Outside Hitter (OH)

GENERAL

The outside hitter (OH) attacks (ATK) and blocks (BLK) from the front left spot on the volleyball court (when in the front row).   Each team has two outside hitters that are tasked with pretty much everything including attacking (ATK), blocking (BLK), passing (RCV), digging (DEF) and serving (SRV). They can also set (SET) the ball although if your OH is setting, this point probably is not going very well.

The OH is often the player who is set the most during a volleyball match so they need to be reliable (so essentially VERY skilled at attacking - ATK).  

POSITIONING

While in the front row, the outside hitter’s base defense position (where they are positioned during a play) is the front left spot. 

After they rotate to the back row, their base defense position will normally be at the middle back spot. 

WHAT THEY DO

When it comes to volleyball positions, the outside hitter is a very well rounded player. They usually score a majority of the team’s points and are asked to do just about everything on the court. This means that the outside hitter needs to be an exceptional athlete. 

The outside hitter is usually responsible for just about everything on a volleyball court. At any moment they could be passing during serve receive, blocking or digging while on defense, or attacking on offense.

Defensively, they are responsible for blocking the opposing team’s right side (RS) hitter as well as aiding in blocking the opposing team’s middle blocker (MB) (and sometimes the opposing outside hitter depending on the blocking scheme). 

Since setting the front row OH is one of the easiest sets to make, outside hitters are often utilized as a safety valve on broken plays. This means that if a team makes a bad pass, the setter will often set a ball to the front row OH as a backup plan.  

Outside Hitters ALWAYS (in TMVL) pass during serve receive (RCV). 

Back Row: When in the back row they also attempt to dig opposing attacks (DEF), or even hit a back row attack (ATK). They are tasked with guarding the back line so if a ball is long, the outside hitter is often the one responsible for tracking it down. Depending on a team’s strategy, the outside hitter may or may not be responsible for rolls shots that land in the middle of the court (aka "campfires").  

For using CP on Outside Hitters, here's the recommendation:  ATK first, then RCV.  After that SRV/DEF/BLK about equally.