Data benchmarking through a longitudinal study in high-level men’s volleyball

A benchmark is a reference point for comparisons established from the value of a performance indicator. In order to create benchmarks for volleyball, we used performance data from each team of the Greek Volley League from the season 2005–2006 until the season 2016–2017 (N = 143). We considered the effectiveness of 14 parameters from five skills: serve, attack after passing, attack after defence, block and pass. The results showed that high-level teams of the Greek championship, which finished in positions 1–4, had as benchmarks: (a) in serve, two aces every five serve errors, while teams 9–12 had two aces every six errors, (b) in attack after passing one error or one passive block every four kills, while teams 9–12 had one every five kills, (c) in attack after defence one error or one passive block every three kills versus every two kills for 9–12 and (d) one error every nine passes on the target against every seven passes for 9–12. Overall, the results of this study indicate that success in volleyball can be explained with skill performance indicators, expressed as the ratio of successful to unsuccessful attempts, or with a ratio of successful attempts per set, in case of block skill.