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Volleyball Study Guide

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13 views

Volleyball Study Guide

Uploaded by

joshua.sandifer
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Volleyball Study Guide

History
● In 1895, William G. Morgan was the education director at Holyoke, MA.,
YMCA. Four years earlier, his colleague James Naismith had invented the
game of basketball. Just down the road at the Springfield YMCA.
● Naismith’s game was catching on quickly but there was a drawback. Not
everyone could keep up with the fast pace of basketball and that was even
before the fast break was created. Morgan needed a game that could be
enjoyed by middle aged men.
● Morgan came up with a court game he originally called Mintonette. He chose
the name because his new sport was related to badminton. Mintonette was
played on a court divided by 6-foot, 6-inch net. Teams volleyed the ball back
and forth across the net until one team missed. The first competitive game of
volleyball was played July 7, 1896.
● Changes were immediately made to Morgan’s game. One of the first was the
name itself. Alfred Halstead is credited with renaming the sport with the
descriptive words “volley ball”.
● The number of players on each team was limited. Originally, a team was
allowed to have as many players as it could fit into its half of a 50 by 25 foot
court. The number of players was set at 9 per side and later reduced to 6.
Rotating players to various positions on the court has been apart of the game
from the beginning.
● The number of times a team could touch the ball before it went over the net
was eventually set at 3. The first rules allowed an unlimited number of hits.
The earliest games in Morgan’s gym were played with the rubber bladder
from inside the basketball.
● Spalding made the first volleyball in 1896. By 1900, the standard shade and
weight of the ball were almost identical to those used today.
● The height of the net was raised to make the game more challenging. Today,
the net is just under 8’ for men and 7’ 8” for women. Under the original rules,
a team had to score 21 points to win a game. In 1917, that number was
reduced to 15.
● It quickly became apparent that the game was appealing to more than just
middle aged men.
● High schools and colleges began to adopt the sport for men and women.
● In 1920, three hits per side was established.
● In 1984, the U.S. won its first medal in the Olympics in Los Angeles. The men
won gold and the women won silver.
● In 2003, The High School Federation began using rally scoring to 25 and, the
net serve became legal.
Players
● An official team has 6 players
● Positions are: right back (RB), middle back (MB), left back (LB), left front
(LF), middle front (MF), right front (RF)
○ The right back position always serves
● Rotation is always clockwise
● Players may not overlap side to side or front to back
● A libero is a defensive players who wears a different color jersey and only
plays the back row.

Playing
● Only 3 contacts of the ball are allowed per possession (does not include
blocks)
● No player may hit the ball 2 times in a row (does not include blocks)
● A ball that touches the net and goes over is still in play (even on a serve)
● No player may touch or go under the net on any play
● A ball landing on a boundary line is good
● You may go out of bounds to play the ball
● A ball that hits the ceiling is out if it comes down on the other side of the net
● You must use an overhead pass (a set) or a forearm pass on the first contact
following the serve

Scoring
● Rally scoring - every ball put into play is worth a point, regardless of which
team serves it.
● A game is complete when one team scores 25 points (must win by 2 points)
● A match consists of the best two games out of three OR the best three out of
five games. If a third or fifth is needed, it is usually only played to 15.
● An Ace is a serve that results directly in a point (no one can get to it)

Serving
● All serves must be taken by the player in the right back position. The server
may stand anywhere behind the end line.
● The server may not touch or step over the end line while serving

Playing the ball


● Set: the ball is hit from above the forehead using the tips of the fingers and
thumbs. The ball must be contacted above the nose for it to be a legal hit.
● Pass: the ball is hit using the lower arms (just above the wrist). The thumbs
must be touching for this to be a legal hit.
● Hit (spike): the ball is hit overhand with an openhand. Try to jump high and
drive the ball downward.
● Roll: the ball is hit overhand with an open palm but not driven downward.
● Tip: the ball is hit with the fingertips and “placed” over the net into an open
area.
● Block: the ball is contacted at the net by jumping and extending both arms up
with the fingers spread wide.

Fouls
● Lift (carry): a ball which is lifted/carried and not hit, including any
underhand contact using an open palm.
● Double Hit: a ball hit unevenly by the hands or forearms, or when the same
player hits the ball two times in a row (does not include blocks).

Terms
● Ace: is a serve that results directly in a point (no one can get to it)
● Attack: hit or spike
● Block: a combination of one, two, or three players getting in front of their
opponents spiker trying to stop or slow down the attack with their hands.
● Jump Serve: a serve in which the server jumps and attacks the ball as if they
were spiking from behind the end line.
● Libero: a defensive player who wears a different color jersey and only plays
the back row.
● Lift: an illegal contact used by holding the ball
● Pass: where a player contacts the ball below the waist by using forearms
● Match: a series of games played to determine the winner (i.e., best 2 out of 3
games)
● Set: a two-handed over handed pass
● Spike: attack that is hard driven

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