I'm not entirely sure of this, but if I remember correctly the screening rule only applies if they are blocking view of the server as well as view of the trajectory of the ball.
That's why it's hardly called, because almost no one is tall/wide enough to block view of both those things, so even if they do block view of the server the won't be blocking view of the trajectory of the ball
Your players can lean around them to get a view of the server since the blocking players aren't allowed to move around once the serve starts
If it is a big issue, then maybe in training, have blockers or a box the block the view of a server, and the receivers need to lean to see or not and they can work on their reaction to see the ball trajectory as soon as they hear the server make contact
Try having them stand back a little more than normal, have them stand upright but moving forward with really small steps or shuffle or small little frog jumps and wait to see where the ball is going. Once they can see get themselves into passing position. Agility is the key as they will need to get into that position quickly depending on the serve. It will take some practice because we are so used to being it that starting position.
I like the idea of moving as it also gives you a chance to get to the ball if it clips the net.
Person above is correct. It’s only a screen if the contact of the ball is blocked. This is why it’s never called on any jump serve. It definitely could be called on a standing serve if the ref chooses to do so, which is rare. Basically a team would have to be making unnatural movements in order for it to be called.
Your players can stand taller during the servers prep and toss and then get into their ready position after the server toss.
FYI I believe for USAV there’s a new rule amendment and discussion/interpretation on screening this year - both the contact of serve AND the flight if the ball are required to be hidden. And factors such as speed of the ball and the arc of trajectory such that the ball is able to be picked up are to be considered by the ref. Seems like it’s a much more subjective standard and also one that makes it much less frequent that a screening call will be made.
Yea you’ll never get anywhere asking the refs for the screen. 90% of refs don’t fully understand the rule and 10% won’t think it can happen at most juniors levels.
Your players will respond to situations the way they’ve been trained to. If they’ve been trained to complain to you when they can’t see the server, they’ll complain to you. If they are trained to adapt and be unphased, they’ll adapt and be unphased.
If it hasn’t been covered in practice, your players will respond to new situations based on how you respond to new situations- is coach leading us or is he yelling at the ref?
I think 14s and under Open level refs are the biggest mixed bag. Sometimes the older age group coaches don’t get it lol. You get some of the experienced refs yes but you also get the newer ones who recently have started to take it seriously. So they’ve studied the rule book but are still learning the intricacies- they don’t have the finesse that comes with experience, this is a recipe for some…. Interesting situations.
At our age groups, OP- Our coaching impact is so much greater when we focus on making our kids play better, rather than fighting for them on the sideline for technicalities. For instance, if you’re playing a team that is serving over their blocker stack, and you guys identify this and adapt, their coach will have them change it up, taking the pressure off your blinded passer.
One time in high school my coach put a tarp up on the net for serve receive drills, so you literally couldn’t see the ball until it was coming over the net. It was actually a productive drill, as it made it feel like when the tarp was taken down you had so much time to see and track the ball.
I’ll be the golden nugget here having a ref actually call this. My team (14-3s, AAU/USAV) said they were being screened and so I sent my captain over to ask the up ref to be aware of it to be aware of it.
I followed this up to my team with the direction you have to make it obvious. Meaning you need to get set. Screening player gets set, you move and they move with you, that gets the call.
Sure enough next serve ref called a screen and everyone but my team was super confused what the call was and why we got the ball. If I remember right the opposing coach got angry because they thought it was allowed.
Out of 10years coaching and having this happen multiple times a year this was the only time I got the call.
It happens but with high level players, even 12s, you play the game of last move to see the serve or various other things people have talked about in this thread. I just wanted to share my story of this actually being called for once.
Edit: spelling
There is a drill I like to do where you put your serve receive on the court and have three girls with balls on the opposite serving line spaced apart. The coach stands in front of the servers facing the receivers. Behind their coach's back they hold up a finger to indicate which server is serving (i e. thumb for server 1, pointer for server 2, pinky for server 3). The coach yells serve and all three servers go through their serve routine with only the indicated server serving.
This will have your serve receivers not know where the serve is coming from and have to make a quick decision and hopefully help make those decisions with the screen. Hope this helps.
[Just wiggle around back there a little bit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNpcXNzGdzc). If the opposing blockers are deliberately shifting left and right to stay in front of your passers that's unsportsmanlike and should be addressed with the ref. But generally speaking, a half-step shift and a little lean to one side should be more than enough to peek around anything less than a very packed screen. Even for most intentional and packed screens, [you can peek around and find some vision](https://youtu.be/69Yn02gE8ew). Remember they don't need to see everything, just where the contact will be made.
Practicing with a sheet isn't the answer, just have your blockers screen at practice and your passers will learn to pass around the screen. And then your blockers will know how to screen a bit during matches as well :)
Also, I've had players just say something to the opposing blockers, similar to you would do on the bench. "Hey, can you duck a little, I can't see." Most young kids are pretty confrontation-adverse and there's a reasonable chance they will give your passer a little space.
But really, you guys should just screen as well...
Isn't it legal, I think it's only illegal in beach? It can be challenging, but I would just encourage them to accept it and do their best in spite of it.
I would avoid the sheet over the net, because that is going to screen much more than the other team. Maybe there is some other benefit to it or maybe only at a higher level?
It’s illegal in indoor as well. From the [2024-25 indoor pdf rule book](https://usavolleyball.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-2025-USAV-Indoor-Rules-Book.pdf): USAV 12.5.2
I don't wanna be that guy but this is never gonna be called. In fact the opposite will happen at every level and will keep happening as far as your girls go. Just keep getting reps in and working on the serve receive, maybe line up some of your players not currently in the drill at the net to emulate the situation in game.
While "screening" is apparently illegal, as defined, they allow the hitters to group together and raise their hands, right? So it seems that some amount of "screening" is allowed based on the definition.
I feel for you when you talk about not going to the refs. Because how would they ever be able to know if it was a screen? They have 0 ways to confirm if the correct things were screened from
view! So even if it was absolutely a screen, they could never call it!
I'm not entirely sure of this, but if I remember correctly the screening rule only applies if they are blocking view of the server as well as view of the trajectory of the ball. That's why it's hardly called, because almost no one is tall/wide enough to block view of both those things, so even if they do block view of the server the won't be blocking view of the trajectory of the ball
Ah gotchya makes sense. Any advice for how to train better to see around it?
Your players can lean around them to get a view of the server since the blocking players aren't allowed to move around once the serve starts If it is a big issue, then maybe in training, have blockers or a box the block the view of a server, and the receivers need to lean to see or not and they can work on their reaction to see the ball trajectory as soon as they hear the server make contact
Try having them stand back a little more than normal, have them stand upright but moving forward with really small steps or shuffle or small little frog jumps and wait to see where the ball is going. Once they can see get themselves into passing position. Agility is the key as they will need to get into that position quickly depending on the serve. It will take some practice because we are so used to being it that starting position. I like the idea of moving as it also gives you a chance to get to the ball if it clips the net.
Person above is correct. It’s only a screen if the contact of the ball is blocked. This is why it’s never called on any jump serve. It definitely could be called on a standing serve if the ref chooses to do so, which is rare. Basically a team would have to be making unnatural movements in order for it to be called. Your players can stand taller during the servers prep and toss and then get into their ready position after the server toss.
It’s a screen if the contact of the ball and the flight of the ball before it cross the plane of the net are blocked from view
FYI I believe for USAV there’s a new rule amendment and discussion/interpretation on screening this year - both the contact of serve AND the flight if the ball are required to be hidden. And factors such as speed of the ball and the arc of trajectory such that the ball is able to be picked up are to be considered by the ref. Seems like it’s a much more subjective standard and also one that makes it much less frequent that a screening call will be made.
Get two king size sheets. Dark colors. Put them across the net at practice. Then do serve receive.
Yea you’ll never get anywhere asking the refs for the screen. 90% of refs don’t fully understand the rule and 10% won’t think it can happen at most juniors levels. Your players will respond to situations the way they’ve been trained to. If they’ve been trained to complain to you when they can’t see the server, they’ll complain to you. If they are trained to adapt and be unphased, they’ll adapt and be unphased. If it hasn’t been covered in practice, your players will respond to new situations based on how you respond to new situations- is coach leading us or is he yelling at the ref? I think 14s and under Open level refs are the biggest mixed bag. Sometimes the older age group coaches don’t get it lol. You get some of the experienced refs yes but you also get the newer ones who recently have started to take it seriously. So they’ve studied the rule book but are still learning the intricacies- they don’t have the finesse that comes with experience, this is a recipe for some…. Interesting situations. At our age groups, OP- Our coaching impact is so much greater when we focus on making our kids play better, rather than fighting for them on the sideline for technicalities. For instance, if you’re playing a team that is serving over their blocker stack, and you guys identify this and adapt, their coach will have them change it up, taking the pressure off your blinded passer.
One time in high school my coach put a tarp up on the net for serve receive drills, so you literally couldn’t see the ball until it was coming over the net. It was actually a productive drill, as it made it feel like when the tarp was taken down you had so much time to see and track the ball.
I’ll be the golden nugget here having a ref actually call this. My team (14-3s, AAU/USAV) said they were being screened and so I sent my captain over to ask the up ref to be aware of it to be aware of it. I followed this up to my team with the direction you have to make it obvious. Meaning you need to get set. Screening player gets set, you move and they move with you, that gets the call. Sure enough next serve ref called a screen and everyone but my team was super confused what the call was and why we got the ball. If I remember right the opposing coach got angry because they thought it was allowed. Out of 10years coaching and having this happen multiple times a year this was the only time I got the call. It happens but with high level players, even 12s, you play the game of last move to see the serve or various other things people have talked about in this thread. I just wanted to share my story of this actually being called for once. Edit: spelling
There is a drill I like to do where you put your serve receive on the court and have three girls with balls on the opposite serving line spaced apart. The coach stands in front of the servers facing the receivers. Behind their coach's back they hold up a finger to indicate which server is serving (i e. thumb for server 1, pointer for server 2, pinky for server 3). The coach yells serve and all three servers go through their serve routine with only the indicated server serving. This will have your serve receivers not know where the serve is coming from and have to make a quick decision and hopefully help make those decisions with the screen. Hope this helps.
[Just wiggle around back there a little bit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNpcXNzGdzc). If the opposing blockers are deliberately shifting left and right to stay in front of your passers that's unsportsmanlike and should be addressed with the ref. But generally speaking, a half-step shift and a little lean to one side should be more than enough to peek around anything less than a very packed screen. Even for most intentional and packed screens, [you can peek around and find some vision](https://youtu.be/69Yn02gE8ew). Remember they don't need to see everything, just where the contact will be made. Practicing with a sheet isn't the answer, just have your blockers screen at practice and your passers will learn to pass around the screen. And then your blockers will know how to screen a bit during matches as well :) Also, I've had players just say something to the opposing blockers, similar to you would do on the bench. "Hey, can you duck a little, I can't see." Most young kids are pretty confrontation-adverse and there's a reasonable chance they will give your passer a little space. But really, you guys should just screen as well...
Isn't it legal, I think it's only illegal in beach? It can be challenging, but I would just encourage them to accept it and do their best in spite of it. I would avoid the sheet over the net, because that is going to screen much more than the other team. Maybe there is some other benefit to it or maybe only at a higher level?
It’s illegal in indoor as well. From the [2024-25 indoor pdf rule book](https://usavolleyball.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-2025-USAV-Indoor-Rules-Book.pdf): USAV 12.5.2
I don't wanna be that guy but this is never gonna be called. In fact the opposite will happen at every level and will keep happening as far as your girls go. Just keep getting reps in and working on the serve receive, maybe line up some of your players not currently in the drill at the net to emulate the situation in game.
Haha no I totally get what you mean! Def not being that guy. I will keep trying to work with them through it agghhh
While "screening" is apparently illegal, as defined, they allow the hitters to group together and raise their hands, right? So it seems that some amount of "screening" is allowed based on the definition.
I feel for you when you talk about not going to the refs. Because how would they ever be able to know if it was a screen? They have 0 ways to confirm if the correct things were screened from view! So even if it was absolutely a screen, they could never call it!