Scouting Report - How to spy on your opponents

Who are they?
The first thing of doing a scouting report is to find the teams that you will be scouting on, and know their players. There are teams with mid-aged players, there are teams with young college kids. That very little thing would tell you something already. Mid-aged teams may mean they have been playing for a while, they maybe more experienced in handling net balls, drop shots, yet they may also mean that they are here just for fun. As for young teams, it may mean that they are inexperienced, yet it may also mean that they are full of energy, athletic, and you may not want to play long rally against them. How about a team with international players, players from all races? Well, you will have to read them one by one, see what they are good at, where are their weaknesses, how do I beat their defense, or even their offense? What is there habits?

What formation?
If a team is playing 5-1(or 6-2, 4-2), and everyone of them seems to know their tasks. That tells me they are experienced, at least on their assigned positions. If you can find a player or two in this team that seem confused or other players are constantly reminding him/her what to do, you have found their weakest link. Hitting the ball to the confused player on their team will break their rhythm. If they are playing 5-1 or 6-2, there would be time that the setter is running from behind a player to the front row to set; the location where the setter is behind the player is where you want your players to serve to.

Individual Skills
Looking at every player on the team and find out their habits. Does the setter like to tip? Does certain player do something special? Is there any player who do not like to move his/her feet or standing tall while receiving? Things like jump serves, great top spin spikes but low over the net, players defense high up, not playing deep, etc. are examples of things to look for.

Key Offensive Player
If you spot s key offensive play on the team, can your defense beat him? If you can, you may already have a strategy in mind, if not, what can you do to slow him down? The more you know about this player, the higher the chance you will have in beating him in the future. Get to know more about the key player and you should be able to find some patterns on this player. Some players like to hit cross, some like to avoid the blockers. Some like to hit the blockers hands, some like to tip when there are two blockers. In other words, finding out what their habits are in playing the games, and adjust your team to play against them. Know yourself and know your opponents, that's the key to win the games.