In this scenario, the receiver behind you has to cover pretty much all of the court except for what's directly behind you. The most logical path (especially if they are right-handed) is to spike across to the corner behind and to the right of you (this is called a cross shot) but they can also hit to your left, straight down the line to the corner behind and to the left of you (this is called a line shot). Technically, you're in a position to block, but the spiker still has options to get the ball around you if the set is good. Say the other team is setting up and their spiker is approaching from your left-the game will usually pull you over to the left to be in line with the spiker. But it falls apart the second you go up against an intelligent spiker. If your opponent is only jumping and swinging, guess blocking works just fine-more often than not, you'll be able to rely on the game's predictive movement to stop inexperienced players. It's essentially the game 'guessing' for you, putting you in the path of the most likely attack. In Switch Sports Volleyball, the game automatically moves you when you're blocking to be in front of the spiker. Too many people do the latter.Ī guess block is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: You're guessing where the spiker is going to send the ball and attempting to stop them no matter what, removing any need for the receiver to do anything. As far as I can tell, Switch Sports Volleyball has two types of blocks: read blocking and guess blocking. Switch Sports doesn't include that level of variety, but that's okay since there are only a few types of spikes you need to block.

In volleyball, there are a ton of different types of blocks, each specializing in stopping a different type of spike. The easiest way to do this is read blocking. Instead of two receivers covering the left and right sides of the court, a blocker needs to cover one, allowing the receiver to focus on the other. Beach volleyball is traditionally two-versus-two-the sand slows an attacker's approach, limiting where they can hit the ball and making it a more balanced duel between spiker and blocker.Īs Nintendo has blatantly ignored this pattern in favor of creating its own style, it means only one receiver has to cover the entire back half of their side of the court, putting a ton of pressure on the blocker to be at 100% all of the time. Getting more bodies on the court means there are more receivers covering more ground to counter a powerful spiker. Switch Sports, however, opts for indoor volleyball, which is traditionally played three-versus-three or six-versus-six. Traditionally, two-versus-two volleyball is played on a beach, where sand balances out the lack of available receivers (defending players responsible for bumping up the ball so that it can be set) by restricting a spiker's jump height (and thus the available places they can easily hit the ball to). Nintendo puts a greater level of importance on blocking (jumping up to stop a spike) than it should, given how it's framed volleyball in Switch Sports' Volleyball mode. It will make life so much easier for your partner when they're preparing to receive the ball and bump it up. So here I am, on my hands and knees (because you failed to help me stop the ball and that means I had to dive for it) begging for y'all to start read blocking-using data pulled from observations of your opponent to limit how well a spiker can hit the ball as opposed to outright stopping it.

(Why is it so hard to make a good volleyball video game that isn't about women wearing the smallest swimsuits possible?) That said, I wish my teammates better understood what they were doing when playing the game, specifically when it comes to blocking. At long last, I can finally play my favorite sport in the comfort of my own home without facing the stigma that comes with dropping hours into Dead or Alive Xtreme 3. Switch Sports is a whole lot of fun, especially Volleyball.

Word trek daily quest january 5 2017