Volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a game played by two teams, usually of six players on a side, in a rectangular court, divided into two equal halves across the length by a net tightly stretched between two poles fixed at either sides of the court, in which the players use their hands to bat a ball back and forth over a high net, trying to make the ball touch the court within the opponents’ court or force the other team to fail to volley the ball over the net after three touches. It has an estimated global following of 900 million fans.

Volleyball Match

History

1895: Volleyball, which was originally called Mintonette, was created by William G. Morgan in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

1900: The first custom volleyball was made.

1st custom ball made

1947: The Federation Internationale De Volleyball or FIVB was founded in Paris, France.

1964: Volleyball is introduced in the Olympic games in Tokyo.

Object of the Game

The object of volleyball is to  volley the ball over the net running through the centre of the court whilst trying to get it to bounce in your opponents’ half. The ball can only be successively strike by three members from the team before they send it to the other team. The game is played either in best of 3 or 5 sets and the team with most sets at the end of the game wins.

They can pass the ball among teammates like basketball, but the strategies of defending and attacking are similar to other net or racquet games. Players will try to get the ball over the net at the opponent side where it is tough for the opponents to volley it. The players of both teams have to prevent the ball touching the ground thus preventing the opponent to gain points.

Team Size

Volleyball is a game of two teams of six players each. It can have six more substitute players. One team should always consist of a captain and a libero. They are positioned in two rows (front row and back row) of three players each. The libero is identified with a dress different from other team members and is a specialist in defending and cannot serve or move to the front court.

Discipline in the team is maintained by the team captain along with the coach. The team captain is also the representative of the team and speaks about their team members concerns.

The court dimensions

Positioning and Rotation

A volleyball court is usually  29.5 ft × 59.1 ft(9 m × 18 m), divided into equal square halves by a net with a width of 39.4 in (1 m). The top of the net for men's competition is 2.43 m (7 ft 11 ¹¹⁄₁₆ in) above the center of the court , and for women's competition is 2.24 m (7 ft 4 ³⁄₁₆ in) , varies for veterans and junior competitions.

A line 3 m (9.8 ft) from and parallel to the net is considered the "attack line". The 3 m (or 10-ft) line divides the court into "back row" and "front row" areas (also back court and front court). They are in turn divided into 3 areas each: these are numbered as follows, starting from area "1", which is the position of the serving player.

Rules

• A team can hit the ball up to three times before the ball must be returned.
• The other team can then try and block or return the ball again hitting it a maximum of three times.
• A game is played up to 25 points and must be won by 2 clear points.
• Violations will be called for the following:
• When stepping over the base line when serving the ball.
• When the ball hits the net and fails to get over the net (If the ball hits the net and still goes over the net then this is perfectly legal).
• The players are not allowed to carry, palm or run with the ball.
• The players must not touch the net with any part of the body. If the net is said to have hit them rather than vice-versa, then this is okay.
• The players cannot reach over the net and hit the ball.