Volleyball spiking
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In volleyball, spiking is the offensive play where a player slams the ball sharply downwards over the net and into the opposing court, making it difficult for the opposing team to recover the ball. The mechanism of spiking is unique to volleyball, but its counterparts in other sports include slam dunking in basketball, smashing in tennis, or shooting in association football.
Volleyball spiking became very popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the massive proliferation of beach volleyball as a popular sport. Well known beach professionals such as Karch Kiraly used the volleyball spike to score devastating points on their opponents as well as wow the crowd with the spike's air of theatricality. "Spiking" as it related to volleyball entered the international and American lexicon through video games, movies and the growing popularity of the AVP.
External links[]
- Volleyball terminology