How to Scout a Volleyball Match

Volleyball Scout

One of the most common mistakes among coaches is thinking that scouting is only useful at a high level. The truth is that every team, of any category, can benefit from an objective and systematic analysis of their game.

Without data, we rely on feelings. With scouting, however, you build a concrete path to improvement, both individually and as a team.

What is Scouting?

Scouting a volleyball match is a document in which every ball touch made by players is recorded. A rating code is assigned to each touch (such as #, +, !, /, -, =). Scouting can be done for one team or for both.

Once all data is collected, detailed statistics can be processed to help understand why a match is won or lost in a given category.

Why Scout?

There are three main reasons to scout:

Improve your team, monitoring progress and correcting weaknesses.
Manage the match, identifying any critical issues in real-time.
Study opponents, to identify their schemes and vulnerable points.

The principle behind scouting is simple:

If you want to improve something, you must first be able to measure it.

Only with objective data can real and verifiable improvement be built.

How to Scout?

To scout, you need to evaluate every ball touch made by players, focusing exclusively on the effectiveness of the action, regardless of the technical correctness of the gesture.

This activity can be done manually, with pen and paper, or digitally through dedicated scouting software.

A very effective tool that allows for complete scouting for free is the Volleyball Scout app, which you can download from here:

After installing the app, here's how to start scouting a match:

1) Entering Teams and Players

Start by creating the teams and entering the players to be scouted.

2) Creating a Match

At this point, you can create the match. Choose the teams participating in the game, enter the lineups, and configure the system with which the teams play.
This app facilitates data entry by suggesting the actions you, the user, need to perform.

Data Entry

Let's start with the detection.

Serve

Starting with the serve, we will need 3 pieces of information:

The Player who is serving
The Rating of the serve
The Direction of the serve

Click the serving player. Assign the rating following these rules:

Valutazione	Spiegazione
#	Service ace.
+	Serve that puts receivers in difficulty and forces them to replay with an easy ball (free-ball).
!	Serve that is received slightly off, allows forced quick attacks.
/	Positive serve, the receiver immediately sends it back into the opponents' court.
-	Easy serve, receivers can counterattack with any type of attack.
=	Service error.

Receive

Continue with the receive by clicking the receiving player. The receive rating is correlated with the serve rating; in fact, the application already suggests the rating based on the serve just performed.
The ratings for receiving are as follows:

Valutazione	Spiegazione
#	Perfect reception to the setter's head.
+	Positive reception, the setter can set to any player.
!	Reception slightly off the net, the setter can only play an obvious high ball.
/	Reception that goes immediately into the other court.
-	Inaccurate reception, the team is forced to counterattack with an easy ball (free-ball).
=	Reception error, point for the opponents.

Set

At this point, the action continues with a set. The set is often not scouted because the evaluation is irrelevant for the final statistics. If you still want to assign a rating, the Volleyball Scout app allows you to do so.

Attack

Now comes the attack. First, select the player who spiked.
Then enter the attack direction and finally assign the rating following these rules:

Valutazione	Spiegazione
#	Attack point
+	Attack that forces opponents to counterattack with an easy ball
!	Attack blocked but playable
/	Attack that is blocked by a winning block (point for the blocker)
-	Attack that allows opponents to counterattack
=	Attack error (point for the opponents)

Defense

Now follows the defense. Like the set, it is not scouted, because a mistaken defense is not always the player's fault, and its evaluation does not affect the final statistics. The most useful thing to do is to only record defense errors.

Block

If a block occurs, it can be assigned in the same way: select the player and assign the rating. Refer to this table to see the block evaluations. Block Evaluations

Generic Point and Generic Error

Now the action continues until one of the two teams scores a point. If an action ends without falling into any of the previous sections, it is possible to assign a generic point to the team that scored or a generic error to the team that lost the point.

Which statistics are of interest to me?

In the analysis of a team's or individual athlete's performance, the two most significant statistics are undoubtedly Positivity and Efficiency. These two indicators allow for a synthetic and comparable evaluation of the quality of the various fundamental game skills.

Positivity represents the percentage of positive actions relative to the total number of touches made, and is expressed on a scale from 0 to 100. It is calculated for each fundamental skill, providing an immediate indication of the number of advantageous touches made.

Positive touches

Total touches

This metric is particularly useful for evaluating reception, as it shows how effectively a team can manage opponent serves. A high positivity reception allows for building more effective offensive actions.

Efficiency, on the other hand, takes into account not only positive hits but also errors made, thus offering a more in-depth analysis of performance. It is expressed on a scale ranging from -100 to +100 and is calculated with the following formula:

Winning hits - Errors

Total touches

This statistic is very indicative in attack and serve fundamentals, as it reflects the player's net contribution to the team's score. A high efficiency value indicates a good balance between effective hits and few errors.

In addition to these two main metrics, there are many other advanced statistics that further enrich the analysis: ball distribution, positivity and efficiency per rotation, individual player performance, and more. All these tools, if interpreted correctly, allow for a deep understanding of the team's functioning and identification of areas for improvement.

Seasonal Goals

A very useful element in interpreting statistical data is the comparison with the average values of positivity and efficiency of one's game category (e.g., Serie C, Under 17, etc.). These references provide an objective context for evaluating one's team's performance.
If the recorded values equal or exceed the category averages, it is likely that the team is expressing a good level of play, thus increasing the probability of victory.

It is also advisable to monitor statistical trends over time. Keeping track of fundamental data (such as positivity, efficiency, errors, distribution) allows for observing the team's evolution, identifying trends of improvement or decline, and making decisions based on concrete data rather than perceptions.

Opponent Study

Statistical analysis is not only useful for self-assessment, but it is also a fundamental tool for preparing for the match against opponents. In this context, various tactical information is examined, including:

Attack trajectories of individual players: analyzing the most frequent directions of hits allows for better organization of defense and more effective block positioning.
Distribution of sets: studying how the setter distributes balls for each rotation (percentages of play to middle blocker, outside hitter, opposite, pipe, etc.) helps predict offensive choices and organize a more targeted block and defense system.
Efficiency and positivity in reception of individual receivers: identifying players with greater fragility in reception allows for setting targeted serving strategies, systematically hitting the opponent's weak points.

This information, if collected and interpreted correctly, can make a difference in match preparation, contributing to building a more solid and informed tactical plan.

Video Analysis

Video analysis is another fundamental tool for both preparing for a match and correcting technical or tactical errors, at both individual and collective levels.

Through viewing matches, it is possible to:

Evaluate the executive technique of each gesture, highlighting any inaccuracies or areas for improvement.
Analyze timings and positioning in the defensive phase.
Study tactical choices made in certain game situations (e.g., managing decisive points, variations in serving or distribution).
Reinforce learning through visual feedback: seeing with one's own eyes helps athletes more easily internalize concepts and corrections.

The combined use of video analysis and numerical statistics allows for a complete and detailed view of performance, improving the effectiveness of training and match preparation.

For video analysis, I recommend Volleyball Scout Video, an affordable and complete professional software that includes all the necessary features for analyzing matches.

Conclusion

Scouting a volleyball match is not an activity reserved for high-level play: it is a tool accessible to everyone, capable of transforming daily training into a measurable, conscious, and truly effective path. Through data collection and analysis, it is possible to understand what works and what needs improvement. Numbers help in making objective decisions, correcting errors, and building more precise game plans. In an era where even youth and amateur categories can access free digital tools, ignoring data means giving up a concrete opportunity for growth. Learning to scout simply and effectively is the first step to transforming the sports experience into a more conscious, professional, and stimulating process – for athletes, coaches, and all staff.