Just as vertical reach cannot be equated with "jumping ability," spike speed cannot be equated with "strength."
In terms of arm wrestling alone, Hinata might not be able to beat anyone on the court, but the speed of his spikes when he performs a Quick Attack is remarkably fast.
Even with such a pure spike, Hinata's instantaneous arm swing speed allows him to hit the ball with extreme velocity.
Hinata had been doing arm swing training since his time at Inarizaki, but this training requires at least two people to assist, so Coach Kurosu did not ask Coach Washijo to help Hinata train.
However..
Coach Washijo felt that he should start arranging arm swing training for Goshiki Tsutomu.
At this rate, Hinata's straight spike's speed will be faster than Goshiki Tsutomu's.
Thinking this, Washijo glanced at the time and shouted to the court, "Alright, you can start practicing serves. Everyone except the Libero does one hundred, you can leave once you're finished."
YES!!
While the practice session for serves was in full swing on the court, the Liberos from Shiratorizawa were the first to leave the gym to get ready to change.
After finishing the hundredth serve, Hinata raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
Great, today's success rate is over fifty percent! Out of one hundred balls, fifty-two were without errors!
Goshiki Tsutomu, standing beside him, felt it was almost too much to watch.
This error rate.. is quite something.
Right then, Yamagata Hayato's voice came from the entrance: "Whose phone is this? It's been ringing non-stop!"
He was holding a light yellow flip phone in his hand, asking the people in the gym loudly.
Hinata turned around and recognized it was his at a glance.
“Ah! Mine, mine!” He hurriedly put down the volleyball and ran toward Yamagata Hayato, fishing his own phone out from inside.
Seeing that the contact was "Mom," Hinata, who suddenly realized something was wrong, instantly lost his previous state of excitement.
He was screwed. He had been having so much fun that he had completely forgotten he had to cycle across an entire mountain to get home.
Seeing as it was already almost nine o'clock, there weren't many streetlights on the way back..
Answering the phone, Hinata apologized while explaining his situation: "Don't worry, Mom, I'll ride my bike back while using a flashlight! I definitely won't fall into a mountain ravine!"
Yamagata Hayato and Coach Saito exchanged a glance, having a rough idea of what was going on.
This is going to be a problem.
At this time, there was no way they would let Hinata ride back in the dark by himself. As for Hinata himself, he hadn't even gotten his driver's license yet; although Coach Washijo had a license, he hadn't driven in a very long time..
A little girl's dissatisfied voice came from the other end of the phone, Hinata scratched his head somewhat awkwardly: "Sorry, Natsu, I'll play with you when I get back."
Someone tapped him on the shoulder, then a voice rang out: "Hinata."
Hinata looked back and met Coach Washijo's gaze.
The other person reached out a hand to him, gesturing for him to hand over the phone.
After a brief second of hesitation, Hinata said to Xia on the other end of the phone, "It sounds like Coach wants to say something. Xia, give the phone to Mom."
After saying that, Hinata handed the phone to Washijo.
Washijo took the phone, listening to Hinata Natsu on the other end hand the phone to an adult, before finally saying, "Hello, I am Washijo Tanji, the coach of the Shiratorizawa Volleyball Club. Shoyo is currently practicing here with me."
It's a bit late, I wouldn't feel comfortable letting him go back to your place alone. If you don't mind, he can stay overnight here, I'll have him ride back early tomorrow after training is finished.
“Yes, we have some spare dormitories..”
Listening to the conversation between Coach Washijo and his mother, Hinata's initial nervousness gradually turned into pleasant surprise.
This is.. I get to experience dormitory life! Shiratorizawa's dormitory!
On the other end of the phone, Hinata's family was quite at ease with the idea of their child staying overnight at Shiratorizawa.
After all, it was the most famous school in the prefecture, as a closed private school, its boarding environment was widely known to be excellent.
The only one who was unhappy was Hinata Natsu.
With her brother away, she could only play by herself.
Walking past her brother's room, Xia stopped in her tracks.
After thinking for just two seconds, she huffily pulled open Shoyo's door and then accurately fished Shoyo's precious volleyball out of the bag next to the table.
It was a Mikasa that Rishia Heisuke gave her not long ago for Shoyo's birthday.
Since her brother isn't coming back, she'll just play by herself!
On the other side, after hanging up the phone, Washijo Tanji called Hinata back: "Don't leave today; let Wakatoshi find a dormitory for you to stay in."
Practice until 9:30, then pack up and go back to sleep.
Having said that, Washijo turned and walked away.
"YES!!" Hinata shouted in response.
Upon receiving the coach's orders, Ushijima immediately went to check the dormitory arrangements.
Shiratorizawa has double occupancy rooms, while Itachiyama has nine people besides the coach, leaving exactly one extra person.
Looking toward the captain of Itachiyama on the other side: "Iizuna, who among you is staying alone?"
Iizuna raised a hand and pointed to himself: "Me."
This is the captain's privilege; since he is the captain, he can naturally have a room all to himself.
As for Sakusa.. it's fine for him to live with Komori.
Ushijima said decisively, "Then let Hinata stay with you for a night."
Iizuna turned his head and met Hinata's gaze.
Hmm.. although the pleasure of having a private room for myself has temporarily vanished, living with Hinata should be quite fun.
—Meaning he could play with children.
Seeing Iizuna look over, Hinata immediately handed the volleyball over: "Iizuna-senpai, can you toss the ball to me!"
Wase-senpai had already gone to rest because he could no longer play, his serve training task was also completed.
The remaining time.. of course, it's to strike while the iron is hot and try out some straight-line back-row attacks!
Iizuna laughed, "Of course you can."
Since he was free anyway, he might as well let him experience what it's like to hit from such a high point.
Komori, who had already become close with Hinata, poked his shoulder. "Our captain is a Setter who once won the Best Individual award at the Junior World Youth Championship."
"The Junior World Championships! Doesn't that mean—" Hinata instantly caught the key point.
He remembered that the High School's Strongest Setter was currently Atsumu-senpai, which meant that Atsumu-senpai was even better than the best setter from the Junior High Interhigh!
Komori, who hadn't realized that Hinata's focus was completely different, was still introducing Iizuna to him, while on the other side, Wase, who had already collapsed by the sidelines, sighed, "They're too energetic.."
It's terrifying that these people can still play well even after practicing serves.
Hinata's hitting point is remarkably stable, he can basically jump to a height of about 3.37m every time.
At the high school level in the current stage, this kind of jumping ability has basically reached its peak; anything more would at most be the influence of height.
After marveling at Hinata's terrifying jumping ability in his heart, Iizuna still said, "Let's practice some lower balls next."
In many aspects, Hinata is quite impressive.
However.. his ball control is still a bit lacking; he can't deliver it to a precise spot.
"Eh? Why?" Hinata was stunned for a moment.
Iizuna gave a relatively acceptable answer: "During a match, it's impossible for the Setter to deliver every single ball perfectly; there will always be special circumstances, so it's better to adapt in advance."
But Hinata was even more confused: "Atsumu-senpai shouldn't have this kind of problem, right?"
The overly blunt answer stabbed Iizuna in the heart.
That Miya Atsumu.. when it comes to being a Setter, he can truly achieve "zero mistakes."
Iizuna pulled out another reason to explain, "It's mainly about relaxing a bit; at this stage, the main goal is to hit low balls to find his rhythm."
Hinata's expression was somewhat troubled: "But.. that won't work, right?"
"Huh?" This time, it was Iizuna's turn to be confused.
"Even the simplest training must be completed with grounded sincerity." Hinata looked at Iizuna Sho opposite him, his tone very calm, as if he were answering a question as simple as how many meals one eats every day.
There are gods above the three-foot line.
Only by doing your utmost can you earn the right to leave the rest to fate.
Ukanomitama blesses the harvest, but without diligent sowing at the very beginning, one can never wait for the day when the granaries are full of rice.
—That's what our Captain said.
Iizuna froze for a moment, but he understood what Hinata meant.
If he only practices hitting low balls to find his rhythm during training, he might not know how to handle high balls when the day of the actual match arrives.
Unexpectedly, he is a very sincere child.
Iizuna lowered his head and smiled, his voice softening: "But managing your physical health is equally important. It's not just about avoiding sudden injuries, but also about avoiding excessive wear and tear."
If you jump too much, your knees are very likely to have problems first.
Right now you're just learning the techniques. It would be better to wait until you've fully mastered them before trying to hit high balls.
Hinata froze for a moment upon hearing that.
He suddenly remembered that Coach Kurosu indeed hadn't had him specifically practice jumping for a very, very long time.
His jumping training had been completely converted into ground-based training exercises, usually, Miya Atsumu, Kumagai, Nagumo rarely performed high balls during regular practice.
Your knees are your most powerful weapon.
A sense of sudden realization dawned in Hinata's heart.
So.. the issue with knee wear and tear that Coach mentioned before—it's not just that increasing one's height would cause injury, but that jumping itself causes damage?
He had been protecting himself very well during this time; his warm-ups were always thorough, he never added extra training beyond the maximum volume set by Coach, he never pushed himself too hard during practice matches.
It took more than two months for Hinata Shoyo, whose reactions were completely a beat behind, to fully understand Coach Kurosu's words.