THE VOLLEYBALL COURT

5 4 2 1
VOLLEY BALL
6 3 3 6
Historical background
Back court BackThe
courtgame was started by William Morgan, a physical education
Front Front specialist and director at Young Men Christian Association
1 court court (Y.M.C.A)
5 in 1895 in U.S.A. He first called this game
2 4 Mintonette. Latter the Y.M.C.A directors suggested that the
game should be called “volley ball” because the ball was
volleyed back and forth across
the net.
In the early stages of development 9 players on each side were playing volleyball. The Y.M.C.A
drew the first formal rules in 1897.
During the First World War the American troops introduced the game in Europe. U.S.A formed
amateur volleyball was introduced in Olympic Games both for men and women.
In 1947, the international volleyball federation (I.V.F) was formed with its headquarters in
Paris. In Kenya, we have Kenya volleyball Federation (K.V.F)
Sideline
 Length of the court (18m)
 Substitution takes place along this line
 Team bench is located along this line

End line
 Width of the court (9m)
 Service takes place along this line.

Centerline
 Subdivide the court into two equal parts
 Net is fixed along this line
 The two referees stand along and opposite this line.
 Prevents the player from entering the opponents half.

Attack line.
 Subdivide one of the half of the court into two parts i.e front and back row. Front is
marked 3m from the centerline.

Playing positions.
1 Right back players
2 Right front player
3 Center front player
4 Left front player
5 Left back player
6 Center back player.

Rules governing back players

 They cannot participate in the block.
 They can spike provided they take off from the clock row plane.

Principles of rotation.
 Once the team gains the service, the players move one position in a clockwise direction.

TEAM SIZE
 A team is made up of 12 players, 6 main players & 6 substitutes.
 A team may register among the top players a specialized defensive player known as libero
 A team must have captain
 The maximum number a team can substitute is 6
Rules governing libero player
(i) Shall wear a different color from the rest.
(ii) Shall be registered with the scorer
(iii) Shall only replace the backcourt player.
(iv) Shall enter the court on the area between the attack line and the base line.
(v) Shall not serve the ball at any given time.
(vi) Shall not block the ball or play any ball above the net.
(vii) Can substitute the backcourt player as many times
as possible. (viii)Shall only be substituted by a player
who he substituted. (ix)Cannot complete rotation.

Qualities of a good libero player

(i) Very good in receiving the ball especially the spiked balls.
(ii) Enduring / withstanding for long
(iii) Very fast in reaction
BASIC EQUIPMENT
The ball
 Spherical in shape.
 Circumference is 65-67cm.
 Leather/synthetic casing with bladder inside
 Weight 260-280grams

Referee platform
 0.5m from the post
 Higher than the net
The net
 Length 9.5m
 Depth 1m
 10cm squares
 A band on top and at the bottom with a cable inside to help in tightening the net.
 Height Men – 2.43m
Women – 2.24m.

The Antennae
 Measure 1.8m
 Fixed at 0.5m from the sideline
 0.8m above the net
 Commercially its made up of fibre glass
 It has contrasting colors/bright colors
 It should be strong/durable

 Othe
r
2post
s
whistl
e

When the ball is considered dead

(a) After the sound of the referees’ whistle.
(b) Fault service.
(c) Ball lands out of the court
(d) Ball touching an object outside the court
(e) If a team makes more than three contracts with ball before it crosses the net expect the block.
(f) When the ball is hand faulty
(g) When ball touches the antennae
(h) If the ball touches the ground inside the court during the play.

STARTING OF THE GAME

The first named referee tosses a coin between two captains and the winning captain of the toss
has two options to choose:
(i) Choice of side
(ii) The first
service The other captain takes
the other option.
SERVICE
The act of putting the ball into play by the right backcourt player anywhere along and outside the end.

TYPES OF SERVICE
1. Underarm (sling)
service Teaching
points

 Stand facing the net

 Legs astride with leg opposite the serving arm in front
 Trunk and the knees slightly bent with more weight on the rear leg
 Ball held at about waist level
 Toss the ball
 Eyes on the ball
 With the opposite arm straight, contact ball with the inner part of the wrist.
 Follow through, transfer the weight from rear to front foot
2.Overhead/tennis
service Teaching
points
 Stand facing the net
 Ball held with straight-arm just above the waist of the front foot.
 Bring the ball up above and in front of the head.
 With the trunk arched and weight on the rear foot, release the ball at maximum height of your arm.
 Swing the opposite arm upwards and backward with the elbow facing forward.
 The opposite arm with fixed wrist and fingers spread; hit the ball with heel of the palm/clenched
fist.
 Contact the bottom back of the ball
 Follow through.
3.Windmill/l look/Round house service
Teaching points
 The same as over arm except that the;
 body makes a clockwise rotation of 180 degrees
 Face sideways making the left foot and shoulder to be in front.
 Weight in the rear foot (right) with knees slightly bent
 Toss ball with the left arm slightly above the head
 With stretched right arm, hit it above the head and from the back.

Good service
This is when the ball is within the court.
Faulty service
When the service is not acceptable or when the player has committed a service fault.

Examples of faulty service

 Ball hitting the post
 Ball passing under the net
 Ball failing to reach opponents court
 Ball touching a teammate before crossing the net.
 Failure to toss the ball
 Ball hitting the antennae
 Exceeding 8 seconds
 Serving the ball when standing on the end line or inside the court
 Ball landing outside the court
 Exceeding three seconds with the ball after the referee’s whistle.

Ace service
This is a very had or difficult service that the opponents cannot receive/return/control easily.
1.Spinning the ball
Hitting the ball by side so that it comes rotating
2.Spike/jump service
Jumping up high and hitting the ball with a lot of force.

Foot fault
Serving while stepping on the end line/backline/inside the court of play

SUBSTITUTION
This is the process of replacing court players with a player from the team’s bench. It is
requested when the ball is dead by either coach or the captain.
Rules governing substitution
(a) The player must be registered
(b) Done when the ball is dead
(c) Done on the line of the 2nd referee
(d) The player to be replaced gets out first before the substitute goes in
(e) Requested for either by coach or captain
(f) Maximum of 6 substitutes is allowed per set
(g) Must be conducted within the substitution zone
(h) Should not exceed 30 sec

TYPES OF SUBSTITUTION
1. Legal substitution
This is when a team is utilizing the six registered substitutes in the game.
2. Illegal substitution
When a team has exhausted the six substitutes but continue substituting
It is when the team utilizes unregistered player or already disqualified /expelled player
from the game. Nb the team loses a point and the substitute rectified.
3. Compulsory/exceptional substitution
This is when substitutes have been exhausted yet another player is injured. The referee may
authorize the coach to substitute another player.

TIME-OUT
This is a brief interruption of the game or pause requested by coach or captain for
a Technical/tactical talk.
To organize
Rest/breather
1.
Rules governing time-out
1. lasts for 30 sec
2. Each team is entitled to two time outs per set.
3. It is requested when the ball is dead.
4. During time out, the players are not allowed to leave the court
5. Coach must address the team from outside .

TYPES OF TIME OUT

a) Team time-out
Requested by the coach or the captain
b) Official time-out
When referee stops the game for 3 minutes, in case of:
1) Technical problems e.g.
 Ball bursting
 Loosening of the net
 Breaking of the post
2) External interference e.g.
 Spectator invading the court
 Bad weather – heavy rainfall
 When lowering national flag.
 Disagreement between officials
c) Technical time out
This is given when playing the deciding set and the first team reaches 8 points. The duration of
this time is 1 minute.
THE PLAYING FORMAT
To win a point
A team wins a point when the opponents make a playing fault.
Examples of playing fault.
 Double hit by individual player unless they are a block.
 Four hit by a team unless there is a block.
 Positional fault (when the players are not their playing position when the ball is being served)
 Rotational fault. failure of a player to be in his rightful position during play.
 A player touching the net.
 Front court player crossing the centerline.
 Ball landing inside or outside the court.
 Faulty service
 Wrong substitution
 Breaking time out rules
 Back court player participating in block/spiking while in the frontcourt.
 Ball passing under the net.

Consequences of playing fault.

 The serving team loses the rally and chance to serve
 Receiving team gains a point and chance serve.
 The receiving team loses a point when they make a playing fault thereby serving team continues to
serve.

How to win a match

In volleyball five sets are played. To win a set 1st team to reach 25 points with a leading march of a
minimum of two
points takes the set. E.g. 23, 25 25-21.
At the end of every set teams change sides. In case of deciding (5th) set, the first team to reach
15 points with a leading margin of a minimum two points takes the set. Team changes sides the
first team reaches 8 points.
The team, which wins more sets (3sets), emerges the winner.i.e 3 sets out the maximum five thus 3:0,
3:1, 3:2

Breaking a
tie Tie in
points
E.g. 24-24.add a points until the game ends with a difference of two points

Tie break in sets

If the teams tie in the first four sets, i.e each team wins 2 sets; add a 5th set known as the deciding
set. The set ends at 25 points with a difference of two

OFFICIALS OF THE GAME.

1. First named referee
 He has the absolute authority over the game and other officials.
 His decision is final
 He uses whistle to signify the beginning end of the game a point, change of serve e.t.c.
 Awarding points and services gained
 In charge of disqualification.

2. 2nd named referee

 Supervises, control of substitution on the side lines
 He takes note of the
 following: Net faults
Crossing the centerline
Illegally crossing the attack line by backcourt player
 Reaching over the net (over reaching)
 Draws the attention of the first name referee of any unsporting behavior.
 Notes players’ position at the start of the game.
 Keeps check on all time outs.
 Authorizes all substitutions.
3. The scorer
 Positions himself opposite the first named referee.
 Take note of all scores.
 He notes all time outs, substitution, and other interruptions.
 Before the sets, he takes names of all the players, substitutes, captain and coaches.
 Take care of the positions of players in the court and ensure that the rotation order of the court is
kept.
 He supplies the referee with relevant information at all times.

4. Referee assistant
 They are four and they sit at each corner of the court.
 They note the serving faults.
 Notes the ball, which passes outside the net vertical markers during the service.
 Note the ball falling out of the court.

BASIC SKILLS IN VOLLEY BALL

1. Volleying
This is the act of setting or passing the ball over the net using two- handed
overhead pass. Teaching points
 Wide base with legs comfortably apart to maintain the balance.
 Knees slightly bent with body position under the ball and eyes on the ball.
 Arms almost stretched, fingers spread, palm facing upwards with thumbs and first fingers almost
meeting.
 The elbow bonds as you receive the ball.
 Flex your wrist and bend your knees as you receive the ball in order to be able to
accommodate the ball comfortably.
 Use your fingers mainly those of the thumb and the first two fingers.
 The body almost immediately straightens at receiving the ball on legs, fingers, arms and
toes thus putting the ball into play.
 The body makes a pumping action by moving down and up with the wrist flicking to make the ball
moves fast.
Possible errors
 Holding the ball
 Making the ball contact
the palms
 Not flexing the knees
 Poor timing

2. Serving
The act of putting the ball into play.

3. Spiking / smashing
This is the act of jumping in the air besides the net and forcibly hitting the ball down into the
opponents’ side over the net.
Teaching points
 Take two running steps
 Jump of from both feet.
 Take ensuring both hands backwards and upward to propel your off the ground.
Factors contributing to a good spiking.
 The take off should be with knee bent and track bent.
 The contact with the ball should be made at the highest point of the jump with the trunk arch
backwards.
 With fingers spread, wrist fixed, contact the ball with the heel of the palm first and close
fingers as in the case of the tennis service.
 The ball should be hit with a maximum force make it move to the opponent court at a sharp angle.

Errors during spiking

 Net touch
 Spiking towards own court
 Overstepping the centerline
Qualities of a good spiker
 Good jumping
 PowerTall
 Good in timing the
ball
 Good reaction time
4. Block
It is a counter move against a spike
This is the wall of hands put by the opponents’ side during the smashing of the ball.
Types of blocks
(a) One-two-three man block
(b) Complete/successful block
(c) Incomplete/unsuccessful block
Teaching points
Double feet take off at about two feet from net.
 Arms fully stretched upwards and toss with fingers.
 Knees slightly bent with fingers spread at ear level.
 As the ball hits your hands, flick the wrist downwards

Errors during blocking:

 Touching the net
 Overstepping the
centerline
 Blocking towards own
court
 Block out
 Interference
Qualities of a good blocker
Should be;
 Strong
 Physically
 Good timing
 Jumping
power
5. Dig.
  The method of retaining the ball when it comes below the
waist level of a player.
 Used to receive hard balls
 Used to pass the ball
to a team mate
 Used to return the ball
to opponent

Possible errors when

digging

 Digging while
standing

 Digging with the fists

 Not making a plane

with fleshy part of the
arms

Ready position during

digging
 Staggered stance
 Knees flexed
 Form plane with
the fleshy part of
the arms
 During contact,
raise the ball up

6. Set-up
This is the situation where the ball is volleyed/digged for smashing or spiking.

Substitution
1. Can be done without the information of the referee provided a player is registered. Substitute should
enter the court when the player he is substituting has left the court.
2. A player entering / leaving the court should do so from within his team substitution area.
But this does apply in case of injury.
3. The game cannot be stopped for substitution to be done.

Common ball
This is awarded in case of a simultaneous infringement of rules i.e. when two players commit the same offence at
the same time for example:
 touching the net
 Crossing the center line
 When the two referees, disagree External interference
Dad weather
Technical problem nb the game is restarted with a re-service[service repeat]

Misconduct
Being argumentative Intimidation
Any action aimed at delaying the game

Rude conduct
This is any action contrary to good manners or moral principles Player is shown are card and this results to loss of
rally.
Offensive conduct
Defamatory and insulting word or gestures
Aggression
Any physical attack
It leads to a disqualification i.e. the player is given both yellow and red card separately. Repeated rude conduct will
lead to expulsion i.e .two card together

Sanction cards
Yellow card- warning
Red card- disqualification
Yellow card +red card- expulsion
4.