Which offense? 5-1 or 6-2?

Question
My question is on a varsity girls high school team what is better to run a 6 2 or a 5 1. One setter is strong and the other not so strong. What are the pros and cons on both.

Thank you,
Diane

Answer
Good evening and welcome to www.allexpert.com!

It's great to hear from you.  I have written several articles about picking an offense, the pros and cons of each, etc.  I'm pasting one of them here, edited a little to address your specific question.  

Let's get started.  

Let's talk about the 5-1 for a moment:  If I have one very proficient setter that I don't need to hit or serve receive, then I run a 5-1.  She is often my best setter.  Sometimes she isn抰; but, I let her run the offense because the better setters are needed at other positions.   Furthermore, the setter that you select should be a cagey veteran, know how to jump set, know how to go up and battle with the other team抯 blockers when she抯 front row, etc.  A 5-1 setter doesn抰 have to be a vocal leader, but does have to lead with her skills and her work ethic.  If a team loses confidence in their 5-1 setter, that抯 like the football team losing confidence in their quarterback.  A volleyball coach will shudder if his players ever turn from a huddle and say, 揟hat won抰 work,?because the team抯 搎uarterback?is so poor.  

In 2003, I thought I needed my 5-1 setter as a serve receiver/OH.  So I tried for a week with my 2nd team setter as the starter.  We won one and lost one.  Neither match was because of the setter situation.  However, I抎 seen enough, and the next week we went back to the 1st team setter running the 5-1.  The OH gain wasn抰 as substantial as the loss at setter.  

I think I would choose a 5-1 from what you told me.  

Let's talk about the 6-2:  Many coaches are in love with the 6-2.  In fact, a significant percent of coaches that I抳e met will run a 6-2 with no consideration whether it抯 right for their team.  They run it because that抯 what they抳e always done.  

One year at our All-Conference meeting, one head coach told me, 揑 was going to try to run a 5-1 this year, but after a few practices, the girls said they didn抰 understand it and didn抰 want to do it.  So we went back to the 6-2.? I sat there trying not to look shocked.  He had one outstanding setter, whose hands were magical.  His other setters shouldn抰 have even been on the court.   Every two or three years that coach would "squeeze the square peg thru the round hole," and would run a 6-2.  There is 1 team here in Roanoke that I guarantee will be running a 6-2 this fall.  If the coach is still being employed there, I will bet my paycheck on it.

There are some advantages of a 6-2: You have 3 hitters in all rotations.  Many coaches will say, 揥e need 3 hitters at all times.? And if you抳e got good setters and 6 really good hitters, then, yes, you're right!  But the high school here in my neighborhood has run a 5-1 since 2002 and has 4 state championships.  The coach probably has had 6 talented hitters; but, what抯 more important for her is having that one girl who抯 trained to run the show.  

Another advantage people will mention is that their setter won抰 get as tired.  But I抳e implemented a 5-1 offense on 80% of the teams I've coached.  I can only remember a few times where my setter was dead tired at the end of the day, and each of those were at club tournaments.  

In 1995, I began the season committed to running a 6-2 with a talented sophomore, and a D1 senior.  But after our first conference match, which we won in 5, I sat down with the sophomore and told her that it just wasn抰 working.  The senior was significantly better and we didn抰 need the senior to serve receive or to hit.  So we switched to a 5-1 and we played better immediately.

One disadvantage for the weak/slow:  Coming from the backrow to set is a challenging skill!  And it抯 not something for the extremely young, the unathletic, or the slow.  In addition, I抣l guess these setters probably don抰 back set well.  So the 3rd hitter option is wasted.  

The 6-2 isn't the offense that I would pick for you.  

Before we go on, I抦 not against any one running a 6-2, nor am I in favor of any one running a 5-1.  My 2008 junior team ran a 6-2 most of the time, but the setters often came out when in the front row.  My 2006 and 2007 team ran a 6-2 most of the time, and the setters stayed in to play the front row.  But at 2006 Nationals, one of my setters became our go-to hitter during the first two matches.  My assistant and I were shocked, but Eva was being a beast, blasting away from the back row and the front row.  So we switched to a 5-1 before the 3rd match.  The last 2 varsity teams I coached at Roanoke Catholic ran a 5-1.  Just do what抯 best for your team.  Just run the offense that matches your personnel.

I hope that this has been helpful.
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p.s.  If you are a coach, I hope this helps some.  If you have more questions, please follow up. But, if you are a parent, please do not discuss this with your daughter (b/c you may create dissension in her mind, and possibly in her team).  Also, please do not discuss this with your daughter's coach (unless specifically asked to).  This can cause anger or even an argument.  At the least, it will cause tension and distrust.  As soon as a parent gives a coach advice on how to coach a volleyball team, the coach should be allowed to give the parents advice on how to raise their daughter.  :)  A parent doesn't think Coach knows something about volleyball?  Well, Coach may not think the parents are making a very good decision about who they are allowing their daughter to date.  :)  I haven't had to resort to this yet.  I hope I never have to.