Passing: Bend your knees, please!

"Keep your butt below the ball!" advised my good buddy Lenny a long time ago.

This is sooooooo fundamental -- and so absolutely practical -- that it might as well be the first tip I offer in this blog. (There are other such tips but this one simply came to mind first.)

If your hips aren’t lower than the ball when you contact it, you aren’t letting your toes, ankles, knees and hips fully help you. And that means you'll have to rely on your back, shoulders, and elbows (less than half of the available joints).

On the other hand, if you want to get just the right height, angle and power in your passing platform (extended arms) to make a good pass, please bend your knees! This will almost always bring all of your good-passing-form joints into play.

Note: What's that you say? Yeah, I know. You're not in your teens anymore and your knees hurt. So do mine. That's too bad but if you don't pass the ball well enough, you'll lose a point. And you'll lose a lot more points (which might really depress your teammates as well as you) when your opponents realize that you are going to attempt to make every pass without bending your knees. You will be their pigeon. That will not be fun for you. And, for that matter, it won't exactly earn you the admiration of your teammates.

Even if — especially if — you cannot get your body fully behind the ball, getting your hips (and, therefore, your butt) lower than the ball at the moment of contact will give you a whooooooooole lot more control.

Keeping your butt lower than the ball when you pass will make you a better passer. This often has the amazing effect of enabling your setter to make better sets. That, in turn, will help your hitters -- well, you get the idea.

So, go and strengthen those quads ("quadraceps", look it up). Take care of your knees and they'll be there to help take care of you and your teammates!