Volleyball: History, Facilities, and Equipment

• Volleyball is a team sport played on a rectangular court divided by a net.
• The objective is to score points by grounding the ball on the opponent's side of the court while preventing them from doing the same.

History

• William G. Morgan, a physical education director at the YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA, invented volleyball.
• The game borrowed traits from tennis and handball.
• Early volleyball rules included a net height of 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m).
• The court size was 25x50 ft (7.6x15.2 m).
• Teams could have any number of players.
• A match was composed of nine innings with three serves per team per inning.
• There was no limit to ball contacts.
• A second try was allowed for a serving error.
• A player could not hit the ball into the net and would lose the point unless it was the first try serve.

Facilities and Equipments - Court

• A volleyball court is 60 x 30 ft (18m x 9m).
• The in-play area of the court is the entire total area.
• Each side of the court measures 30 feet by 30 feet.
• Lines must be painted in the court.
• All lines are 5 cm wide.
• Lines must be of a light color that differs from the floor and other lines.
• The service line is the area from which the server may serve the volleyball and is marked 10 feet inside the right sideline on each back line.
• The center line is marked at the center of the court, dividing it equally into 30 feet squares (9m), above which the net is placed.
• The attack line marks the front zone, with its rear edge drawn 3 meters (3ms) back from the axis of the center line.
• Boundary lines consist of two sidelines and two end lines that mark the playing court.

Free Zone

• The free zone surrounds the playing court with a minimum width of 3m on all sides.

Ball Specifications

• Standard volleyballs are spherical and made of flexible or synthetic leather.
• Balls feature an internal bladder made of rubber or similar material.
• Balls are a uniform light color or a combination of colors.
• Official regulation volleyballs should have a circumference between 20-27 inches (65-67 cm).
• Standard weight is between 9-10 oz (260-280 g).
• The inside pressure should be 4.26-4.61 psi or between 0.30 to 0.325 kilograms per centimeter square.

Net and Posts

• Net posts are positioned 36 feet apart, 3 feet outside the sidelines.
• The net is placed vertically over the center line.
• For men's volleyball, the top of the net is set at 2.43m and for women, 2.24m.
• The height of the net may be modified to suit specific age groups.
• For females, the net height is 2.24 m for 16 years and under, 2.12 m for 14 years and under, and 2.00 m for 12 years and under.
• For males, the net height is 2.24 m for 16 years and under, 2.12 m for 14 years and under, and 2.00 m for 12 years and under.
• Volleyball nets are 1m wide and 9.5-10m long, with 25-50cm on each side of the side bands.
• The mesh is made of 10cm square black mesh.
• Two white bands, 5 cm wide and 1m long, are fastened vertically to the net and positioned above each side line.
• Each net also has an antenna.
• Antennas are flexible rod, 1.80m long, and 10mm in diameter, made of fiberglass or similar material.
• Posts are placed at a distance of 0.50-1.00 m outside the side lines with a height of 2.55 m.
• Posts must be adjustable if possible.
• The playing surface, including the playing court and surrounding free zone of at least 3m, must be flat, horizontal, uniform, and present no risk of injury to players.
• FIVB regulations allow wooden and synthetic surfaces only.

Basic Principles

• The primary goal is to ground the ball on the opponent's side, preventing it from landing on your side.
• Teams are allowed a maximum of three contacts before sending the ball over the net.
• Six players rotate clockwise through six positions.
• Three front row positions includes the left front, middle front, and right front.
• Three back row positions includes the left back, middle back, and right back.
• Teams rotate with each new serve.
• No player can hit the ball twice in a row.
• A player cannot cause the ball to come to a rest during contact.
• The net is off-limits.

Game Play

• Each volleying team has a maximum of three hits per side.
• Players cannot hit the ball two consecutive times.
• A block is not considered a hit.
• Balls may be played off the net during a volley and on a serve.
• A ball touching a boundary line is considered good.
• A legal hit involves contact with the ball by a player's body above and including the waist, without visibly letting the ball come to a rest.
• If two or more players contact the ball simultaneously, it is considered one play, and those players cannot participate in the next play.
• Players can not block or attack a serve.
• Switching positions is allowed only between front line players after the serve.

The Serve

• Servers must serve from behind the end line until contact with the ball.
• The ball may be served underhand or overhand.
• The ball must be clearly visible to opponents before the serve.
• A served ball may graze the net and drop to the other side for a point.
• The first game serve is determined by a volley.
• Subsequent games are served by the previous game loser.
• Serves must be returned by a bump only and no setting or attacking is permitted.

Substitution

• Teams are allotted a specific limited number of substitutions per game, which varies based on the league or level of play.
• Substitutions can occur only during dead ball situations.
• Coaches or players must request a substitution from the official, after which the substitute enters the substitution zone and awaits the referee's approval.

Scoring

• Rally scoring is used.
• A point is awarded on every score of the ball.
• The offense scores when the defense misses or hits the ball out of bounds.
• The defense scores when the offense misses, hits out of bounds, or serves into the net.
• Games are played to 25 points.
• A team must win by 2 points.

Rotation

• The team rotates each time they win the serve.
• The manner of rotation is clockwise.
• There shall be 4-6 players on each side.

Basic Skills

Serving

• Serving starts the play.
• Different techniques include:
  • Underhand serve
  • Float serve
  • Jump serve
  • Top spin serve

Passing

• Passing is a method of receiving an opponent's serve or overhand attack.
• Popular forms include:
  • The forearm pass
  • The overhand pass

Setting

• When setting, the goal is to position the ball in the air to allow a teammate to easily complete an overhand attack or hit.

Blocking

• Blocking is an attempt to stop an opponent's attack by jumping with hands overhead to create a barrier at the net.
• The most common blocking violation involves touching the net.

Hitting

• The attack occurs on a team's third and final contact.
• Attackers often jump when striking the ball to increase the difficulty of the hit for the receiving team.

Volleyball Lingo / Terms

• Ace: A serve that lands untouched by the receiving team.
• Side-out: Occurs when the serving team fails to win a point, resulting in a loss of serve to the opponent.
• Roof: A block where a player jumps above the net and blocks the ball straight down.
• Stuff Block: When a player jumps near the height of the net and blocks the ball back at the person who spiked the ball.
• Dig: When a player makes a save from a difficult spike.
• Kill: When a team spikes the ball successfully to put it away and score a point.
• Paint Brush: When the hitter swings and barely "brushes" the bottom of the ball, causing it to drop over the blockers for a kill.
• Six Pack/Facial: When a defensive player gets hit in the head or face by a spiked ball.
• Tool/Wipe: Deliberately hitting the ball off the block for a kill, also known as using the block.