Jackson Tries to Improve Stock

Brittany Jackson, this week's Prep Newsmaker, could play Division II volleyball today, coach Ron Becker said.

Jackson, a junior, has a season and a half to improve that stock.

A lot can change athletically between the final two years of high school. You see improvements -- and, as Becker said -- "sometimes it goes the opposite way."

Jackson has made contact with a few schools.

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Becker talked to me at length about proper arm movement on a kill attempt.

Players get more side outs if they don't gather their arms as if they're preparing for a vertical leap attempt, Becker said. But it's a hard concept for many young hitters, who try to maximize their jumps by dipping their shoulders an instant before leaping and tucking their arms as if they are racing downhill ski.

Much like in basketball, where a jump shooter maximizes his or her potential by raising above opponents and shooting at the highest point, a volleyball player benefits from striking the ball as far above the net as possible.

Dipping the shoulders causes two problems, according to Becker:

1) The slow gather makes it more difficult to adjust to a set that's off in height, direction or timing.
2) Players that dip their shoulders often don't get their arms fully extended when they reach upward.

Players should start to jump with their arms above their shoulders, Becker said, something Jackson does well.

She's quick and already 6 feet tall. She'll try to increase her vertical a few inches and learn to adjust to different setters, something she hasn't had to do since she played for PV's varsity sparingly as a freshman.

Stay true and keep pounding,
Christopher