Volleyball Game Rules

December 22, 2017

Have you just started your journey to the sport of volleyball? Or, maybe, you find it interesting to play the game of volleyball? On way or another, you need to get familiar with volleyball game rules. It’s worth noting that volleyball game rules are constantly updated.

This blog post concentrates on the most up-to-date volleyball game rules. Today, we’ll explain to you briefly some of the most important game’s rules. So, you’ll get a basic understanding of how to play the game of volleyball. Read on and learn more about the rules of volleyball game. Facilities and Equipment in Volleyball

The playing area in volleyball game consists of the playing court and free zone. A playing court is a rectangle with length = 18 meters and width = 9 meters. It’s worth noting that the playing court is surrounded by free zone on all sides. The width of free zone = 3 meters.
The game of volleyball is played on horizontal and flat surface.
There are different types of lines on the court including attack line, centre line as well as boundary lines. The line’s width = 5 cm.
The height of net for men in volleyball = 2.43 meters and the height of net for women is volleyball = 2.24 meters.
It’s important to know that the ball that’s used in the game has to meet FIVB standards. The ball’s circumference = 65 – 67 cm and the ball’s weight = 260 – 280 grams. The pressure inside the ball has to be 0.30 to 0.325 kg/cm2. It’s also important to note that five-ball system is used in the sport of volleyball.

Participants in Volleyball

A volleyball team has to consist of 12 players, coaching staff and medical staff. Coaching staff consists of 1 head coach and a maximum of 2 assistant coaches. Medical staff consists of 1 medical doctor and 1 team therapist.
During the match and while on a court a team’s head coach as well as captain must take responsibility for behavior of their team members.
The main job of the captain is to represent his/her volleyball team during matches.
If a team captain has to leave the court for some reason then the head coach has to assignanother player who’ll take the role of the game captain. You should know that liberos are not allowed to be the volleyball team’s captain.
All of team’s members have to be listed on the score sheet before the match. The captain’s job is to sign the score sheet before the match begins. It’s worth noting that only those athletes who are recorded on the score sheet can enter the court to participate in the official warm up and play in the match.
Each of volleyball players has to be equipped properly. An athlete must have the followingequipment: a jersey, shorts, socks as well as sport shoes. A volleyball player’s jersey has to be numbered properly. A volleyball player has a number from 1 to 20.
A team’s captain must have a stripe that underlines the number on his/her jersey. Stripe’s length= 8 cm and stripe’s width = 2 cm.
The volleyball team’s head coach deals with referees during the match. The head coach is alsoresponsible for requesting substitutes and time-outs and giving instructions to the volleyball players on the court during the match. The head coach is also allowed to walk within the free zone during the match.
A volleyball team can have a maximum of 2 assistant coaches. The main job of an assistantcoach is to help the head coach with his/her tasks. Volleyball game rules state that assistant coaches are not allowed to interfere into the match. Let’s assume that a head coach has to leave the team during the match. In this case, an assistant coach may be allowed to take responsibilities of the head coach.

Playing Format in Volleyball

When it comes to a volleyball match, it all begins with official warm-up session. Official warm up period lasts 6 minutes. However, players can spend up to 10 minutes participating in the warm-up session. That means that all volleyball players of the team should come together and take part in the official warm-up session prior to the match.
The match is played until one of volleyball teams wins 3 sets. Let’s assume that one team haswon 2 sets and the opposing team has won 2 sets during the match. If this is the case, teams will have to play the 5-th set. The team that gets 15 points with a lead of 2 points will win the match. – A set is played until one of teams gets 25 points with a minimum lead of 2 points. If one of teams gets 24 points and the opposing team gets 24 points then the set is played until one of teams achieves a 2 point lead.
In order to get a point a team has to land the ball on the opponent’s side of the court. A team also gets a point when the opponent team either receives a penalty or commits a fault. – During the match 6 volleyball players have to be located on each side of the court. Each of team’s players has to take his/her position on the court before the match begins.
If a volleyball player hasn’t taken the correct position on the court before the service is hit that means that his/her team will commit a so called positional fault. If this happens a team that has committed a fault will lose a point as well as the right to serve the ball.
Actually, there are two types of volleyball players. These are front row players and back row players. Front row players play on front-left, front-right and front-centre positions. Back row players play on back-left, back-right and back centre positions.
After the volleyball match has begun, all players can move around and take any position on the court.

Read about PAKMEN’s High Performance Volleyball programs

Check PAKMEN’s Beach Volleyball programs

Playing Actions in Volleyball

All players of the team have to be located within its playing area during the game.
A volleyball team is allowed to hit the ball a maximum of 3 times. Then, a team has to return the ball to the opposite side of the net.
Volleyball players can contact a ball with any part of the body.
There are 4 types of faults in playing the ball. These include: four hits, assisted hit, catch aswell as double contact. If a volleyball team has hit the ball four times before returning it to the opponent’s side of the court that means that volleyball players have committed four hit. If a player gets support of another player when hitting the ball then he/she has committed assisted hit. If a volleyball player catches the ball first and then throws it then he/she has committed catch fault. Let’s imagine that a volleyball player has contacted the ball two times in succession. In this case, he/she has committed double contact hit.
The serve is hit to put the ball into play. The team that didn’t serve first in other sets will serve the ball in other sets. A team that will serve the ball in the first set is determined by the toss. Let’s assume the serving team wins a rally. If this is the case, the serving team gets a point and continues to serve the ball next. However, if a receiving team wins the rally then the receiving team gets a point as well as the right to serve the ball the next.
According to the volleyball game rules, it has to take a server no longer than 8 seconds to servethe ball after referee’s whistle.
If a server either violates the service order or executes the serve incorrectly that means that his/her team has committed a serving fault.
The team is not allowed to block the serve executed by the opposing team.
When blocking the opposing team’s attack a player is allowed to place his/her hands beyond the net. However, it’s crucial for a blocker to ensure that his/her actions don’t affect the play of the opposing team. A blocker is allowed to touch the ball beyond the net only after the opposing team has carried out an attack hit.
A team’s block is not counted as a team’s attack hit. In other words, a team is permitted to hit the ball 3 times after blocking the opponent’s attack hit.

Interruptions and Delays in Volleyball

A volleyball team can request a maximum of 6 substitutions and 2 time-outs during the set.
A requested time-out has to take no longer than 30 seconds.
Time-outs as well as substitutions can be requested by the head coach. However, if the headcoach has left the team during the match for some reasons then time-outs or substitutions are requested by a game captain.
Two technical time-outs are applied automatically when the leading team gets the 8th and 16thpoint while participating in the World and Official Competitions. In this case, a technical time out takes 60 seconds.
Volleyball players can delay the game in a number of ways. For example, a play may delaygame interruptions or a game. Athletes may also delay the game by repeating an improper request or requesting illegal substitution. It’s important to point out that any type of delays result in sanctions which are recorded on the score sheet during the game.
Initially, the volleyball team delaying the game gets so called delay warning. If the team continues to delay the game it will be sanctioned with a delay penalty. If this happens a sanctioned team will lose the point as well as the right to serve next.

Thank you so much for reading our article. We have just provided you with some insights into volleyball game rules. Actually, this list can go on and on. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to describe all of volleyball game rules in one article. However, it would be enough for you to get familiar with these rules to get started with volleyball. Good luck!