| Volleyball has always been a
sport prepared to change with the times. The International
Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has regularly altered and
updated the rules of the game to encourage exciting play
and improve spectator and television interest. Possibly
volleyball's biggest change occurred in 1986 when the FIVB
endorsed beach volleyball as an official discipline.
Suddenly, volleyball fans could have their choice:
two-a-side beach volleyball on sand or six-a-side
volleyball in the gym. Both disciplines are now played at
the Olympic Games.
Traditional six-a-side indoor volleyball is referred to
at the Olympic Games as Volleyball. So the Olympic sport
of Volleyball has two disciplines - beach volleyball and
volleyball.
Both beach volleyball and volleyball use the same court
size and same net height, despite the differences in
playing surface and numbers of players on a team. The
court on both sides of the net is nine metres by nine
metres. The net height is set at 2.43m for men and 2.24m
for women. Note Dec 2001: Beach volleyball is currently
testing a smaller 8m x 16m court size for possible
introduction of the World Tour and Athens 2004 Olympic
Games).
In volleyball, a team can touch the ball three times on
their side of the net, the usual pattern being a dig (an
underarm pass made with the forearms), a set (an overhead
pass made with the hands) and a spike (the overhead
attacking shot). The ball is served into play. Teams can
also try to block the opponent's spike as it crosses the
net. A block into your own court counts as one of your
three touches in beach volleyball, but not in volleyball.
Volleyball
Volleyball made its Olympic Games debut in Tokyo in
1964, with the Soviet Union winning the men's gold medal
and the Japanese women being crowned as champions in front
of their home crowd. Since then, volleyball has continued
to witness the rise and fall of great international teams,
with countries as diverse as Cuba, Brazil, the Soviet
Union, China, the United States, the Netherlands, Poland
and Japan collecting gold medals. While power and height
have become vital components of international teams, the
ability of teams and coaches to devise new tactics,
strategies and skills have been crucial for success at the
Olympic Games.
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Volleyball
was invented in 1895 in Massachusetts, the United
States, by William Morgan. He was a friend of James
Naismith, who had invented basketball at a nearby gym
only four years previously. Volleyball was originally
called mintonette.
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There
are six players on court in a volleyball team, who
each must rotate position (clockwise) every time their
team wins back service from the opposition. Only the
three players at the net positions can jump and spike
or block near the net. The backcourt players can only
hit the ball over the net if they jump from behind the
attack line, also known as the three-metre line, which
separates the front and back part of the court.
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Volleyball
has developed into a very specialised sport. Most
teams will include in their starting line-up a setter,
two centre blockers, two receiver-hitters and a
universal spiker. Only certain players will be
involved with service reception. Players will also
have specialist positions for attack and defence.
Substitutions are allowed during the game.
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In
2000, volleyball used a new scoring system. Teams
scored a point on every rally, regardless of which
team served. Formerly, a team could only win a point
if it served the ball. Winning the serve back from the
opposition was known as a side-out.
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Matches
are played best of five sets. The first four sets are
played to 25 points, with the final set being played
to 15 points. A team must win a set by two points.
There is no ceiling, so a set continues until one of
the teams gains a two-point advantage. Previously, all
sets were to 15 points, with the first four sets
having a ceiling of 17 and the final set requiring at
least a two-point winning advantage.
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Prior
to Sydney 2000, the FIVB introduced a new specialist
role: the libero. This player wears a different
coloured uniform from the rest of the team and can be
substituted in backcourt for any player on the team.
The libero cannot serve, spike the ball over the net
or rotate into the front-line positions, but plays a
vital role for the team in serve reception and
backcourt defence. There must be at least one point
played between a libero substituting off for a player
and going back on the court for another player - hence
he/she cannot be on the court for the whole game. The
libero added an extra dimension to backcourt defence
in 2000, improving the reception of teams, lengthening
the rallies and giving a vital role to shorter
players.
Beach Volleyball
Beach Volleyball has a brief but exciting history. The
two-a-side sport emerged on the beaches of California in
the 1920s, developing a loyal and athletic following of
men and women. As the sun, sand and surf culture became
popular in the United States and abroad, beach volleyball
continued to increase its support base. By the 1980s, the
sport had become a major participation and promotional
event, leading the International Volleyball Federation to
recognise the game as an official discipline of volleyball
in 1986. Ten years later, beach volleyball made its
Olympic Games debut in Atlanta - completing its rapid rise
from social recreation to elite sport status.
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Because of
the many difficulties of playing outdoors, such as the
sand, the sun and the wind, beach volleyball players
must have outstanding ball skills and court speed.
Partners must be well matched or opponents will win
easy points by exploiting the weaker player.
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At the
Atlanta Olympic Games, the United States' Karch Kiraly
and Kent Steffes and Brazil's Jackie Silva and Sandra
Pires won the first Olympic gold medals awarded in
beach volleyball. Kiraly, regarded as the greatest
volleyballer ever, had previously won two Olympic
Games gold medals as a six-a-side volleyballer in Los
Angeles in 1984 and in Seoul in 1988.
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For beach
volleyball, matches are played best of three sets
using the rally point system. The first two sets are
played to 21 points, with the final tie-breaker set
being played to 15 points. A team must win a set by
two points. There is no ceiling, so a set continues
until one of the teams gains a two-point
advantage.
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At Sydney
2000, preliminary matches were one set played to 15
points, with a ceiling of 17 points (i.e. a team could
win a set 17-16). The medal games were best of three
sets to 12 points, with the first two sets having a
ceiling of 12 points. The third set to 12 was
rally-point, whereby teams score a point for every
rally, regardless of which team served. As well, the
third set has no ceiling - a team had to win by a
two-point advantage.
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Sydney 2000
- There was a men's and women's volleyball event and a
men's and women's beach volleyball event. In
volleyball, 12 men's teams of 12 players and 12
women's teams of 12 players competed. In beach
volleyball, 24 men's and 24 women's pairs competed.
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Athens 2004
- Volleyball at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games will
feature the same competitions as Sydney 2000 (men's
and women's volleyball and beach volleyball), with the
same number of teams participating (12 men's and 12
women's volleyball teams with 24 men's and 24 women's
teams for beach volleyball). The only significant
difference in formats will be that volleyball will be
played in one venue with 3 sessions per day. It is
currently proposed that beach volleyball will be
played over 12 days (instead on 11) including one rest
day, with two sessions per day. It is also proposed to
run evening sessions under lights.
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Beijing
2008 - it is proposed to increase the number of beach
volleyball teams from 24 to 32 for men and women.
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