This is an excerpt from the blocking chapter in Travis Mewhirter and Gabby Reece’s new book, Volleyball for Dummies. You can order your copy on Amazon. 

There’s a decent chance many readers of Volleyball for Dummies would choose to skip over the blocking chapter.

You might be under the impression that you’re too small or don’t jump high enough, a pair of easy-to-make mistakes that players all the way up to the professional level frequently make.

We can see why you might think being tall is a requirement of blocking. Look at the most successful beach volleyball player of all time, Kerri Walsh Jennings. Nicknamed 6 Feet of Sunshine, Walsh Jennings stands 6-foot-3 and is the owner of three Olympic gold medals and another bronze. Since 2004, when her run began, all but one Olympic gold medal has been won by a blocker standing 6-foot-3 or taller, and the lone exception, Kira Walkenhorst of Germany, was 6 feet tall.

So, is height helpful? Supremely so!

But we’re here to tell you that there is no need to skip this chapter, that you are (most likely) not too small, and that you (most likely) do, indeed, jump high enough. In fact, don’t take it from us.

As we have done throughout this book, we’ll lean on one of the GOATs to educate you on why you do not need to be all that tall, or jump all that high – although, yes, we’ll freely admit that those factors are helpful – to make an impact as a blocker.

When Phil Dalhausser did a statistical review of one of his 20-plus seasons as a professional beach volleyball player, a span that includes seven Best Blocker in the world awards, he was shocked by what he found: He averaged a hair less than two blocks per set.

Two!

“I would hope,” he said, “I get more than that.”

But he doesn’t.

It is an objective, statistical fact that nobody in the sport of volleyball averages more than two blocks per set. In indoor, the number is even lower: The best blockers on the planet will only get three per match – less than one per set. Of course, there are matches where blockers have exceptional days and can rack up double the expected average. Such is the nature of sports.

But when Dalhausser reviewed the numbers, he had a thought, after his initial disbelief wore off: You do not have to be all that tall to be an effective blocker.

Even the best hitters, he said, will make a mistake and swing low. With the women’s net standing just 7 feet, 4 inches, and the men’s standing 7 feet, 11 inches, almost everyone can jump and get their hands over the net.

And if you can do that?

You can block the best hitters in the world when they make the mistake of swinging low – which always happens on at least two occasions per set, indoors and out.

Need evidence? The 2024 Olympic gold medalist, Jonatan Hellvig, stands 6 feet, 3 inches – 8 inches lower than his opponent, Nils Ehlers, in the final match. The result? A 21-10, 21-13 victory for Hellvig and his partner, David Ahman, in the most lopsided final in Olympic history.

We’ll mention it again for the sake of covering our rear ends: Yes, it is undeniably helpful to stand 6-foot-10, as Dalhausser does, or 6’3, as Walsh Jennings does. And yes, it is undeniably helpful to jump 40 inches, as Hellvig does.

But they are luxuries, not necessities.

Throughout this chapter, we will teach you the necessities of becoming an effective blocker, so that even if you’re 5-foot-8 and not exactly explosive, you’ll be able to get the blocks your team needs.