5-1 vs 6-2, and the six rotations

A team's six players rotate one position clockwise every time they win the serve back, so everybody plays everywhere. How a team arranges its six — and how many setters it uses — decides how many attackers it has at the net in each rotation.

The positions

Court positions are numbered from the server: 1 is right back (the server), 2 right front, 3 middle front, 4 left front, 5 left back and 6 middle back. A standard six is a setter (S), an opposite (OPP), two outside hitters (OH1, OH2) and two middle blockers (MB1, MB2). Each pair stands three places apart, so there is always one of each in the front row and one in the back.

5-1: one setter

One setter sets in all six rotations. In the three where the setter is in the back row, there are three attackers at the net. In the three where the setter is front row, there are two — plus a setter who can tip the second ball over. Its strengths are one setter's rhythm with every hitter and no substitutions spent running it.

6-2: two setters

Two setters, each setting only from the back row. When one rotates into the front row they either hit or come off for an opposite, and the other setter — now in the back row — takes over. The result is three front-row attackers in every rotation. The cost is substitutions every time the setters change over, and needing two setters (or two opposites) good enough to play.

All six rotations of a 5-1

Rotations are named after where the setter stands: Rotation 1 has the setter serving from position 1, Rotation 6 has them in position 6, and so on. Moving one place clockwise each time, a team plays them in the order 1 → 6 → 5 → 4 → 3 → 2, which is the order below. The net is at the top, the front row is 4 – 3 – 2 left to right, the back row 5 – 6 – 1. S is the setter; L in marks the back-row middle the libero usually replaces.

These are where players stand for the serve. Once the ball is served, players switch to their playing positions — setter to the right, middles to the middle, outsides to the left — as long as they have not overlapped before the serve.

The libero

The libero comes on for whichever middle is in the back row, so the middles only play the front row. When a back-row middle is due to serve, many teams let them serve and bring the libero back on after; some competitions let the libero serve in one rotation. Check your league's rules.

What changes in a 6-2

In the layout above, the setter is front row in rotations 2, 3 and 4. In a 6-2 those are the rotations where the swap is on: the first setter's front-row spot is taken by a second opposite (OPP2), and the second setter (S2) sets from the opposite's back-row spot.

Which should you run?

• A 5-1 suits a team with one clearly best setter, or a competition with a tight substitution limit.
• A 6-2 suits a team with two setters of similar level, or hitters who need all the swings they can get — common in junior, school and club volleyball.
• Whichever you run, look at side-out rate by rotation: that is where the cost of two-hitter rotations, or of a changeover, shows up.