The effectiveness and types of serves used in elite women’s and men’s volleyball in the 2021/2022 season

Abstract

In elite volleyball, the serve takes an offensive form, aiming to directly score a point or significantly hinder the opponent from launching an attack. Which is why the research aimed to compare the type and effectiveness of the serve in the main round of Tauron and PlusLiga in the 2021/2022 season and update the current knowledge on the types of serves by function and gender. The study analysed observation consisted of 314 women’s and men’s matches. VolleyStation Pro v 1.29.5; Volleystation z o. o. Poland. Data from the main round matches that took place in the 2021/2022 season in the Polish elite league PlusLiga (182 men’s matches) and Tauron Liga (132 women’s matches) were used, and the regular season consisted of 2 rounds. The average percentage effectiveness of the serve in women was higher (E = 22%) than in men (E = 15%). In women, only 3 types were observed (JS, JF and W), as much as 86% of all the serves were JF serves. In men, as many as 5 types (JS, JF, FJS, FJF and W), of which over 67% were dynamic JS serves (jumping serve). The serve element has been modified over the years to obtain better effects conducive to winning. Ranging from increasing the speed of the serve, eliminating the serves from the spot in favor of the jump serves, to the use of serves to hide the correct hit of the ball (“Fake”—FFJ, FJS).