Marks+Bad+Hands

This is Mark's opinion of good hands vs bad hands.
 * Bad Hands**

We all know bad hands when we see them, but I wanted to create a description of bad hands that even a physicist could love. After watching the AVP players and thinking about this for a while, I have come up with this description.

It's all about the trajectory and speed of the ball and not so much about finger contact. The hand set is good if the trajectory and speed of the ball are substantially THE SAME AS IF THE BALL HAD BEEN BUMPED. The amount of time the fingers remain in contact with the ball is not important as long as the movement of the ball is substantially the same as a bump pass.

Fig 1 shows the trajectory of the ball during a bump pass. The two straight lines represent the path of the center of the ball. The important point (pun) is that the ball changes direction AT ONE AND ONLY ONE POINT. Also the ball slows down and STOPS ONLY MOMENTARILY. This is a bump pass and is the prototype for a good hand set.

Fig 2 is the trajectory of the ball during a good hand set. . The blue parts represent the time the fingers are in contact with the ball. During this time, the ball moves the same as it would during a bump pass. Note the ball changes direction at only one point. The speed and direction of the ball during the finger contact is substantially the same as a bump pass. This is good hands. We say a player has soft hands indicating the ball moves as if he/she were not touching it at all. It looks pretty.

Fig 3 shows an example of bad hands. The ball was carried sideways during contact. The ball changed direction over an extended space. It did not change direction at one point.

Fig 4 is another example of bad hands. The ball changed direction at two points. This could be caused by contact with one hand longer than the other. Sometime but not always this will also cause the ball to spin.

Fig 5 is another example of bad hands. The ball follows the correct trajectory and changes direction at only one point, but it is stopped and held. This is a catch and throw. Spin. We all know that a good bump pass can spin. A baseball hit off a bat can spin. A pool ball hitting another pool ball can impart spin. Spin occurs when the applied force vector does not pass through the center of gravity of the ball. A good bump can have spin and a good hand set can have spin. Spin sometimes happens due to a bad release in which case there is also a second change of direction and that would be an example of bad hands. But spin does not automatically mean bad hands. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Quite a discertation - I won't argue with any of it, BUT the reality is that it frequently is difficult to OBSERVE the difference in the blue (between good and bad) - usually the feel is different to the setter, those who are top setters likely know when the contact was invalid. [frequently same applies to a "carry" - can be felt easier than observed.] The more observerable thing is the result - usually bad hands results in "sideways" spin --- forward spin usually is not double contact. Sure - it's not foolproof, but it's frequently the best a ref (or the other team) can judge. Thus: (bad) spin=bad hands, the more bad spin, probably indicates worse hands. It's so much less argumentative to use spin as a criteria than "trying to follow the blue lines".

well I'll agree it's easy to observe spin, but many legal bump pass have spin so how can spin be a valid criteria. And my point is you don't have to look at the blue lines or fingers, just look at the ball, and see how it moves, sideways or jerky = bad, smooth like a bump pass = good MK..