Woman hitting on mens height net! How do I get the ball to go over the net?

Question
Hiya Coach,

I currently play with a women's recreational league. I'm a pretty decent jumper, so I'm usually able to get my hits to go straight down when I'm in the front row. However, I'm now also playing with a coed team, and am having a lot of trouble hitting on the higher net. Right now, I'm so used to hitting down that all my hits are going into the net when I play coed. How can I adjust my approach and armswing to get an effective hit that actually goes over the net?

Thanks!

Answer
Good morning and welcome to www.allexperts.com!
Here's the answer!
a) When swinging, keep the ball over your head!  If the ball is very far in front of you, you will hit it downward, which is probably what's happening.  In other words, you must do your spike approach "further" than you're accustomed to.  The ball cannot be in front of you when you swing.  It must be more over your head or even a little behind you.  
b) Make sure you're hollering "OFF OFF" rather than just "outside" or "4".  If you get a set that's off, then (1) you won't be up against the net vs. big blockers and (2) your approach will actually take you "under" the ball w/o much effort.... b/c the set us 5' further off the net than it was on a women's net.  I recommend your set be NO CLOSER than 5' from the net. I imagine 6 to 8 feet is optimum.  

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