Abstract: A device for the practice of the running-jumping-striking volleyball maneuver known as spiking including an elevated volleyball tethered below an essentially horizontal backstop by a flexible funicular rod. The backstop and flexible funicular rod serve rapidly to damp the kinetic energy imparted by spiking. The flexible funicular rod may also serve to impart a realistic feel to the person using the device to practice spiking. Elevated support for the volleyball is provided by an adjustable arm clamped to a volleyball net's end post or, alternatively, by an arm detachably mounted to the hoop of a basketball net. The device may be assembled, erected, and used by one person.