Volleyball Handouts

I. Background / History of Volleyball

 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts (United States), William G. Morgan, a YMCA physical education
director, created a new game called Mintonette, a name derived from the game of badminton.
 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

II. Skills

 Service - A player stands behind the inline and serves the ball, in an attempt to drive it into the
opponent's court. The main objective is to make it land inside the court.
 Pass / Dig pass – it is also called reception, the pass is the attempt by a team to properly handle
the opponent's serve, or any form of attack. Proper handling includes not only preventing the
ball from touching the court, but also making it reach the position where the setter is standing
quickly and precisely.
 Set - The set is usually the second contact that a team makes with the ball.
 Attack/Spike – it is usually the third touch in volleyball, this skill focuses on scoring in which the
ball should land on the opponent’s court.
 Block - Blocking refers to the actions taken by players standing at the net to stop or alter an
opponent's attack.

III. Equipment / Rules of the Game

 A volleyball court is 9 m × 18 m , divided into equal square halves by a net

 Each court is divided into 2 areas the back row and the front row, the back row serves as the
area of floor defense and the attack row is for attacking and scoring.
 A player is not allowed to make any contact with the net.
 A player in the back row is not allowed to spike the ball in the front row.
 The ball - FIVB regulations state that the ball must be spherical, made of leather or synthetic
leather, have a circumference of 65–67 cm, a weight of 260–280 g
 The scoring in volleyball is rally system.
 6 players on a team, 3 on the front row and 3 on the back row.
 Maximum of three hits per side.
 Player may not hit the ball twice in succession (A block is not considered a hit).
 Ball may be played off the net during a volley and on a serve.
 A ball hitting a boundary line is in.
 A ball is outif it hits - an antennae, the floor completely outside the court, any of the net or
cables outside the antennae, the referee stand or pole, the ceiling above a nonplayable area.
 It is legal to contact the ball with any part of a players body.
 It is illegal to catch, hold, or throw the ball.
 If two or more players contact the ball at the same time, it is considered one play and either
player involved may make the next contact (provided the next contact isn’t the teams 4th hit).
 In Service the ball, the player is not allowed to step on the line or court. A player is allowed only
to serve the ball in 8 seconds.
 2 time outs per set is given to each team.
 Yellow card is just a warning. A couple of years ago this was given orally to the team, now
there’s a card to make it “official”.
 Red Card - the other team gets a penalty point and the service.
 Yellow and red card in one hand, meaning the player is excluded from the running set, but can
come back for the following one.
 Yellow and Red card in different hands, meaning the player is excluded from the match and have
to leave the playing area.