Volleyball: History

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VOLLEYBALL

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.

A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking
(because these plays are made above the top of the net, the vertical jump is an athletic skill
emphasized in the sport) as well as passing, setting, and specialized player positions and offensive
and defensive structures.

The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short
contact) the ball with any part of the body.

History
Origin of volleyball

William G. Morgan

On February 9, 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,[2] 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 (sixteen
kilometers) away in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, only four years before. Mintonette 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, called for a net 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) high, a 25 ft × 50
ft (7.6 m × 15.2 m) court, and any number of players. A match was composed of nine innings with
three serves for each team in each inning, and no limit to the number of ball contacts for each team
before sending the ball to the opponents' court. In case of a serving error, a second try was allowed.
Hitting the ball into the net was considered a foul (with loss of the point or a side-out)—except in
the case of the first-try serve.
VOLLEYBALL

After an observer, Alfred Halstead, noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition
match in 1896, played at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfield College),
the game quickly became known as volleyball.

Rules of the game

Volleyball court

The court dimensions


A volleyball court is 9 m × 18 m (29.5 ft × 59.1 ft), divided into equal square halves by a net with
a width of one meter (39.4 in). The top of the net is 2.43 m (7 ft 11 11⁄16 in) above the center of the
court for men's competition, and 2.24 m (7 ft 4 3⁄16 in) for women's competition, varied for veterans
and junior competitions.
The minimum height clearance for indoor volleyball courts is 7 m (23.0 ft), although a clearance
of 8 m (26.2 ft) is recommended.
A line 3 m (9.8 ft) from and parallel to the net is considered the "attack line". This "3 meter" (or
"10-foot") line divides the court into "back row" and "front row" areas (also back court and front
court). These are in turn divided into 3 areas each: these are numbered as follows, starting from
area "1", which is the position of the serving player:
After a team gains the serve (also known as siding out), its members must rotate in a clockwise
direction, with the player previously in area "2" moving to area "1" and so on, with the player from
area "1" moving to area "6". Each player rotates only one time after the team gains possession of
the serve; the next time each player rotates will be after the other team wins possession of the
ball and loses the point.

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 and an inside pressure of 0.30–
0.325 kg/cm2.[13] Other governing bodies have similar regulations.
VOLLEYBALL

Game play

White is on the attack while red attempts to block.

Buddhist monks play volleyball in the Himalayan state of Sikkim, India.

Each team consists of six players. To get play started, a team is chosen to serve by coin toss. A
player from the serving team 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 (usually an over-hand pass using wrists to push finger-tips at the
ball) by the setter so that the ball's trajectory is aimed towards a spot where one of the players
designated as an attacker can hit it, 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 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:
players at the net jump and reach above the top (and if possible, across the plane) of the net
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 (usually a fore-arm
pass of a hard-driven ball). After a successful dig, the team transitions to offense.
The game continues in this manner, rallying back and forth, until the ball touches the court within
the boundaries or until an error is made. The most frequent errors that are made are either to fail
to return the ball over the net within the allowed three touches, or to cause the ball to land
outside the court. A ball is "in" if any part of it touches a sideline or end-line, and a strong spike
may compress the ball enough when it lands that a ball which at first appears to be going out
may actually be in. Players may travel well outside the court to play a ball that has gone over a
sideline or end-line in the air.
Other common errors include a player touching the ball twice in succession, a player "catching"
the ball, a player touching the net while attempting to play the ball, or a player penetrating under
VOLLEYBALL

the net into the opponent's court. There are a large number of other errors specified in the rules,
although most of them are infrequent occurrences. These errors include back-row or libero
players spiking the ball or blocking (back-row players may spike the ball if they jump from behind
the attack line), players not being in the correct position when the ball is served, attacking the
serve in the front court and above the height of the net, using another player as a source of
support to reach the ball, stepping over the back boundary line when serving, taking more than 8
seconds to serve,[14] or playing the ball when it is above the opponent's court.

Scoring

Scorer's table just before a game

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 they served the ball or not. If the ball hits the line,
the ball is counted as in. The team that won the point serves for the next point. If the team that
won the point served in 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 serving team rotate their position on
the court in a clockwise manner. The game continues, with the first team to score 25 points by a
two-point margin 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 25; in the NCAAmatches are played best-of-five to 25 as
of the 2008 season.)[15]
Before 1999, points could be scored only when a team had the serve (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 final year of side-out scoring at the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball
Championship was 2000. Rally point scoring debuted in 2001,[16] and games were played to 30
points through 2007. For the 2008 season, games were renamed "sets" and reduced to 25 points
to win. Most high schools in the U.S. changed to rally scoring in 2003,[17][18][19] and several states
implemented it the previous year on an experimental basis.[20]

Libero
The libero player was introduced internationally in 1998,[21] and made its debut for NCAA
competition in 2002.[22] The libero is a player specialized in defensive skills: the libero must wear
a contrasting jersey color from his or her teammates and cannot block or attack the ball when it is
entirely above net height. When the ball is not in play, the libero can replace any back-row
player, without prior notice to the officials. This replacement does not count against the
substitution limit each team is allowed per set, although the libero may be replaced only by the
player whom he or she replaced. Most U.S. high schools added the libero position from 2003 to
2005.[18][23]
The libero may function as a setter only under certain restrictions. If she/he makes an overhand
set, she/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. An underhand pass is allowed from
any part of the court.
VOLLEYBALL

The libero is, generally, the most skilled defensive player on the team. There is also a libero
tracking sheet, where the referees or officiating team must keep track of whom the libero subs in
and out for. There may only be one libero per set (game), although there may be a different
libero in the beginning of any new set (game).
Furthermore, a libero is not allowed to serve, according to international rules, with the exception
of the NCAA women's volleyball games, where a 2004 rule change allows the libero to serve, but
only in a specific rotation. That is, the libero can only serve for one person, not for all of the
people for whom she goes in. That rule change was also applied to high school and junior high
play soon after.

Serve

A player making a jump serve

3D animation floating serve

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; 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 the court
after being touched by an opponent.

Pass
VOLLEYBALL

A player making a forearm pass or bump

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.
The skill of passing involves fundamentally two specific techniques: underarm pass, or bump,
where the ball touches the inside part of the joined forearms or platform, at waist line; and
overhand pass, where it is handled with the fingertips, like a set, above the head. Either are
acceptable in professional and beach volleyball; however, there are much tighter regulations on
the overhand pass in beach volleyball.

Block

Three players performing a block

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.
It requires anticipating the direction the ball will go once the attack takes place. It may also
require calculating the best foot work to executing the "perfect" block.
There are 5 positions filled on every volleyball team at the elite level. Setter, Outside Hitter/Left
Side Hitter, Middle Hitter, Opposite Hitter/Right Side Hitter and Libero/Defensive Specialist. Each
of these positions plays a specific, key role in winning a volleyball match.
VOLLEYBALL

 Setters have the task for orchestrating the offense of the team. They aim for second touch
and their main responsibility is to place the ball in the air where the attackers can place the
ball into the opponents' court for a point. They have to be able to operate with the hitters,
manage the tempo of their side of the court and choose the right attackers to set. Setters
need to have swift and skillful appraisal and tactical accuracy, and must be quick at moving
around the court.
 Liberos are defensive players who are responsible for receiving the attack or serve. They
are usually the players on the court with the quickest reaction time and best passing
skills. Libero means 'free' in Italian—they receive this name as they have the ability to
substitute for any other player on the court during each play. They do not necessarily need to
be tall, as they never play at the net, which allows shorter players with strong passing and
defensive skills to excel in the position and play an important role in the team's success. A
player designated as a libero for a match may not play other roles during that match. Liberos
wear a different color jersey than their teammates.
 Middle blockers or Middle hitters are players that can perform very fast attacks that usually
take place near the setter. They are specialized in blocking, since they must attempt to stop
equally fast plays from their opponents and then quickly set up a double block at the sides of
the court. In non-beginners play, every team will have two middle hitters.
 Outside hitters or Left side hitters attack from near the left antenna. The outside hitter is
usually the most consistent hitter on the team and gets the most sets. Inaccurate first passes
usually result in a set to the outside hitter rather than middle or opposite. Since most sets to
the outside are high, the outside hitter may take a longer approach, always starting from
outside the court sideline. In non-beginners play, there are again two outside hitters on every
team in every match.
 Opposite hitters or Right-side hitters carry the defensive workload for a volleyball team in
the front row. Their primary responsibilities are to put up a well formed block against the
opponents' Outside Hitters and serve as a backup setter. Sets to the opposite usually go to
the right side of the antennae.
At some levels where substitutions are unlimited, teams will make use of a Defensive
Specialist in place of or in addition to a Libero. This position does not have unique rules like the
libero position, instead, these players are used to substitute out a poor back row defender using
regular substitution rules. A defensive specialist is often used if you have a particularly poor back
court defender in right side or left side, but your team is already using a libero to take out your
middles. Most often, the situation involves a team using a right side player with a big block who
must be subbed out in the back row because they aren't able to effectively play back court
defense. Similarly, teams might use a Serving Specialist to sub out a poor server situationally.
VOLLEYBALL
VOLLEYBALL

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