Hitters

Pin hitters are the name for the hitters other than the middles. They are the right sides and left sides. They can also be called outside and opposite. Outside hitters are supposed to be one of the best hitters on the team. They also should be a decent passer and some even play all six rotations because they are good enough passers to stay in for back row. Right sides, or opposites, are supposed to be good blockers, since they are blocking the other team's outside, or best hitter. You can either run a 5-1 or a 6-2 offense (either one or two setters) and some teams run a 6-2 so that they can have a right side hitter and blocker in at all times. 

There are 2 outsides and one right side in the rotation  of six players, but any of these players can be subbed out by a DS or a libero when they get to the back row. The 2 outsides are always opposite each other, or 3 rotations away from each other. 

The outsides usually get the majority of the sets, especially when there is a bad pass or they are out of system. On these bad passes, the set probably will not be perfect, so the hitter has to be ready and be able to put the ball in play and be able to adjust to the set. Since these hitters get a lot of the sets, they can also get tired faster than the other hitters, especially if they are playing six rotations. A lot of the time, a coach will tell their players to try and serve or hit at the other team's outside and make her pass to try and fire her out. If it works, she might not hit as well as when she wasn't tired. This might be because she isn't jumping as high, moving as fast, or hitting as hard. 

The opposites, on the other hand, usually have someone come in for their back row and are not usually six rotation players . The person who comes in for their back row is almost always a DS, not a libero, since liberos typically come in for the middles. 

Also, whenever the setter passes the first ball and the libero has to set, it is almost never going to the middle, so that means that all the balls that the libero sets have to go to the pin hitters. That's another reason why the pin hitters always have to be ready for the ball and be able to adjust to any set. A big part of being ready for a set is transitioning. Transitioning is literally the "transition" between defense(blocking or off block coverage) and offense( being ready to hit). When they transition to their hitting spot, they are supposed to go just past the ten foot line outside the court, although this could change depending on height, quickness, age, and if you are a righty or lefty. For example, if you have long legs and take bigger steps, then you would want to transition further off the net so you have more room for your hitting approach. Also, if you are left handed, you want to start your approach slightly to the right of where a right handed person would start their approach.