Which One of these Volleyball Scenes Actually Served?
By Grant Jordison
We have all heard of bump, set, spike. Coming from a volleyball player who is in their second year of the sport, it is so much more than that. It's not just about the performance; the equipment and overall ambiance must be taken into account too. Unfortunately, the bump, set, spike stereotype is widely believed and embraced. Let's take a look at how volleyball is represented in different movies and shows.
The rating for these scenes will be based on this criteria.
The technique the players use
The team bond/ sense of friendship
The game time experience
Correct/appropriate athletic attire
All of these scores will be averaged out to produce the overall rating of the scene.
Starting off, our first rating will be over the volleyball scene in the original Top Gun movie!
Top Gun: Overall score - 7/10
The world renowned movie about two bros and their journey through the air force. The hot dudes playing volleyball in jeans and short shorts, surrounded in the ambiance of the setting sun. It’s every middle aged woman's dream. Unfortunately, it's inaccurate and causes a little pain to the volleyball community.
Technique: Overall, they played well. The amount of cuts between passes and plays is a little sketchy. It seems like they get perfect passes and decent hits, but in reality their form looks terrible. They hit directly to the other team, overall just not great. 6/10
Team: I mean, we all know they are best friends. Who doesn’t love a good bromance. Having your bestfriend on the court with you isn’t always a good thing though. It can bring some unwanted favoritism and unsportsmanlike conduct and I don’t stand for that. 9/10
Game: It's a nice little pick up game. It's a very wholesome setting, with one fatal flaw. The net is old and raggedy. It seems to be at least a foot below regulation, and sags in the middle. 7/10
Attire: Jeans. Disgusting. All though the crop top short shorts combo makes up for it a bit. I’m being generous with anything above a zero. 5/10
The Miracle Season: Overall score - 9.5/10
This is a story about a High School girls Volleyball team that tragically loses their team captain and setter in a car crash. The movie goes over how they overcome this obstacle and go on to the state championship in her name.
Technique: This movie does a very good job at capturing and using proper volleyball technique. Everything from serving, passing, and blocking seems to be very accurate. There are a few awkward plays that they do though so I unfortunately have to lower the score a bit. 9/10
Team: Amazing friendships. The girls have a family-like bond, and the loss of their captain had a huge impact on them and almost stopped them from playing volleyball. The displays of emotion and the effects it has is very spot on and is a good foundation for any team. 10/10
Game: The movie follows a baseline generic volleyball season. There aren’t many flaws in it, if any at all. The girls play games against their local schools, travel to play games, and make it to state. It is all a very basic and stereotypical volleyball season. It is a little too cliche to be honest. 9/10
Attire: All of the players wear proper attire. They have good looking game day jerseys, they also wear proper attire to practice. No complaints here. 10/10
The Summer I Turned Pretty: Overall score - 6/10
(The Summer I Turned Pretty Volleyball Scene)
A show about a girl and two brothers. Seems pretty weird to me. I personally haven’t watched it, and I've heard very mixed reviews on it. But all of that doesn’t matter, let's look at this semi-iconic volleyball scene.
Technique: Focusing on the main characters of the story, it was not great. They were sloppy, goofy and overall did a terrible job to be honest. On the other hand, their opponents did a really good job. Their technique was on point, and the scoreboard spoke for their work and talent. I'm being a little generous here. 3/10
Team: The main characters seem like friends. It’s always fun playing sports with your comrades, but they seemed to get a little frustrated and annoyed with each other towards the end. That is never good. 4/10
Game: It seems like a legit match. The net is regulation, and the court seems to be the right size. We don’t really get to see much besides the actual gameplay, but everything seems up to standard. 10/10
Attire: They are indeed wearing athletic clothes. They have jerseys and proper shorts and stuff, but for sand volleyball, the jerseys are a little out of place with the sleeves. Ideally, sand volleyball jerseys are sleeveless, so I do have to deduct a little bit off of the overall score. 7/10
Honestly, none of these scenes were horrible. While some aspects of them were terrifying, they made up for it in other areas. So, the next time you stumble upon a volleyball scene in some random show or movie you are watching, be sure to look at how accurate they really are.
