In the world of professional volleyball analysis, accuracy and speed are crucial. This guide explores advanced coding techniques in VolleyStation PRO — covering everything from correctly marking start and end zones, to video synchronization and real-time dual-coding. We’ll provide practical examples, keyboard shortcuts to help statisticians take their work to the next level. This article is an essential resource for anyone aiming to code matches quickly, efficiently, and professionally.
Zones
This section explains how to record the starting and ending zones. The starting zone is where the player contacts the ball, and the ending zone is where the ball is going to.
Here’s how to code starting and ending zones in different situations:
Serve + Reception:
For the serves, you need to specify both the starting zone and the ending zone. However, since the serve’s ending zone is already defined, we don’t need to repeat it in the reception section — there, we only need to provide the ending zone and the reception outcome.
Set after reception:
For sets, it’s enough to write the setter call — the program will automatically fill in the starting and ending zones based on the previous and next plays. In this case, there’s no need to add the team marker * or a, since the team information is taken from the previous play.
Attack + Block / Dig:
For attacks, enter only the ending zone. The starting zone will be set based on the attack combination.
Set in transition:
For transition sets, enter the setter calls as with a reception. Include the starting zone if it wasn’t in the previous play.
Mastering zone coding requires practice and understanding the automatic zone-filling system. For ball mapping, only the initial serve zone is necessary. Practice to better understand how it works.
How to do heatmaps?
To draw the direction of a play, click on the play and drag an arrow from the start zone to the end zone. In some cases, where the play already has a predefined starting zone, simply click the ending location — for example, an attack with a combination or a serve with a reception, if you’ve entered the serve’s starting zone in the code.
If you accidentally draw a direction in the wrong play and need to remove it, follow these steps:
Start drawing the arrow again
While holding the left mouse button, click the right mouse button once
This will remove the previously drawn direction
Synchronization
Before we start talking about how to do synchronization it's worth checking whether we have a sync and video player shortcuts in VS PRO settings. It is way easier to do synchronization with shortcuts. You can see examples of shortcuts settings below:
To do synchronization in the match window, you need to switch the view mode to “sync”. Then, find the moment just before the first rally on the video and click on the first play code. Start the video and click the sync button for each play. The program will automatically move to the next play. To speed up the process, you can play the video at 1.5x speed.
If the statistician’s coding is advanced, an automatic synchronization option can be helpful. This is a great feature for those who code in real-time. When writing their code in the VolleyStation PRO, timestamps are recorded, which are later used for time adjustment.
Select the first code of a scout file
Adjust the video to the right place
Press the „Mark next plays“ button
If you want to make a manual correction, you need to set up the timestamp shortcut in settings.
It turns out that the synchronization isn’t quite right, or would you like to adjust it again to make it even more accurate? No problem. You can click the reset button and try again!
How to add a missing play?
Have you ever missed a play and wanted to insert it into the rally? Just use the following keyboard shortcut:
Setter calls in transition
In Volleystation PRO, setter calls are the same as in the sideout phase. After a dig, block, or freeball, simply enter the setter call.
Extended codes
- Comma (,)
Add a comma at the end of the code to include an extended code. This allows you to analyze matches in even more detail. Type ,T to define the attack as a tip or ,P for soft attack. You can also specify the number of blockers, e.g. ,T1.
Double Comma (,,)
Use a double comma to add custom information (max 5 characters). For example, record serve speed. Custom codes can be added live or after the action is completed.
Dual-coding
Reporting and analysis during a live match were always limited by the amount of data a single coder can provide. Top-level coders could provide full play data, but even they struggled with drawing arrows and custom codes, especially for those longer, more chaotic rallies. Because of this, the full analysis could’ve been only done post-match, after the live match file was cleaned and completely filled out.
Using dual coding, you are able to share match coding workload between two people. Their work is immediately combined giving you full match data, including precise play directions, and custom codes, during a live match. Below you will find a short video presenting the basics of this technology.
To set up dual coding, get the main coder's IP address (for example: http://192.168.3.2:28354) from the connect tablet pop-up and enter it in the application settings on the second device.
After connection, your application will restart, and you will be able to see all the data from the computer you connected to.
Helpful shortcuts
Below is a list of keyboard shortcuts useful during match coding:
For away team use the a prefix
C11:24 Substitution for home team (11 out: 24 in)
T Time-Out
Z1 Change home team setter to player in Zone 1
I2 Move the home team rotation to 2
P Assign a point for the home team (used at the end of rally, instead of using the shortcut for assigning a point)
Shift+Enter Allows to put a code with error
Remember: if there’s a double substitution, make sure to correct the rotation using the Z shortcut.
How to correct missing substitution?
During a match, when actions can be very fast, it’s sometimes impossible to notice a quick substitution. In this section, we’ll show you how to quickly add a missing substitution.
First, add the substitution, and then update the lineup.
Advanced coding in VolleyStation PRO enables much greater precision and flexibility when analyzing volleyball matches. Mastering the use of starting and ending zones, properly inserting missing plays, applying extended codes, and utilizing dual-coding significantly improves the efficiency and quality of data collection. Video synchronization with coding helps save time and increases accuracy, and with good preparation, even full real-time analysis becomes possible.
Keep in mind that developing advanced coding skills takes regular practice and a deep understanding of how the system behaves in different situations. The more real match scenarios you encounter, the quicker you will learn to react efficiently and use all available tools to their full potential.
We encourage you to keep testing, analyzing, and experimenting — it’s the best way to reach the level of a professional coder.
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