Volleyball is a team sport where two teams, typically with six players on each team, are separated by a

net. The players on the two teams hit an inflated ball back and forth over the net, trying to avoid
having the ball hit the ground on their side of the net. To put it in simple terms, volleyball is a team
sport in which the goal is to keep the ball alive while it is on your side of the net but to kill the rally by
putting the ball down on your opponent’s side of the net.

Volleyball is an exciting, fast-paced sport. It has been an official part of the Summer Olympic
Games since 1964.

RULES

The complete set of rules for volleyball is extremely extensive. Additionally, volleyball rules can be
difficult to keep up with as they often change. However, many of the central, most critical rules of the
sport remain the same.

You can score points in the game of volleyball in one of two ways:

1. Putting the ball on the floor in-bounds on your opponent's side of the net.
2. An error (forced or unforced) by your opponent which renders them unable to return the ball
over the net and in-bounds on your side in their allotted three contacts.

The sport of volleyball is one of the most malleable sports because it is played in many variations and
on many different surfaces.

TEAMS

Volleyball can be played in teams, with anywhere between two and six players. Indoor volleyball is
usually played with six players on each team.

Beach volleyball is often played with two players. Four-person volleyball is often seen in grass
tournaments and also occasionally on the beach.

VARIATIONS

There are many variations to the game of volleyball. Where volleyball is played, along with how it is
scored can vary widely. Volleyball can be played on hardwood, grass, sand or asphalt, using rally or
side-out scoring.

Volleyball matches can be played as one game or as the best of three or best of five sets. As far as
scoring, volleyball can be played to 15, 25, 30 or any number of points technically.

Play begins with one team serving the ball to the other. Each time the ball crosses over the net, a team
gets three contacts before they must send the ball back to the opponent's side. Ideally, the three
contacts will be a pass, set and hit, but it can be three passes or any other combination of contacts as
long as they are legal contacts.

The rally (or volley) continues until the ball hits the ground or one of the rules is broken. The team
that is not responsible for the end of the rally then gets a point.

A FEW VOLLEYBALL NO-NO'S

You cannot:
 1. Touch the net while making a play on the ball
2. Step on the back line while serving (foot fault)
3. Contact the ball more than three times on a side (A block doesn't count as a contact)
4. Lift or push the ball
5. Play the ball over the net outside of the antennas
6. Contact the ball twice in a row (unless the first contact was a block.)

WINNING THE MATCH

The first team to score the agreed upon number of points wins the game. You must win by at least two
points. The teams switch sides, the next game starts with a score of 0-0 and play starts again.

In a best-of-five match, the team who wins three sets wins the match.

Rules

The rules of volleyball are simple, but they’re constantly changing, and they can differ
depending on the level of competition. I started playing volleyball in middle school, in 2000,
and since then, several changes have affected high school and collegiate rules.

Setting up the Court

A volleyball court is 30 feet wide and 60 feet long; each side of the net is 30 feet by 30 feet.
A 2-inch line borders the court to serve as the out-of-bounds line. Any ball that touches the
line during play is still considered “in” the court.

In volleyball, there are six people on the court at one time for each team. Usually three
people are in the front row, and three are in the back row. The front row is sectioned off by a
line 10 feet from the net, called the “attack line” or the “10-foot line.” Front-row players are
not confined to this section of the court, but this is where most of their playing takes place.

Back to Basics
One thing that stays constant despite rule changes, though, is that during each possession
on one side of the net, a team can only have three contacts with the ball. The ideal
sequence of contacts is usually a pass, a set and a hit—even the terminology has changed
over the years. These skills were traditionally called bump, set and spike.

No player can ever make contact with the ball twice in succession, and the ball cannot be
caught or carried over the net. A block is not considered as part of a hit, which I’ll explain in
the ADVANCED section. Each play starts off with a serve. The server steps behind the line at
the very back of the court, called the end line, and has freedom to serve from wherever he
or she pleases as long as the foot does not touch or cross the line. If the server’s foot crosses
the end line, it is considered a foot fault, and results in a side-out—a change in possession—
of the ball.
The server must make the ball go over the net on the serve. It doesn’t matter if the ball
touches the net on a serve anymore. Balls that hit the net on serves and still go over and stay
in the court used to be illegal, but now they are allowed. These serves are called “let serves.”

Rotation
Positions are numbered, one through six, starting with the server in the back right corner.
Then going in a counter-clockwise direction, the rest of the positions are numbered. The
actual direction of the rotation is clockwise, however. After the server finishes, the other team
gets the ball, and you get the ball back, everyone just shifts to the right one spot.

Rotation, if not fully understood, can be a very confusing part of the game. In basic
volleyball there are three players in the front row and three in the back, and each player just
rotates to the next position as the plays go along. Any time a player is in the back row, he or
she cannot “attack” the ball in front of the 10-foot line on the court. Attacks are also known
as “hits” or “spikes”—usually the third hit of a possession. This rule is in effect to make sure that
the strong hitters aren’t always able to dominate the game. When the strong hitters are in
the back row, they can still attack the ball on the third hit, but they cannot jump in front of
the 10-foot line.

Switching
Contrary to the way it may seem, there are actually positions in volleyball, and despite the
mandatory rotation, it's possible to play the same position every play. The only catch is that if
you're not already in the position where you want to be, you have to wait to move to that
spot until after the ball has gone over the net on a serve.

Many teams use a hand-linking system to make the switch easier, but no player can cross
another's plane of rotation until the ball goes over the net.

Scoring
As for scoring, this has also changed. When I first started playing, points could only be scored
by the serving team, and games went to 15 points. Matches consisted of the best two out of
three games. Now volleyball has changed to rally scoring. Essentially, teams score points
whenever the other team messes up, and a point is awarded on every serve. Depending on
the level of competition, most matches are now played as the best three out of five games
to 25 points. Teams must win by at least two points for games to end. Points keep going until
one team wins with a margin of victory of two points even if the score is greater than 25.