Volleyball Volleyball Vulture Category="Ball games"Category="Olympic sports"Category="Team sports"Category="Volleyball"Volleyball is the second most popular Sport in the world, where two teams, separated by a high net, hit a ball back and forth over the net between the teams. Every team is allowed three hits to get the ball over the net to the other team. A point is scored if the ball hits the ground in the opponents' court, if the opponents commit a fault, or if they fail to return the ball properly. [image] Volleyball is a very active sport that provides an excellent level of Aerobic exercise. It also helps players in their hand-eye coordination and the ability to override the instinctive desire to dodge an object such as a ball.

History

On February 9, 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, William G. Morgan, a YMCA physical education director, created a new game called Mintonette as a pastime to be played preferably indoors and by any number of players. The game took some of its characteristics from Tennis and handball. Another indoor sport, Basketball, was catching on in the area, having been invented just ten miles away in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts only four years before. Mintonette (as volleyball was then known) was designed to be an indoor sport less rough than basketball for older members of the YMCA, while still requiring a bit of athletic effort.

The first rules, written down by William G. Morgan himself, called for a net 6 feet 6 inches high; a 25 × 50 foot court; any number of players; a match composed of 9 innings with 3 serves for each team in each inning; and no limit to the number of ball contacts allowed each team before sending the ball to the opponents’ court. In case of a serving error, a second try was allowed (as in tennis), and a ball hitting the net was to be considered a foul (with loss of the point or a side-out)--except in the case of the first-try serve (as in tennis). To protect the fingers of the ladies, they were allowed to catch the ball and then throw it again.

After an observer noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition match in 1896 played at the Springfield YMCA, the game quickly became known as volleyball (originally spelled as two words). Volleyball rules, along with rules for basketball, were slightly modified by the Springfield YMCA and spread around the country to other YMCA locations.

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An international federation, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), was founded in 1947, and the first World Championships were held in 1949 (men) and 1952 (women). Volleyball was added to the program of the Olympic Games in 1964, and has been part ever since. Beach volleyball became a FIVB-endorsed variation in 1986 and was added to the Olympic program at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

The first foreign country to adapt volleyball was Canada, in 1900. The sport is now popular in Brazil, all Europe (where especially Italy, Netherlands and Serbia are major forces since late Eighties), Russia and other countries including China and the rest of Asia, as well as the United States. The FIVB estimates that 1 in 6 people in the world participate in or observe indoor volleyball, beach volleyball, or backyard (recreational) volleyball.

See also Volleyball in the United States

Rules

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Equipment

The game is played on volleyball courts 18 metres long and 9 metres wide, divided into two 9 x 9 metre "team courts" by a one-metre wide net placed such that its highest point is 2.43 metres above the ground in men's competition, and 2.24 metres for women's competition (these heights are varied for veterans and junior competitions). There is a line 3 metres from and parallel to the net in each team court termed the "attack line".

The team courts are surrounded by an area called the free zone which is a minimum of 2 metres wide and which the players may enter and play within after the service of the ball. All lines denoting the boundaries of the team court and the attack zone are drawn or painted within the dimensions of the area and are therefore a part of the court or zone and a ball touching the line is considered in. An Antenna is placed on each side of the net perpendicular to the sideline and is a vertical extension of the side boundary of the court. A ball passing over the net must pass completely between the antennae (or their theoretical extensions to the ceiling) without contacting them.

The ball (a volleyball), is made of leather or synthetic leather and inflated with compressed air. It is round and 65-67 cm in circumference.

Game play

Each of the two teams consists of six players, three located in front of the attack line and three behind.

To get play started, a team is chosen to serve by coin toss. A player from the serving team (the server) throws the ball into the air and attempts to hit the ball so it passes over the net on a course such that it will land in the opposing team's court (the serve). The opposing team must use a combination of no more than three contacts with the volleyball to return the ball to the opponent's side of the net. These contacts usually consist first of the bump or pass so that the ball's trajectory is aimed towards the player designated as the setter; second of the set (an over-hand pass using finger-tip action) by the setter so that the ball's trajectory is aimed towards one or more players designated as the attacker and third by the attacker who spikes (jumping, raising one arm above the head and hitting the ball so it will move quickly down to the ground on the opponent's court) to return the ball over the net. The team with possession of the ball and that is trying to attack the ball as described is said to be on offense.

The team on defense attempts to prevent the attacker from directing the ball into their court by having players at the net jump and reach above the top (and if possible, across the plane) of the net in order to block the attacked ball. If the ball is hit around, above or through the block, the defensive players arranged in the rest of the court attempt to control the ball with a dig (a fore-arm pass of a hard-driven ball). After a successful dig, the team transitions to offense.

The game continues in this manner until the ball touches the court within the boundaries or until an error is made. [image]

Errors or faults

1If the ball passes outside the antennas at the first hit of team, e.g. as the result of a bad pass or dig, a player is allowed to go after the ball if he does not touch the opponent's court and if the ball travels back to his court also outside the antennas.

2 Except if a player blocks (touches a ball sent over the net by the opposing team, while reaching above the top of the net) a ball that stays in the blocker's side of the net. In such an instance the blocker may play the ball another time without violating the rule against playing the ball twice in succession. Also, contacts as part of a block do not count against the three allowed touches.

3 At the first hit of the team, the ball may be contact various parts of the body consecutively provided that the contacts occur during one action.

4 Penetration under the net with hands or feet is allowed only if a portion of the penetrating hands or feet remains in contact with the player's court or the center line.

5 Screening is only a fault if the players stand directly next to each other in a way that clearly impedes vision, and the serve is a low line drive over their heads. (This is a judgement call by the referee. He generally will only take action after the opposite team has notified him that they are being screened, and will almost always give out a warning - often multiple warnings - before sanctioning the team for screening.) [image]

Scoring

When the ball contacts the floor within the court boundaries or an error is made, the team that did not make the error is awarded a point, whether or not it served the ball. The team that won the point is awarded the right to serve for the next point. If the team that won the point served the previous point, the same player serves again. If the team that won the point did not serve the previous point, the players of the team rotate their position on the court in a clockwise manner. The game continues, with the first team to score 25 points (and be two points ahead) awarded the set. Matches are best-of-five sets and the fifth set (if necessary) is usually played to 15 points. (Scoring differs between leagues, tournaments, and levels; high schools sometimes play best-of-three to 30; in the NCAA games are played best-of-five to 30.)

Before 1999, points could be scored only when a team had the service (side-out scoring) and all sets went up to only 15 points. The FIVB changed the rules in 1999 (with the changes being compulsory in 2000) to use the current scoring system (formerly known as rally point system), primarily to make the length of the match more predictable and to make the game more spectator- and television-friendly.

The Libero

In 1998 the Libero player was introduced. The libero is a player specialized in defensive skills: he must wear a different coloured jersey and cannot block or attack. When the ball is not in play, the libero can replace any back-row player, without prior notice to the referees. His substitutions also do not count against the 12-substitution limit each team is allowed per set.

The libero may function as a setter only under certain restrictions. If he makes an overhand set, he must be standing behind (and not stepping on) the 3-meter line; otherwise, the ball cannot be attacked above the net in front of the 3-meter line. A bump set is allowed from any part of the court.

Furthermore, a libero is not allowed to serve, according to the official rules. An exception is the NCAA women's volleyball competition, where a 2004 rule change does allow the libero to serve.

Other recent rule changes

Other rule changes enacted in 2000 include the introduction of the net serve which allows play to continue even if a served ball touches the net as long as it continues into the opponents' court. Also, the service area was expanded to allow players to serve from anywhere behind the end line but still within the theoretical extension of the sidelines. Other changes were made to lighten up calls on faults for carries and double-touches, such as allowing a "hard-driven ball" to be slightly carried. From 2006 there are plans for trying new rule changes, such as having a second serve option when failing the first (as in Tennis) or a second alternative libero in the team. [image]

Skills

At international level, competitive teams are supposed to master six basic skills: serve, pass, set, spike, block and dig. Each of these skills comprise a number of specific techniques that have been introduced along the years and are now considered standard practice in high-level volleyball.

Serve

The serve marks the beginning of a rally in volleyball. A player stands behind the baseline and hits the ball, in an attempt to drive it into the opponent's court. His main objective is to make it land inside the court; it is also desirable to set the ball's direction, speed and acceleration so that it becomes difficult for the receiver to handle it properly. A serve is called an "ace" when the ball lands directly onto the court or travels outside after being touched by an opponent.

In contemporary volleyball, many types of serve are employed:

Pass

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Also called reception, the pass is the attempt by a team to properly handle the opponent's serve or "free ball". 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.

The skill of passing involves fundamentally two specific techniques: underarm pass, or bump (“bacher” in European terminology), where the ball touches the inside part of the joined forearms, at waist line; and overhand pass, where it is handled with the fingertips above the head.

Set

The set is usually the second contact a team makes with the ball. The main goal of setting is to put the ball in the air in such a way that it can be driven by a spike into the opponent's court. The setter coordinates the offensive movements of a team. He is the one who ultimately decides which player will actually attack the ball.

As with passing, one may distinguish between an overhand and a bump set. Since the former allows for more control over the speed and direction of the ball, the bump is used only when the ball is so low it cannot be properly handled with fingertips, or in beach volleyball where rules regulating overhand setting are more stringent. In the case of a set, one also speaks of a front or back set, meaning whether the ball is passed in the direction the setter is facing or not.

Sometimes a setter refrains from raising the ball for a teammate to perform a spike and tries to play it directly onto the opponent's court. This movement is called a "dump".

Spike

The spike (or attack) is usually the third contact a team makes with the ball. The object of spiking is to handle the ball so that it lands on the opponent's court and cannot be defended. A player makes a series of steps (the "approach"), jumps and then projects his body forward, thus transferring its kinetic energy to the ball when contact is made.

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Contemporary volleyball comprises a number of attacking techniques:

Block

[image] Blocking refers to the actions taken by players standing at the net to stop or alter an opponent's attack.

A block that is aimed at completely stopping an attack, thus making the ball remain in the opponent's court, is called offensive. A well-executed offensive block is performed by jumping and reaching to penetrate with one's arms and hands over the net and into the opponent's area. The jump should be timed so as to intercept the ball's trajectory prior to it crossing over the net. Palms are held deflected downward about 45-60 degrees toward the interior of the opponents court. A "roof" is a spectacular offensive block that redirects the power and speed of the attack straight down to the attacker's floor, as if the attacker hit the ball into the underside of a peaked house roof.

By contrast, it is called a defensive, or "soft" block if the goal is to control and deflect the hard-driven ball up so that it slows down and becomes more easy to be defended. A well-executed soft-block is performed by jumping and placing one's hands above the net with no penetration into the opponent's court and with the palms up and fingers pointing backward.

Blocking is also classified according to the number of players involved. Thus, one may speak of single (or solo), double, or triple block.

Successful blocking does not always result in a "roof" and many times does not even touch the ball. While it’s obvious that a block was a success when the attacker is roofed, a block that consistantly forces the attacker away from their 'power' or preferred spike into a more easily controlled shot by the defense is also a highly successful block.

Moreover, positions where defenders place themselves while opponent hitters are spiking depend from the block position.

Dig

Digging is the ability to prevent the ball from touching one's court after a spike. In many aspects, this skill is similar to passing: overhand dig and bump are also used to distinguish between defensive actions taken with fingertips or with joined arms.

Some specific techniques are more common in digging than in passing. A player may sometimes perform a "dive", i.e., he throws his body in the air with a forward movement in an attempt to save the ball, and lands on his chest. When he also slides his hand under a ball that is almost touching the court, this is called a "pancake".

Sometimes a player may also be forced to drop his body quickly to the floor in order to save the ball. In this situation, he makes use of a specific rolling technique to minimize the chances of injuries.

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Strategy

Player specialization

Players do not usually master all six skills, but rather focus on one or more of them in connection with the tactics employed by each team. The most common specialization comprises three positions: attacker/blocker (also differentiated in “outside” and “middle”), setter and liberos (defensive specialist).

Generally, taller players with the ability to jump high are utilized as attackers/blockers, where they attempt to block or spike opponents' initial hits and return the ball at high speed on steep trajectories so that the ball lands before the other team has time to react.

Formations

The 6-2 and 5-1 are commonly used formations in competitive volleyball. The 4-2 formation is a more basic formation used in less competitive volleyball.

6-2

In the 6-2 formation, a player always comes forward from the back row to set. The three front row players are all in attacking positions. A 6-2 lineup must therefore have two setters, who line up opposite to each other in the rotation. In addition to the setters, a typical lineup will have two middle hitters and two outside hitters. By aligning like positions opposite themselves in the rotation, there will always be one of each position in the front and back rows. After service, the players in the front row move into their assigned positions.

5-1

The 5-1 formation has only one setter, who assumes setting responsibilities regardless of his position in the rotation. The team will therefore have three front-row attackers when the setter is in the back row, and only two when the setter is in the front row.

The player opposite the setter in a 5-1 rotation is called the opposite hitter. In general, opposite hitters do not pass; they stand behind their teammates when the opponent is serving. The opposite hitter may be used as a third attack option (backrow attack) when the setter is in the front row: this is the normal option used to increase the attack capabilities of modern volleyball teams. Normally the opposite hitter is the most powerful hitter of the team. Normally backrow attacks come from the back-right position, even though backrow attacks are increasingly performed by hitters also from back-center

The so-called 5-1 is the formation most often favored in today's high-level volleyball.

4-2

The 4-2 formation has four hitters and two setters. The setters usually set from the middle front position. (In the rare competitive 4-2, the setters more often set from the right front position.) The team will therefore have two front-row attackers at all times.

The setters line up opposite each other in the rotation. The typical lineup has two outside hitters. By aligning like positions opposite themselves in the rotation, there will always be one of each position in the front and back rows. After service, the players in the front row move into their assigned positions, so that the setter is always in middle front. Alternatively, the setter moves into the right front and has both a middle and an outside attacker; the disadvantage here lies in the lack of an offside hitter, allowing one of the other team's blockers to "cheat in" on a middle block.

The clear disadvantage to this offensive formation is that there are only two attackers, leaving a team with fewer offensive weapons. The 5-1 offense is actually a mix of 6-2 and 4-2: when the setter is in the front row, the offense is a 4-2; when the setter is in the back row, the offense is a 6-2.

Variations

Beach volleyball

[image] A newer variation of the game, Beach volleyball, has evolved from the popular social games of volleyball played on many beaches around the world. This version, rather than played on indoor hard courts, is played on Sand courts which may either be formed naturally or built specifically for the purpose. Instead of a team of six, each team consists of only two players, but otherwise the rules are almost identical with some exceptions including:

Indoor sand volleyball

This is an even newer variation than beach volleyball. As beach volleyball took volleyball outdoors, indoor sand volleyball takes beach volleyball indoors. In the United States, a growing number of colleges are now considering switching from hard court indoor volleyball to sand court indoor volleyball. The biggest reason for the possible change is the reduced rate of injury of players. Secondary reasons are: 1) bad weather doesn't cancel play, something that commonly happens with beach volleyball; 2) it is thought to make the game more appealing to spectators since sand courts do not require players to wear elbow and knee pads or shoes. A further reason for the expected success of this variation is the assumption that female indoor teams will wear bikinis in the style of beach volleyball, thus increasing the sex appeal of the sport for male audiences.

Indoor sand volleyball teams vary from two to six members, college teams having six. Normally, rather than using a purpose-built hall, an indoor basketball court is converted. A protective tarpaulin covers the floor of the basketball court and "soft" sand is laid a foot deep over it. The boundaries are commonly marked off with lines in the sand. However, a recent innovation uses colored lasers that illuminate the lines in the sand.

Sitting volleyball

Sitting volleyball for locomotor-disabled individuals was first introduced in 1956 by the Dutch Sports Committee. International competition began in 1967, but it would be 1978 before the International Sports Organisation for the Disabled (ISOD) sanctioned the sport and sponsored an official international tournament in 1979 at Haarlem, Netherlands.

The game is played on a smaller 10 x 6 meter court and with a 0.8 meter-wide net set to a height of 1.15 meters for men and 1.05 meters for women. When hitting or attacking the ball, the player must have one "buttock" or an extension of the torso still in contact with the floor. Traditionally the sport has been played not only by amputees and people with polio, but people who have orthopedic problems in their knees or ankles. Often able-bodied players are on the club teams. Because of the game's quick pace, the use of your hands to move and play the ball, good balance and a sturdy butt are a necessity. Consequently, it is not the ideal sport for most paraplegics.

Men's sitting volleyball was introduced to the Paralympic Games in 1980 and has grown to be one of the more popular Paralympic sports due to the fast and exciting action. Women's sitting volleyball was added to the program for the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece. The international governing body for the sport is The World Organisation Volleyball for Disabled (WOVD).

Blind Volleyball

Another variation that tries to remove height of players as a determining factor in team success is blind volleyball. Ad-hoc blind volleyball is where sheets are draped over the net so one side cannot see the other side. A more formal type of blind volleyball removes the traditional volleyball net and replaces it with a tarp thick enough that shadows cast on it cannot be seen from the other side. Blocks, spikes, and overhand serves are prohibited. Blocks are almost impossible to do since it is difficult to know where the ball is going to come over the net. Spikes and overhand serves are prohibited because it is already very difficult for the receiving team to react to any incoming ball without the increased speed of a ball struck in such a manner.

Blind volleyball additionally creates a higher level of suspense for spectators, who, unlike the players, can see what is taking place on both sides.

Another unique feature of blind volleyball is how it can make the back row the row that hits the ball over the net. In regular volleyball, the back row tends to receive the volleyball and then move it to the front row. In blind volleyball, moving the ball to the back row makes it harder for the other team to see where the ball is and by hitting the ball on a flatter trajectory, the back-row players can more easily surprise the receiving team on where the ball will be coming over the net.

However, this variation of volleyball is unknown to most people.

Nine-man volleyball

A variation of volleyball utilizing nine players and a slightly larger court originated in Asia in the 1920s when American missionaries introduced the game in China. The variant became popular within the Chinese-American communities in large US and Canadian cities, and continues to grow with a rotating popular tournament called the North American Chinese Invitational Tournament.

Wallyball

Wallyball is played in a Racquetball court, which is divided into two halves by a net. The game is played like volleyball, with the added complexity that players may carom the ball off a side wall when playing it into the opponents' court. If a ball played over the net contacts the ceiling, the opponent's back wall, or both side walls without being touched by an opponent, the ball is ruled out of bounds. The pace of the game is generally fast, as the confined quarters encourage quick action and the walls often keep the ball conveniently in play.

Co-ed teams

Most competitive volleyball is played with same-sex teams (exclusively so at the elite levels). Mixed teams for indoor play with both male and female players operate under co-ed rules requiring alternating male and female players in the rotation or service order. The net is at a height halfway between men's and women's height. (Other variants include reverse co-ed, with a women's-height net and men prohibited from spiking inside the three-meter line, and co-ed on a men's-height net, in which one man may come from the back row to block, but not hit.) Additionally, in many leagues at least one contact of a team's possible three contacts must be made by a female player. Based on this rule, strategically, the setter on a co-ed team is usually a female player.

Ecuadorean Volleyball (Ecuavolley)

A variation with 3-player teams on clay courts with a higher net.

Newcomb

A simplified form used to teach the fundamentals of volleyball, Newcomb is generally taught to school-aged children but is also popular among adults of limited athletic ability. Its main differences from regular volleyball are that the ball can be caught before passing on to a team-mate or over the net, and each pass or serve is a throw rather than a hit. While most other volleyball rules apply, variations on the numbers of players per team and the numbers of 'catches' per side are common.

Common jargon

Some common jargon used in modern volleyball:

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