FALL 2023

AUTHOR

Zachary Zeng, Southridge School

ABSTRACT

Serving is the only part of a game of volleyball that is the same every time. Despite this, serving strategy and philosophy vary greatly. Teams who use the analytically optimal serve the most can gain a distinct advantage. In identifying the optimal serve, conclusions about best serve type, best serve location, and relationships between errors and effectiveness can be understood. This study analyzed 200,000 serves throughout the FIVB 2022 women’s beach volleyball season with metrics such as serve type, serve location, error rate, and which team won the rally through location heatmaps, linear regression, and bar plots. jump topspin serves were found to be more effective than jump-float serves. However, jump topspin serves resulted in more errors; the serve effectiveness had no relationship with errors, but there was a strong relationship between serve effectiveness and errors for jump float serves. These results will guide training and in-game beach and indoor volleyball serving strategies.