1-
History & Object
2- The Essentials (Offense
& Defense, Scoring, Etc.)
3- Court
Diagram and Positions
4- Fouls
5- Glossary
of Volleyball Terms
The
Essentials
Game
length
A
volleyball match typically lasts
between 60 and 90 minutes (about
20 minutes per game). The clock
is not a factor; play continues
until one team has won three
games.
Start
of the game
The
match begins with a serve by
the player in the back of the
court.
Offense
& Defense
Members
of the team receiving the serve
have three hits to send the
ball back over the net, usually
in a sequence of bump, set,
spike, without the ball hitting
the ground on their side or
the same player hitting the
ball twice in a row. Upon receiving
the serve, the first player
to touch the ball uses a controlled
hit, called a bump,
to hit the ball in the air to
a setter. The setter receives
the bumped pass and uses a lofting
pass, called a set,
to pass the ball to an attacker.
When the attacker receives the
set, he will use a hard hit,
called a spike,
to slam the ball to the opponent’s
side of the court.
The
opponent attempts to block
the spike. If the block
is missed, the opponent attempts
to gain control by performing
a bump. If the player gains
control of the ball in his initial
bump, the cycle of bump, set,
spike repeats on each side until
one team scores a point. The
team that serves continues to
serve until it loses a point,
in which case, the serve alternates
to the opponent.
Types
of hits
In
general, hits can be classified
in any one of three categories:
pass, block, or attack. A pass
is any hit to a teammate
and includes the bump
(forearm pass), overhead
pass, set,
and dig.
A block is an attempt
at the net to stop the opponent
from hitting the ball over the
net. An attack
is any hit into the opponent’s
court and includes a spike,
tip,
dump,
bump,
and overhead
pass.
Scoring
A
point is scored when ball hits
the ground inside the opponent’s
court, or when the opposing
team cannot return the ball
over the net in three hits,
hits the ball out of bounds,
or commits a fault. In 1999,
the official scoring rules of
volleyball changed from sideout
scoring to rally
scoring. In rally scoring,
either team can score a point
off a serve. Each game is played
to 25 points and a team must
win by 2 points. The first team
to win three games wins the
match. If each team has won
2 games, a fifth and final game
is played to 15 points, and
a team must lead by two points
to win.
Equipment
Volleyball
equipment consists of a ball,
a net, and a court. Players
wear a team uniform, which includes
a jersey with a number, shorts
(spandex for women), and shoes.
Most players also opt to wear
knee pads.
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