This anime is about the journey of 2 highschool students through volleyball competetions. They are part of a highschool volleyball team and through the game, they grow and develop together. It's a pretty normal sports anime and when I say normal it does not involve crazy super power or supernatural techniques. It's pretty much a slice of life kind of anime. Anyway, this article is not a review or a reaction article for Haikyuu, it's about my experience playing volleyball and the things I love about the game. :) If you're interested, kindly read on.

First Game

I got acquainted with the game back in grade school. I was an active body back then who would always run around, play games in the quadrangle and do stuff in school. One day the school conducted a call for application to those who would want to join the volleyball team that will compete with other schools. I thought that it will be a good exercise for me and will give me good merit in my extra curricular activities. You know, we get points to join those kind of things. And also, the school did not have a basketball club back then so I decided to apply to be in the team.

With absolutely no skills and sense of the game, I was fortunate to be included in the roster. It may be because of my height, I'm pretty healthy back then and was one of the guys who were considered tall or normal for our age. I know the rules and how to play the game from our PE lessons but I haven't really played a game. Also it might also be because there were just only a few people who applied for the team that I was lucky enough to be part or it. We were taught the basics and soon enough we all got the hang of it and we were practicing from time to time after school until the cluster meet arrived.

Setting

Since the team was just built for the purpose of competing we did not have proper positions back then. We were just a bunch of guys who play volleyball the way we know how to. We do not have designated or organized positions such as libero, setter, ace, middle blocker and etc. We just rotate as usual and do what we can all do at any specific time. But since I did not have a superb leaping ability and powerful spiking skill I loved playing the setter. I loved setting up and delivering tosses to my teammates because over head passing looked cool. I considerer myself to be a setter from that point on. Setters are like the point guard on the court if it's compared to basketball. Setters could call plays that will be executed in the court to try and score.

Service Ace

The goal of volleyball is to make the ball hit the floor on the opponents' side of the court. There are different ways to achieve this and score a point. There's the spike, which is hitting the ball while it is in mid-air with an incredible force against the palm of the hands and try to kill the ball. There's the feint, which is done by faking a spike and just lightly hitting the ball over to the other side of the net. For someone like me who plays setter, I tend to score using dumps instead of spikes. Dumps can be done by faking a set and tossing or tapping the ball over the net with the second touch. Another way to score is from the service line. A serve starts every play. The team who scored last has the responsibility to serve the ball up to the opponent's court and has the opportunity to try to score.

When you serve the ball and the opponents mess up the receive or miss the ball completely and the ball lands on their court, it's a score and it is a service ace. Just like a freethrow in basketball, service is an offense without any defence.

Since I lack in jumping ability and hitting power, I choose to serve underhandedly. Using my fore arm I put some spin to my serves and try to control where I aim to land the ball. A good serve is placed usually between two players so they may somehow get confused to who among them will pick up the receive. Another great place to aim a serve also is the line at the back of the players, long enough to pass by all the players but accurate enough to land inside the lines of the court.

I may be exaggerating, but I can remember when I finished a set with just serves alone, not sure about the actual scores but it felt like I scored 6-8 service aces consecutively. That's the first time I fell in love with serving.

There is no one to stop you, it's just you, the line and the net. You focus all your concentration and aim for a particular spot on your opponents' court. You wait for the whistle and hit it as hard and as controlled as you can. The time seems to move in slow motion when you watch the other players stuck in their feet especially when you hit the ball with the right spin and it turns into a floater. One moment it's moving straight across the air and it suddenly just falls down to the ground. The amazing feeling you'll feel is ecstatic. It may be just one point but in the right time and situation it may very well be worth 100.

Connections

And I am not only talking about the passing of the ball. When you successfully pass the ball it's practically called that the ball has connected. But back to connections, I'm talking about the people, the teammates, the people who are watching and all that. I cherish the connections we can build from working hard and trying together to accomplish something and to win. The cheers of the people watching that echoes all through out the place when the game is neck to neck and intense.

Speaking of connections, I remember the first time I connected with a girl thru sports. They were from another school and were part of their girls' volleyball team. We all talked, about volleyball and other stuffs as well and we all practiced together, passing balls and whatnot. Our friendships went passed beyond the court and we kept in touch through years. We frequently meet each other in other tournaments because we are all our respective schools representatives.

Also, fun fact, I met and found a girlfriend thru a volleyball competition. It was back in highschool and we went to a different school to compete in an inter school tourament. After one of the matches, I was approached with 3 girls. Apparently one of them wanted to have my mobile number, and I ended up asking hers instead. One thing led to another and we tried going out for a bit. She lives not far from where I do so it kinda works out, but since I was pretty young, naive and quite inexperienced, we broke up after a while. But still, the time we met was pretty unforgettable. I thought playing was cool, but I never expected it to be THAT cool!

Win Or Lose

In every game there will always be a winner and there will always be someone who loses. What I like about the game of volleyball is there will always be something to learn about. Every lost is a lesson and every win well, it's a win! Who does not like winning? I also like how players line up after every game and meet up on the net to shake each others hands. It is a great display of sportsmanship. After all, we shared the same court and passion so it will not hurt to have new friends after every game.

Thank you for reading! What about you? Have you played volleyball before? What are your thoughts about it? Let me know. :)

Lead image : Photo by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels