Hyperspecialization – Part 1
Introduction to Libero: Specialize More Than That! In 1998, the International Volleyball Federation introduced The role of the Liberian. A very familiar character now, but at the time, this athlete who wears a different jersey and performs exclusively second-line duties has caused some disappointments and doubts. In our story, Free is of crucial importance, because it is The first role of the fact specialist e set out in the regulation, with specific missions and limits, soccer goalkeeper style. After the first stage in which they were adapted to the new role of strikers with strong reception and defensive skills, over time, some Liberi proved their presence, who since youth only participated in second-line volleyball. More specialized than that.
As a corollary to the new volleyball, the role of Center, who at that time was completely devoted only to the basics of attacking and blocking, took more clear lines, given that in almost all cases the player is replaced by a Libero in the second line. Thus, the new generations of Centrali practically do not train anything that does not attack, does not block and does not serve.
The possibility of bringing a second Liberal to the bench in recent years has sharpened the specialization of the role. Some teams don’t mind hiring a Free on Sideout that it Free at it from Breakpoint. So now there is Liberi who specializes in reception and Liberi specializes in defence.
Be careful, however, that as a semi-hidden consequence of the introduction of the Libero there was a “bounce” in the reception basics of the spikes. Before the advent of Libero, operators took on almost all the work of reception, they had to complete both the first line and especially the second line. From the 2000s onwards, since there is a receiving specialist alongside, the hitter can also be more of an attacker than a receiver.
Contemporary Era and New Frontiers Not much has changed since the introduction of the libero at the end of the last century, so volleyball hasn’t changed much. Obviously, over time, those who grew up with one type of volleyball and adapted to another to make way for new generations who did from an early age, and only one (or little) thing disappeared from old causes. It is unthinkable now that Giani could be at the highest level in all roles, including the free ones. Over the past 20 years, there are still some lucrative changes in roles, as comes to mind Alessandro Faye Born centrally then for years one of the best opposites in the world. In volleyball, role specialization begins early, and receiver Baqir and upward dribbling become almost essential for those investing in roles that require those technical gestures mentioned above. The role of libero has been around for less than 14 yearsPerformance models are those in which the attackers specialize in one side of the playing field. It follows that athletes, from a very young age, will spend very little or no time in other areas of the field throughout their career path, losing technical, tactical and mental flexibility and specializing more and more in accuracy, determination and repetition. Tasks. Volleyball seems to be going in that direction, maybe one day there will be racket, bricks, premotembesta, etc. Then you look at the other side of the ocean and discover that this volleyball is indeed a reality…
In the United States, over-specialization is becoming a reality… As we know, the United States often likes to amaze and make its own rules. In basketball, the NBA regulations differ from those of the International Basketball Association. Even in NCCA volleyball, that of college, they wanted to stand out. Looking at the videos of the women’s tournament, apart from the palaces, folklore and entertainment that rival much of Serie A, there are very different regulations to the ones we are used to. The thing that immediately catches the eye is that Libero can beat (instead of just one player). So usually one of the central players, having finished the lap in front, goes straight to the bench, exempted from the serving rotation. In addition to unlimited changes, basketball style. This allows you to get in and out multiple times during the same combination (which the FIVB regulations don’t allow), and strategically allows technicians to be able to use double change multiple times, for example always having three forwards on the front line, or a player. He is always defensive in the second line always rather than attacking who only joins in the front line. Ironically, it’s even the central player who only executes the attack phase in the sidecar that changes with a better teammate on the block in the breakpoint phase. We are at the top of the specialty. Or maybe we could call it hyperspecialization.
A look at other sports: there is no same trend While volleyball has followed an organizational and technical path toward role specialization, there has been an almost reverse trend in other sports. Fast forward from public to private, in other parts instead, it’s an extension of each role’s missions aimed at doing more things than in the past. In basketball, for example, “tall players” who only hit the ball or rebound are obsolete, but now they are three-pointed shooting, passing and carrying the ball like goalkeepers, and making passes. In football now, the central striker is no longer the classic “man of the zone” but is a striker who takes part in the maneuver and the first attacker on the opponent’s ball carrier in the defensive phase. Meanwhile, defenders must know how to fine tune the action and not just discern opponents. Even in tennis, which is not a team sport, players with great technical characteristics have almost completely disappeared. There are no net-exclusive players or baseline ‘mills’, the modern game assumes knowing how to do (well) both offensive and defensive game. So the volleyball goes against this trend. Even without it exaggerating American rules, it’s clear that over the years, and especially some roles, they have undergone a specialized skew.
Lorenzetti’s ‘Three Heads’: The Final Cornerstone of Volleyball’s Flexibility… Or the First Outpost? – Having made the necessary promises, i.e.: a) we must accept that time is passing, that the world is developing, b) we cannot remain attached to old things and that c) it is difficult for people to accept, let us say “with more experience”, but If there’s a ‘against the new volleyball’ party I’ll take part. If the future is the future of America’s NCAA, it’s going to be motorized volleyball, more frequently than it is now. Even individual techniques with few variants. And from their first steps in volleyball, boys will only be directed to certain aspects of volleyball. It will allow to appear at high levels with knowing how to do a good (actually very well) essential, rather than favoring all volleyball skills. And we’ve seen that the path volleyball takes anyway is semi-extreme specialty, hopefully we won’t get to hyper-specialization. Which would remove what was left of the little hair, that epic flavor of some moments and some challenges, from the intuition of the genius technicians. Because what’s more beautiful, and more artistic and romantic, to see players who know how to do everything very well, and who can adapt to different situations or even emergencies? For example, we no longer see Goran Vujevich improvising as a determinant of an action. We are talking about more than ten years. Due to misunderstandings with the rulers, director Sintini was not allowed to return after the change, and Perugia was left without a lifter. Goran did not flinch, said “I’m a rip off”, the reception arrived and gave a (perfect) first half to Vigor Povolenta. We no longer even see winning an Olympics by recovering two sets of flaws by changing formations and roles, as when Russia won gold in London 2012 overturning Brazil, with Mosersky’s center movement unlike Mikhailov’s.
Then the current Trento Lorenzetti, with its simultaneous “three breaker” system on the field, appears to be the final cornerstone of the softness of volleyball, an enchanting world where the parties receive and attack freely everywhere, sometimes from Zone 4, once in the tube, And sometimes from Zone 1 and 2, and the wall is now to the left of the grid now. And since some characters redefine themselves again (for example, vice versa, it’s no longer just a heavy attacker but also more complete in the defense and reception phase at times), with the right interpreters you can also compete by exploiting flexibility. So, are we sure that volleyball of the future is an over-specialized game? Or is the Trento formula the first outpost of other volleyball?
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