International Philippine School in AlKhobar

Volleyball
History, Skills,
Facilities and
Equipment, Basic
Rules, and Modes
of Tournament
A PE & Health Project
Matthew Joshua L. Sosito
11 HUMSS

Description

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
1964.

History
Originally known as mintonette, volleyball was the brainchild of
american William G. Morgan, who came up with the idea for the new
sport in 1895.

As a student at the Springfield College in

Massachusets, he had befriended James
Naismith who, in 1891, had himself
invented basketball. After graduating,
Morgan went on to become director of
physical education at the Young Mans
Christian Association (YMCA) in Holyoke,
Massachusets and it was there that he
devised his new sport, which was
designed to be a combination of
basketball, baseball, tennis and handball.
Morgan was keen for his sport to offer a
less physically intense and demanding alternative to Naismiths
basketball, one that would appeal to a far broader range of ages and
physical abilities. Describing his early experimentations, he said: In
search of an appropriate game, tennis occurred to me, but this
required rackets, balls, a net and other equipment, so it was
eliminated, but the idea of a net seemed a good one. We raised it to
a height of about 6 feet, 6 inches [1.98 metres] from the ground,
just above the head of an average man. We needed a ball and
among those we tried was a basketball bladder, but this was too
light and too slow. We therefore tried the basketball itself, which was
too big and too heavy.
It was not until 1900 that a specially designed ball - lighter and
smaller - was devised, which opened up a whole new range of
tactical and technical possibilities for the sport. The offensive style
of setting and spiking was first showcased in 1916, in the
Philippines. Over the years that followed the rules of the sport were
further refined and standardised. In 1917, the scoring system per
game was changed from 21 to 15 points, while in 1920 the rule
stipulating a maximum of three hits per team was instituted.
Until the early 1930s volleyball was for the most part a game of
leisure and recreation, and there were only a few international
activities and competitions. There were different rules of the game
in the various parts of the world; however, national championships
were played in many countries (for instance, in Eastern Europe
where the level of play had reached a remarkable standard).
The sport took a huge step forward in 1947 with the creation of the
Federation Internationale De Volley-Ball (FIVB). Two years later the
inaugural World Championships took place in Prague,
Czechoslovakia.
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Volleyball made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 1964, with the USSR
taking mens gold and the host nation winning the womens
competition.
Beach volleyball, which had its origins on the beaches of California
back in 1930, had to wait until 1996 for its inclusion on the Olympic
programme, and it has helped take the global reach and popularity
of the sport to a new level.
Volleyball has witnessed a particularly impressive growth spurt over
the last two decades, fuelled by the expansion of international
competitions such as the FIVB World Championships, the FIVB World
League, the FIVB World Grand Prix, the FIVB World Cup and the FIVB
Grand Champions Cup, not to mention of course, the Olympic
Games, where both the indoor and beach versions now enjoy huge
popularity.
Today, a full 120 years after it was first conceived, volleyball is
played by more than 800 million people worldwide, a fact that would
surely leave its creator, William Morgan, whose goal was to create a
sport open to all, a huge amount of satisfaction.
Source: https://www.olympic.org/news/volleyball-a-brief-history

Skills
Knowledge of the basic fundamental skills of volleyball, common
errors, and suggested corrections will enable a coach to provide
efficient and effective teaching and coaching strategies for every
athlete. The following are described: serving, passing (forearm
underhand passing), setting (overhead passing), attack options
(hitting/spiking), blocking (from attack and defend positions), and
defensive skills (rolling & sliding).

Serving
Serving is the first weapon that can generate an immediate point,
begin a game, or ignite an offense. A well-placed serve (whether to
a weak passer, at the setter, at the quick attacker, or to a weak
formation) that is also difficult to pass puts the opponent at a
disadvantage. Focus on correct technique and strive for success. In
addition, always serve to score points, NOT just to get the ball into
the opponents court.

Passing (Forearm Underhand)

Accurate and consistent passing can result in an aggressive multiple
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attack. Be sure that players are in the ready position preparing to

execute the proper technique before the serve and during a rally.
The athlete must face and focus on the oncoming ball. Ensure that
the athletes arms and hands are in the correct position with wrists
together. The legs are a little further than shoulder width apart with
feet parallel. The ball is contacted on the forearms. Upon contact,
the athlete maintains a stationary straight- arm position so that the
ball rebounds off the lower part of the forearms and is directed to
the target. The knees are extended to raise the arms forward upon
contact. Straightening the legs completes the pass; the arms are
behind the ball, and weight is transferred in the direction of the
pass.

Passing (Overhand, Overhead or Setting)

Overhead passing or setting is the next important part of the passset-spike sequence for a successful attack. In fact, an excellent set
from a bad pass can still result in a kill. The athlete forms a
triangle with the fingers and thumbs of both hands around the ball
above the forehead (thumbs do not touch). Index fingers and
thumbs form the triangle around 3 panels (18-panel ball). The
elbows point slightly forward. Feet are approximately shoulder-width
apart with right foot slightly forward. Knees are slightly bent, and
body is leaning slightly forward. Eyes are focused on the ball. The
athlete receives the ball with hands on the outside of the ball. The
athlete extends the knees and straightens the arms to followthrough in the desired direction.

Attack (Hitting) Options

There are several attack options that can be effectively performed in
a game. An attacker should be able to hit the following: shots off the
block (using the hands), high sets, low sets, sets off the net, offspeed shots, tipping, and a variation of play sets including back
court hitting options. Providing a great deal of practice and
repetition of each will depend on the age and ability of the athletes.
Ensure the fundamental technique of hitting is effective and efficient
so that it can be performed at a high level during competition.
With regard to spiking, the athlete must first be able to demonstrate
the spiking motion when on the floor (with modified and full arm
swing). Second phase is arm swing, which is started with both arms
at side of body. Arms are taken straight back and then thrust forward
and immediately up. Third phase includes athlete jumping and
spiking. As the athlete begins to jump, her spiking arm is raised with
elbow shoulder high. At the top of jump, the elbow leads as the arm
is extended and wrist snaps so that the heel of the athletes hand
contacts the ball and follows through. The athlete must land softly
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and be in control of the landing. This is a high jump, not a long jump.
Fourth phase the athlete uses only the step-close (right-left for right
handers and left-right for left handers) or step 2 and 3 of the
modified spiking approach. Fifth phase includes athlete using a full
approach, take-off then completing the spiking motion and landing.
Right hander (start right foot in front) should take left- right-left or
one step and step-close approach. Left hander (start left foot in
front) should take right- left-right or one step and step-close.

Blocking Attack; Defend

A well-timed and effective block diffuses an offensive attack. The
athlete is near the net, moves into position with hands up quickly.
Athlete focuses on the ball and jumps vertically so that maximum
height is achieved when the ball is above net and contacted. Arms
are raised and extended above the head; hands are close together
with fingers open; wrists are in line with arms (wrist parallel), and
hands are slightly forward. A firm and straight-arm position is
maintained so that the ball rebounds off hands and is not struck. If
possible, athlete reaches up and over the net with arms and hands
pointed in a downward position for a rebound. The athlete lands
facing the net while keeping the upper body in control and knees
bent to absorb the shock. Depending upon whether right side or left
is blocking will determine which hand should be turned inside.

Defensive Skills Rolling; Sliding

When the ball does not come directly at an athlete, it may be
impossible to play the ball from a regular underhand passing
standing position. The athlete still focuses on the ball and takes a
step with the near foot in the direction of the oncoming ball. The
body is extremely low when playing the ball. To ensure that the
athlete does not hurt himself/herself, the athlete will continue the
momentum and either slide or roll out of the play. The goal is to get
the ball up to the target and safely return to the ready position as
quickly as possible.
Source: http://www.soor.org/Upload/Documents/8_week_training__Volleyball.pdf

Facilities and Equipment

Volleyball Court
Today, courts must meet the specifications set forth by USA
Volleyball and the international governing body, FIVB. Indoor courts
must measure 18 meters long by 9 meters wide and have an attack
area demarcated 3 meters back from the centerline. The lines used
on the court should not be any wider than 5 cm. A free space
measuring 2 meters in any direction is recommended around the
playing area of the court to prevent any accidental obstructions of
play. Above the highest point of the net, there should be at least 7
meters of space to allow the ball free travel, though 12 meters is
recommended.

Volleyball Court Dimensions

The Volleyball court is 60 feet by 30 feet in total. The net in placed in
the center of the court, making each side of the net 30 feet by 30
feet.

Center Line
A center line is marked at the center of the court dividing it equally
into 30 feet squares, above which the net is placed.

Attack Line

An attack line is marked 10 feet of each side of the center line.

Service Line
A service line, the area from which the server may serve the
volleyball, is marked 10 feet inside the right sideline on each back
line.

Poles
Volleyball poles should be set at 36 feet apart, 3 feet further out
from the sidelines.

Ceiling Height
The minimum ceiling height should be 23 feet, though they should
preferably be higher.

Ball
The ball used for volleyball is smaller than the basketball bladder
that was used originally. For indoor volleyball, it should have a
circumference between 65 and 67 cm when fully inflated to an inner

pressure between 4.3 and 4.6 lbs. Psi. Once inflated, the ball must
weigh between 260 and 280 g. During FIVB competitions and world
events, three balls are used and must meet the same standards as
the other balls before being approved for play.

Net
Net height can vary depending on the age of the players and the
class of volleyball being played. The standard height used for men
over the age of 15 is 2.43 meters measured from the lowest point of
the net to the court floor. For women over the age of 13, the
standard measurement is 2.24 meters. The net extends to each of
the sidelines on the court and should be the same height at both
sidelines. The net itself is 1 meter wide. At either end of the net, an
antenna is attached that is 10 mm in diameter and extends 1.8
meters above the net. These antennae are considered part of the
net and are used to delineate the vertical crossing space.

Beach
The beach variant of volleyball began in the 1940s. While many of
the rules and specifications of this format are the same as indoor
volleyball, there are some differences. The court used in beach
volleyball is slightly smaller, measuring 16 meters by 8 meters. The
ball also is increased in size to a circumference between 66 and 68
cm. The average net height for men and women stays the same.
Source:
http://www.topendsports.com/sport/volleyball/equipment.htm

Basic Rules
Players in the team:
Team has 6 players on the court.
3 players are front row players and 3 of them are back row
players.
Team is allowed to use a libero player (back row player,
defensive specialist) who wears different color shirt.

Contacts:
Each team is allowed to have maximum of three touches
before hitting the ball over the net. (exception: block does not
count as a touch)
Same player cannot hit the ball twice in a row (exception i:

block doesnt count a touch.)

The serve
Server must serve from behind the restraining line (end line)
until after contact.
Ball may be served underhand or overhand.
Ball must be clearly visible to opponents before serve.
Served ball may graze the net and drop to the other side.
First game serve is determined by a coin toss. Game 2 will be
served by the receiving team in game 1. If match goes to a 3rd
game, new coin toss will determine serving team.
If best of 5 game match: game 2, 3, an 4 will trade off between
teams. If teams go to game 5, serve will go to winner of a new
coin toss.
Serve must be returned by a pass or set only. Serve cannot be
blocked or attacked.

Scoring
Rally scoring - which means there will be a point awarded on
every won rally.
Offense will score on a defensive miss, out of bounds hit, or
blocker touches the top of the net.
Defense will score on an offensive miss, out of bounds hit,
serve into the net or hitter touches top of the net.
Game will be played to 25 pts. Game 3 is played to 15.
Must win by 2 points, unless a point cap has been placed.

Rotation
1 Team will rotate after each sideout. A sideout is when the team
on serve receive wins the point to earn the right to serve.
2 Players shall rotate in a clockwise manner.
3 There shall be 6 players on each side.

Playing the game (volley)

1 Maximum of three hits per side.
2 Player may not hit the ball twice in succession (a block is not
considered a hit).
3 Ball may be played off the net during a volley and on serve.
4 A ball touching any part of the boundary line is considered in.
5 A legal hit is contact with the ball by any part of the players
body which does not allow the ball to visibly come to a rest.
6 A player must not block or attack a serve.

Back row attack:

Back row players cannot attack the ball front row. If they
attack, they have to perform the jump behind the attack line
(10 feet line, 3 meter line).
o Important: the ball has to be completely above the net
for it to be an illegal attack

Antennas:
It is allowed to play the ball off the net. It is a fault, if the ball
contacts net outside antennas.
The ball has to travel between the antennas (or the imagined
extensions of them) when flying to the other side of the net.

In or out?
Referee calls the ball in, if any part of it hits the lines.
(imagine the ball is painted. If the ball left a mark that touches
the lines, the ball is judged in)
Ball is ruled out, if
o The ball lands outside the boundary lines (without
touching the opponent)
o The ball hits the antenna
o Any of the net or cables outside the antennas
o A referee stand or poles or the ceiling (expection: in high
school, club or college volleyball in united states it is
allowed to play after ball hits the ceiling)
Contacting the ball:
Players are not allowed to catch, hold or throw the ball.
Players are not allowed to hit or block the opponents serve.
Attacking ball which is coming over the net is illegal, if it has
not broken the plane of the net.
In other words, the player is allowed to swing the ball when it breaks
the plane of the net.

Recently changed basic volleyball rules:

Let serve:
Let serve is allowed. In other words the ball can touch the net
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on the serve.
Points:
A point is followed after each serve. (earlier you had a chance
to get a point only after your own serve).
Libero:
One of the back row players can be substituted to a libero who
is a back row specialist with unlimited subs. The libero can
enter and exit the game between each serve without coach
requesting a sub.
Serve:
Server is allowed to serve the ball any place behind the
backline. (earlier there was a serving area in the corner of the
court)

Contacting the ball:

Players are allowed to double hit the ball on the first contact,
for example when they 1) serve receive, or 2) dig the ball
(since this rule change passing overhead has become commonly
used method to pass the ball. Earlier it was often called a false hit,
double hit)

Kicking:
It is legal to hit the ball with any part of the body, the foot and
leg included. (earlier it was a mistake to kick the ball.)

Violations
The back-row player performs the attack front row. (it is illegal
for the back-row player to step on the attack line when hitting.)
The back row player blocks the ball (the player having any part
of the body above the net and touching the ball) rules of
volleyball
This referee just called a touch on the block or defender.
The player double contacts the ball when setting the ball (you
cannot double hit the ball when setting it)
Player touches the net while the ball is in the play
(exception: if the ball is hit the net and it pushes the net to the
opposing player)
Stepping on the back line when serving the ball.
Reaching over the net to block the ball is allowed, if the other
side as used all the three touches. It is a false, if opposing
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team has not used all the touches (and there is somebody
trying to make a play there.)

Substitutions
Coaches only have 12 substitutions per game in club.
Once a player subs in for a rotational position, they can only
sub in for that rotational position.
Sources:
http://www.951elitevb.com/parents/the-basic-rules-of-volleyball,
http://www.volleyballadvisors.com/basic-volleyball-rules.html

Modes of Tournament
There are quite a few different ways to run tournaments, but
there are about 7 formats that are far more popular than the
rest. If you read on, there is a brief description of each
tournament type.

Single Elimination Tournament

The single elimination format is by far the easiest to organize.
The name says it all, if a team loses one time they are out of
the tournament. This type of tournament works best if you have
a large number of teams and a short time frame. Single
elimination tournaments don't work well for "matches" that are
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very short in time. For example an Arm Wrestling Tournament,

where a match takes just a few seconds. If participants are
traveling to enter the tournament, they would like to be around
for more than 3 seconds. So you would be better of using one
of the other formats listed below.

Double Elimination Tournament

The double elimination tournament is my favorite format, and
along with single elimination is the most popular. To be
eliminated from this type of tourney, a team or player must
lose two times. There is a winner's bracket and a loser's
bracket, everyone starts in the winner's bracket. Upon defeat
they will move to the loser's bracket where they will battle their
way to play in the championship match, which they must
defeat the winner's bracket champion twice.

Triple Elimination Tournament

Not quite as popular as the Single and the Double, the triple
elimination format is good to add to you arsenal if you are
looking to add a few extra matches for the participants. Just as
with the other two, Triple Elimination simply means that a team
or player needs to lose 3 times in order to be eliminated from
the tournament. When a team loses in the winner's bracket
they will drop to loser's Bracket 1, when they lose there they
will drop to loser's bracket 2. If beaten in loser's bracket 2 they
are eliminated from the tournament.

Round Robin
The Round Robin Tournament is fairly popular and simply
means that every team will play every other team in the
tournament one time. This allows for a wide variety of

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opponents, and as opposed to an elimination tournament the

teams can see how they match up with all teams. Based on the
number of participants, the round robin format can be broken
up into "pools". A pool is a group of teams that will play round
robin and the winner of each pool will usually face off in a
championship tournament. Example: A normal 24 team Round
Robin Tournament would have 276 games, so the ideal way to
run this would be to break it up into 6 Pools of 4 teams which
would have 36 total games. You could then take the 6 winners
from each pool and have a single elimination tournament to
decide the overall championship.

3 Game Guarantee Tournament

The 3 Game Guarantee format is popular in the Softball world
as it allows teams traveling from far distances to be assured
they are getting in enough games to make it worth their time
and money. Each team will play a minimum of 3 games, the
format is similar to double elimination. There is a winner's
bracket and a loser's bracket, the main difference being teams
that lose their first two games will get to play an extra game in
the loser's bracket in order to assure everyone gets to play at
least 3 games.

Consolation Tournaments
Consolation tournaments are very popular in the wrestling
world. There are quite a few variations to the consolation
brackets, but the basic idea behind them is the same. When a
team wins in the first round they move/stay in the winner's
bracket for the duration of the tournament and will be playing
for the overall championship. When a team loses in the first
round they will be moved to the Consolation Bracket where
they will have no chance of winning the tournament, but

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instead be competing for the consolation championship. Some

Consolation Brackets will also have the losers of later rounds of
the winner's bracket drop down to the consolation bracket to
compete for the consolation championship.

Compass Draw Tournaments

Last, but not least, is the Compass draw tournament, which is
used widely in Tennis and Pickleball, but is actually a really nice
format that can be used for any sport. There are various
brackets on each draw sheet that are marked by points on a
compass (East, West, North, South, Northeast, Northwest,
Southeast, Southwest). When a team loses, they are moved to
a different bracket, winners always just advance in their current
bracket. This allows players to play in plenty of matches and as
the tournament progresses the bracket is designed to
automatically pair them with others of their skill level.
Source:
https://www.printyourbrackets.com/types-of-tournaments.html

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