Volleyball: Rules, Equipment, and Techniques
Volleyball
General questions: Volleyball is a team sport where there are 2 teams with 12 players each, 6 on the court and 6 on the substitution bench.
Both teams play in separated courts. The court is divided by a net.
Until 1960, the sport had different rules for girls and boys, for example, the ball would bounce once on the floor, but not now. Actually, the only difference between men and women is the height of the net: men – 2´44m / women – 2´24m.
Objective: The objective of the game is to legally return the ball to the other side of the court over the net in a way that the opponent team cannot make a legal return. Your team can touch the ball, but there are exceptions for your feet.
Equipment: It’s compulsory to wear sport shoes, preferably with a non-slippery surface. A player usually wears knee pads to protect them from bruises. Also, different bandages on fingers and wrists. Additionally, shorts above knee height are compulsory. All the t-shirts are of the same color except the free player’s t-shirt, who has special functions in the game, and the referee must identify him/her easily.
No jewelry is allowed.
The court: It’s a rectangle divided into 2 measures: 9m wide x 18m long.
There are 2 lines close to the net to separate the striker’s area from the defender’s area. The net has to be made of a type of squares able to let the visibility of the game through them. Also, the net has a white line of 5cm on the top. All the lines take part of the space where they are, so if the ball touches any line, it will always be considered “in”.
The net has 2 thin sticks on both sides to prolongate them. It’s useful to determine if the ball passed to the other court over the net or not and also to clear if the net has been touched by any player.
The game: A volleyball match is played to “best of 5 sets”.
Rally scoring is used in volleyball, meaning that you get a point for your actions and also for the other team’s mistakes. A set is played to 25 points, and the winner has to get 2 points ahead in the score. If there’s a draw, the game continues until one of the teams gets those 2 points ahead. The 5th set is played to 15 points, but you also need to get 2 points ahead. In this set, the top scoring is 21.
Rotation: In volleyball, the position of the players is not always the same because the players have to rotate clockwise.
When do they do it? – When the other team serves, and in that action, we win the point and we take back the serve.
The serve: In volleyball, you serve from any place behind the end line but inside the prolongation of the side lines.
Types of serve:
Low hand serve: This one is the easiest way to serve. It’s commonly used in initiation. How to do it? – we hold the ball over the palm of one hand with my arm in a I line. After that, I have to balance straight with the other arm, and I will hit the ball.
Advantage: high precision and accuracy.
Easy execution technique.
Handicap: the ball is slow. It’s easy to receive.
Tennis serve: In this serve type, we use our arm as a tennis racket. How to do it? – we hold the ball with one of my hands while the other arm is ready to hit behind my back and head. We throw up the ball in a vertical line. When the ball is falling down, we try to hit it at the highest point possible. It’s used for medium-level people.
Advantages: Nice power serve.
Handicaps: less accuracy. The average of mistakes is higher than the previous one.
Suspension serve: It’s the most difficult technique in volleyball. It’s basically a “smash serving”
Requirements:
high coordination
High height
High jump power
The player takes a 3m distance from the end live and throws up and heads the ball inside the court area. After that, he takes two or three steps and jumps before reaching the end line into the court area. At the highest point, he hits the ball as in a Smash technique. The ball’s trajectory is up / down.
Advantage: super high power serve.
Handicap: the average of mistakes is around 60%
Mean sanctions:
TECHNICAL SANCTIONS
a) 4 TOUCHES: In volleyball, you have 3 touches to pass legally the ball over the net to the other side, so if you use 4 or more, your team loses the point. It’s important to know that if you block the ball, that touch is not one of the 3 touches that you have to make your game.
b) Two CONSECUTIVE: In volleyball, a player cannot touch the ball two times consecutively. If he/she does it, the referee will indicate