Learn
About volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since Tokyo 1964. Beach Volleyball was introduced to the programme at the Atlanta 1996. The adapted version of volleyball at the Summer Paralympic Games is sitting volleyball.
The complete set of rules is extensive, but play essentially proceeds as follows: a player on one of the teams begins a 'rally' by serving the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm), from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into the receiving team's court. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court. The team may touch the ball up to three times, but individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively. Typically, the first two touches are used to set up for an attack. An attack is an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the team receiving the ball is unable to pass the ball and continue the rally, thus, losing the point.
As the rally continues, with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches, until a team fails to return the ball to the other side of the court resulting in that team losing the rally and the opponents gaining the point. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point and serves the ball to start the next rally. A few of the most common faults include:
- causing the ball to touch the ground or floor outside the opponents' court or without first passing over the net;
- catching and throwing the ball;
- double hit: two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player;
- four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team;net foul:
- touching the net during play;foot fault: the foot crosses over the boundary line when serving.
The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.
A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking (because these plays are made above the top of the net, the vertical jump is an athletic skill emphasized in the sport) as well as passing, setting, and specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures.
The complete set of rules is extensive, but play essentially proceeds as follows: a player on one of the teams begins a 'rally' by serving the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm), from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into the receiving team's court. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court. The team may touch the ball up to three times, but individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively. Typically, the first two touches are used to set up for an attack. An attack is an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the team receiving the ball is unable to pass the ball and continue the rally, thus, losing the point.
As the rally continues, with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches, until a team fails to return the ball to the other side of the court resulting in that team losing the rally and the opponents gaining the point. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point and serves the ball to start the next rally. A few of the most common faults include:
- causing the ball to touch the ground or floor outside the opponents' court or without first passing over the net;
- catching and throwing the ball;
- double hit: two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player;
- four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team;net foul:
- touching the net during play;foot fault: the foot crosses over the boundary line when serving.
The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.
A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking (because these plays are made above the top of the net, the vertical jump is an athletic skill emphasized in the sport) as well as passing, setting, and specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures.
Sitting volleyball (sometimes known as Paralympic volleyball) is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor during the game.
In sitting volleyball, a 7 meter-long, 0.8 meter-wide net is set at 1.15 meters high for men and 1.05 meters high for women. The court is 10 x 6 meters with a 2-meter attack line. The rules are the same as the original form of volleyball with the exceptions that players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor whenever they make contact with the ball and it is also possible to block the serve. Athletes with the following disabilities are eligible to compete in sitting volleyball: athletes with amputations, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, brain injuries and stroke. Classifications of these athletes by disability are placed into two categories: MD and D. MD stands for "Minimally Disabled," and D stands for “Disabled.” While Minimally Disabled athletes have lost only a fraction of their muscular strength and flexibility in a joint preventing them from successfully playing standing volleyball, Disabled athletes have lost all of their muscular strength and flexibility in that joint. Only two MD players are allowed on the roster for the Paralympic Games and only one is allowed on the court at a time; this is to keep the competition fair between rival teams. The rest of the team must be classified as D players.
In sitting volleyball, a 7 meter-long, 0.8 meter-wide net is set at 1.15 meters high for men and 1.05 meters high for women. The court is 10 x 6 meters with a 2-meter attack line. The rules are the same as the original form of volleyball with the exceptions that players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor whenever they make contact with the ball and it is also possible to block the serve. Athletes with the following disabilities are eligible to compete in sitting volleyball: athletes with amputations, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, brain injuries and stroke. Classifications of these athletes by disability are placed into two categories: MD and D. MD stands for "Minimally Disabled," and D stands for “Disabled.” While Minimally Disabled athletes have lost only a fraction of their muscular strength and flexibility in a joint preventing them from successfully playing standing volleyball, Disabled athletes have lost all of their muscular strength and flexibility in that joint. Only two MD players are allowed on the roster for the Paralympic Games and only one is allowed on the court at a time; this is to keep the competition fair between rival teams. The rest of the team must be classified as D players.
Skills are largely identical to the sport of volleyball and the following game terminology apply:
- Ace - A serve that lands in the opponent's court without being touched.
- Attack - An attempt by a player to win a point by hitting the ball over the net.
- Attack line - In indoor volleyball, a line three metres from the net which marks the limit for where a back-row player may advance to hit a ball from above the net.
- Back-row player - In indoor volleyball, any of three players positioned at the back of the court.
- Block - To block an opposing player from spiking the ball by jumping at the net with arms in the air.
- Boom - In beach volleyball, a spike straight down into the sand (slang).
- Centre line - In indoor volleyball, the imaginary line running directly under the net and dividing the court in half.
- Chuck - To push or throw the ball rather than hit it (slang).
- Court - The playing area.
- Crossing space - The zone above the net and between two antennae through which the ball must pass during a rally.
- Dig - A defensive move in which both arms are placed together in an attempt to bounce a hard-hit ball up into the air.
- End line - A back boundary line of the court.
- Facial - A boom or spike that hits an opponent in the face (slang).
- Fault - A foul or error which results in the loss of the rally.
- Front-row player - In indoor volleyball, any of three players positioned closest to the net.
- Front zone - In indoor volleyball, the area between the net and the attack line.
- Ground - To hit the ball to the ground, preferably on the other team's court.
- Heater - A hard-hit or spiked ball (slang).
- Hit - To touch the ball as an offensive player, one of three "hits" allowed a team in getting the ball back over the net.
- Hold - To let the ball settle into the hands briefly on a shot instead of releasing it immediately.
- Joust - A joust occurs above the net between two or more opposing players that forces the ball to become stationary. Point is replayed.
- Kill - To smash the ball overarm into the opponent's court; also called a "spike".
- Kong - A one-handed block, named after King Kong's style of swatting biplanes in the original King Kong movie (slang).
- Libero - In indoor volleyball, a substitute defensive player especially adept at digging.
- Lip - A good dig (slang).
- Match - A series of sets to determine a winner.
- Mintonette - The original name for volleyball.
- Missile - A spike or serve hit out of bounds (slang).
- Pass - the attempt by a team to properly handle the opponent's serve, or any form of attack.
- Rally - The exchange of plays that decides each point.
- Rotate - In indoor volleyball, to move to the next position on the floor in a clockwise manner.
- Screen - To impede the opponent's view of the ball during the serve.
- Serve - The stroke used to put the ball in play at the start of each rally.
- Set - 1. The part of a match completed when one side has scored enough points to win a single contest. 2. To position the ball so a teammate can attack.
- Setter - A player who excels in setting up teammates to attack.
- Sideline - A side boundary line on a court.
- Spade - An ace (slang).
- Spike - To smash the ball overarm into the opponent's court; also called a "kill".
Sitting volleyball (sometimes known as Paralympic volleyball) is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor during the game.
In sitting volleyball, a 7 meter-long, 0.8 meter-wide net is set at 1.15 meters high for men and 1.05 meters high for women. The court is 10 x 6 meters with a 2-meter attack line. The rules are the same as the original form of volleyball with the exceptions that players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor whenever they make contact with the ball and it is also possible to block the serve. Athletes with the following disabilities are eligible to compete in sitting volleyball: athletes with amputations, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, brain injuries and stroke. Classifications of these athletes by disability are placed into two categories: MD and D. MD stands for "Minimally Disabled," and D stands for “Disabled.” While Minimally Disabled athletes have lost only a fraction of their muscular strength and flexibility in a joint preventing them from successfully playing standing volleyball, Disabled athletes have lost all of their muscular strength and flexibility in that joint. Only two MD players are allowed on the roster for the Paralympic Games and only one is allowed on the court at a time; this is to keep the competition fair between rival teams. The rest of the team must be classified as D players.
In sitting volleyball, a 7 meter-long, 0.8 meter-wide net is set at 1.15 meters high for men and 1.05 meters high for women. The court is 10 x 6 meters with a 2-meter attack line. The rules are the same as the original form of volleyball with the exceptions that players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor whenever they make contact with the ball and it is also possible to block the serve. Athletes with the following disabilities are eligible to compete in sitting volleyball: athletes with amputations, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, brain injuries and stroke. Classifications of these athletes by disability are placed into two categories: MD and D. MD stands for "Minimally Disabled," and D stands for “Disabled.” While Minimally Disabled athletes have lost only a fraction of their muscular strength and flexibility in a joint preventing them from successfully playing standing volleyball, Disabled athletes have lost all of their muscular strength and flexibility in that joint. Only two MD players are allowed on the roster for the Paralympic Games and only one is allowed on the court at a time; this is to keep the competition fair between rival teams. The rest of the team must be classified as D players.
Skills are largely identical to the sport of volleyball and the following game terminology apply:
- Ace - A serve that lands in the opponent's court without being touched.
- Attack - An attempt by a player to win a point by hitting the ball over the net.
- Attack line - In indoor volleyball, a line three metres from the net which marks the limit for where a back-row player may advance to hit a ball from above the net.
- Back-row player - In indoor volleyball, any of three players positioned at the back of the court.
- Block - To block an opposing player from spiking the ball by jumping at the net with arms in the air.
- Boom - In beach volleyball, a spike straight down into the sand (slang).
- Centre line - In indoor volleyball, the imaginary line running directly under the net and dividing the court in half.
- Chuck - To push or throw the ball rather than hit it (slang).
- Court - The playing area.
- Crossing space - The zone above the net and between two antennae through which the ball must pass during a rally.
- Dig - A defensive move in which both arms are placed together in an attempt to bounce a hard-hit ball up into the air.
- End line - A back boundary line of the court.
- Facial - A boom or spike that hits an opponent in the face (slang).
- Fault - A foul or error which results in the loss of the rally.
- Front-row player - In indoor volleyball, any of three players positioned closest to the net.
- Front zone - In indoor volleyball, the area between the net and the attack line.
- Ground - To hit the ball to the ground, preferably on the other team's court.
- Heater - A hard-hit or spiked ball (slang).
- Hit - To touch the ball as an offensive player, one of three "hits" allowed a team in getting the ball back over the net.
- Hold - To let the ball settle into the hands briefly on a shot instead of releasing it immediately.
- Joust - A joust occurs above the net between two or more opposing players that forces the ball to become stationary. Point is replayed.
- Kill - To smash the ball overarm into the opponent's court; also called a "spike".
- Kong - A one-handed block, named after King Kong's style of swatting biplanes in the original King Kong movie (slang).
- Libero - In indoor volleyball, a substitute defensive player especially adept at digging.
- Lip - A good dig (slang).
- Match - A series of sets to determine a winner.
- Mintonette - The original name for volleyball.
- Missile - A spike or serve hit out of bounds (slang).
- Pass - the attempt by a team to properly handle the opponent's serve, or any form of attack.
- Rally - The exchange of plays that decides each point.
- Rotate - In indoor volleyball, to move to the next position on the floor in a clockwise manner.
- Screen - To impede the opponent's view of the ball during the serve.
- Serve - The stroke used to put the ball in play at the start of each rally.
- Set - 1. The part of a match completed when one side has scored enough points to win a single contest. 2. To position the ball so a teammate can attack.
- Setter - A player who excels in setting up teammates to attack.
- Sideline - A side boundary line on a court.
- Spade - An ace (slang).
- Spike - To smash the ball overarm into the opponent's court; also called a "kill".
