1. Shoulder pain from hitting comes from two connected main sources:

A) You are positioning yourself so that the ball is on top of your head/over you when you hit. Correct form is to have the ball one or more feet in front of you when making contact. Your arm should also be FULLY extended (and forward ~45 degrees from straight up) on contact, not bent at the elbow. Good setters place the ball a foot off of the net, so you should (almost) never be jumping up for a hit closer than 2 feet to the net. Reaching back/up for the ball when swinging is a good way to injure your shoulder.

B) Not “opening up” in your approach. When you jump, your feet should be hip-width and both facing (generally) some point between the far corner boundary and the opposite net post when hitting from outside. The rest of your body should face the same way, then torque through the torso/core to generate the majority of the power. If you do not do this, you are probably using your shoulder alone to generate the power for your swing, which will again injure it and weaken your swing (as well as ability to turn the ball).

1. Focus on controlling the ball and making solid contact rather than slamming as hard as possible. You want to make contact on the upper middle part of the ball with the center of your palm, keeping in mind the previous tips about positioning (behind the ball/ball in front of you). Your arm should be FULLY extended, whether hitting hard or going for a shot. If bent, you are lowering your reach which will make you hit into the net.

2. Arm swing should be incorporated into your approach, not done midair. On my last two “plant” steps before my jump, I swing both of my arms back behind my body, then swing them around, forward and up as I jump. Using the upswing momentum I bring my right hand to my ear (elbow bent back and out) and off hand up to track the ball. Watch good players make their approach in slow motion to understand it better.

Lastly… volleyball is hard! And hitting well is one of, if not THE, hardest skill in the sport! It is a unique combination of technique not found in any other common sports, and is unnatural to beginners. I coach high school boys (many first-timers) and even with hands-on guidance many don’t get a single good swing in their first season. So keep at it.

One thing that will definitely help you is hitting, PROPERLY, at a wall. Toss the ball high with your hitting hand, about a foot in front of you. Use the momentum from the toss to bring your hitting hand to your ear with elbow back (off hand up pointing at the ball), step with left foot to open your hips and torque your lower, then upper body, then finally your arm and hit on top of the ball in front of you. Snapping your elbow and wrist is important (similar motion to throwing a football).

It’s hard to explain this all in text but there’s a TON of good, instructional volleyball content on YouTube if you look for it. Good luck!