Bulacan State University
College of Physical Education, Recreation and Sports
City of Malolos, Bulacan
VOLLEYBALL
History
In 1895, William Morgan, Physical Education Director of YMCA (Young Men’s
Christian Association) invented volleyball in Holyoke Massachusetts, USA. He created
volleyball for his classes of businessmen because he thought basketball was too fast
and vigorous for the middle aged group.
Originally, the game incorporated the basic elements of tennis, baseball,
basketball and handball, which Morgan called “Mintonette”. The purpose of the game
was to hit the ball with a long handle racket over the net-stung 6 inches above the floor.
“Out” was called if the ball landed out of bounds or hit the floor after more than 1
bounce. The ball was put into play by a server who was allowed three hits before his
team lost possession of the ball.
On July 7 1896, the game was presented at YMCA Sports Conference at the
Springfield College where it was received favorably. Alfred Halsted, a Professor from
Springfield College suggested that the name “volleyball” was used noting the volleying
nature of the game. Morgan wrote the first rule in 1897. The early rules of the game
included a court 50 feet long and 25 feet wide with a net 6 feet and 6 inches from the
ground. At the time, there was no restriction on the number of the players composing a
team. The number of the players was to be decided through agreement between the
two teams before the game started.
The variation of development from the early primitive stage up to the present is
presented as follows:
1900 - Point system was adopted (21 points per game).
1910 - Volleyball was introduced in the Philippines by Elwood S. Brown, Physical
Director of YMCA Manila.
1912 - Rotation system
1913 - The first Far East Olympic was held in Manila.
1916 - In the Philippines, an offensive style of passing the ball in a high trajectory to be
struck by another player (the set and spike) was introduced. The Filipinos developed the
“bomba” or kill, and called the hitter “Bomberino”.
1917 - The game was changed from 21 to 15 points.
1918 - Number of players was fixed to six (6) per team. The height of the net was set to
8 feet about 2.43 meters.
1920 - Each team was allowed to play the three times successively at maximum in its
court.
1921 - Centerline was set.
1923 - Size of the court was set to 30’x60’ or 9m x 18m with a boundary line of 0.05m
delimiting the court.
1954 - Asian Volleyball Federation (A.V.B.F) was organized in Manila.
1960 - Volleyball was demonstrated in the Rome Olympics.
1964 - Volleyball became an official sporting event in the Tokyo Olympics.
1981 - SEA Games was held in Manila, Philippines.
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Facilities and Equipment
I.
Court
a. 18m x 9m and free from all obstruction.
b. Centerline - divide the court into two equal parts.
c. Attack line - line 3m parallel from the center line.
d. Boundary line - two sidelines and two end lines mark the playing court. All
boundary lines are drawn inside the dimension of the playing court.
e. Lines - all lines on the court are 5cm (2”) wide.
II.
Net
An aerial division of the court.
a. Dimensions: 1m wide and 9.5m long.
b. Height: 2.43m for men and 2.24m for women.
c. At its top horizontal land, 5cm wide, which is made of two fold canvas, is
sewn along its full length.
Each extreme end the band has a hole, through which passes a cord
fastening the band to the post for top taut.
d. Sidebands: two white bands are fastened vertically to the net and placed
directly above the sideline. They are 5cm wide and 1m long and
considered as part of the net.
III.
Antennae
An Antenna is a flexible rod made of fiberglass or similar material.
a. Height: 1.8m long and 10mm diameter fastened at the outer edge of each
side band and placed on the opposite side of the net.
b. Color: marked with 10cm stripes of contrasting color, preferably red and
white.
IV.
Ball
The ball shall be spherical, made of flexible leather or synthetic leather case
with a bladder inside made of rubber or similar material.
a. Color: uniform light color, or a combination of colors combination of balls
used in International Official competitions should comply with FIVB
standards.
b. Circumference: 25-27 inches or 65-67 cm
c. Weight: 260-280 grams
V.
Post
It must be rounded and smooth , fixed to the ground without wires. There should
be no dangerous or obstructing device.
a. 1m away from the sideline.
b. Height: 2.55 meters
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Terminologies
1) Assist - awarded when a player passes, sets or digs the ball to a teammate who
attacks the ball for a kill.
2) Attack - an attempt to terminate the play by hitting the ball to the floor on the
opponent’s side: can be awarded for a tip.
3) Attack line - sometimes called “3 meter line” or “10-foot line”. The line parallel to
the center line and three meters / 10 feet back from the net.
4) Back row attack - when a back row player attacks the ball by jumping from
behind the attack line before hitting the ball: if the back row player steps on or
past line during take-off and sends the ball over after contracting it above the
height of the net, the attack is legal.
5) Block - the combination of one, two or three players jumping in front of the
opposing spike and contracting the spiked ball with the hands.
6) Dig - the act of retrieving an attacked ball close to the floor.
7) Double contact - contracting the ball twice in succession or the ball contacts
various parts of the body successively.
8) Four hits - a team hits the ball four times before returning it to the opponent’s
court.
9) Free ball - when the ball rests momentarily in the hands or arms of the player.
10) Jump serve - a serve where the server tosses the ball, makes an approach,
and jumps.
11) Kill - an attack ball strikes the floor or lands out of bounds after touching an
opponent.
12) Libero - a player who wears a different color of uniform, in contrast to the other
members of the team. He is allowed to replace any player in a back row position.
13) Pass - to bat the ball to a teammate.
14) Placement - hitting the ball to an intended spot.
15) Point - a score made by a team.
16) Positional fault - any player who is not in his correct position at the moment the
ball is hit by the server.
17) Service - the act of putting the ball into play by the right back row player.
18) Service ace - a serve that the floor or causes the passer to misplay such that no
player can make a second contact.
19) Set - a maneuver in which a ball is purposely directed to a spiker.
20) Side out - the receiving team wins a rally, earning the right to serve.
21) Spike - an attack to put the ball to the opponent’s floor with force.
22) Substitution - the attack by which the referee authorizes a player to leave the
court and another player to occupy his position.
23) Tip - placement or redirection of the ball with the fingers sometimes referred to
as a dink or dump; a tip is counted as an attack attempt and if successful kill.
24) Zones - a numbering system that designates the placement of a player or a
target area of the ball.
Participants in the Competition
A. Number of Players
A team may consist of a maximum of 12 players (including the substitutes). The
player takes a general position in two rows. Positions in the row closer to and facing the
net are left forward, center forward and right forward. Positions of the second row
players are left back, center back and right back.
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B. Coach
1) Throughout the match the coach conducts the play of his team from
outside the playing court.
2) He selects the starting line-ups, their substitutes and take time-outs for
giving instructions.
C. Assistant Coach
The assistant coach sits on the team bench, but has no right to intervene
in the match.
2) Should the coach have to leave his team, the assistant coach may, at the
request of the game captain and with the authorization of the first referee,
assume the coach function.
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D. Captain
1) Represent the team in the toss.
2) When the ball is out of play, only the game captain, all of the team
members, is authorized to the referees.
a) To ask for explanation on the application or interpretation of the
rules. If the game captain does not agree with the explanation of
the first referee, he may choose to protest against such decision
and immediately indicates to the first referee that he reserves the
right to record an official protest on the score sheet at the end of the
match.
b) To ask permission to change equipment to verify the position of the
team.
c) To request time-outs and substitutions.
E. Libero
1) The libero is allowed to replace any player in a back row position.
2) He / She may not serve, block or attempt to block.
3) The libero can only be replaced by the sideline in front of his team bench
between the attack line and at the end line.
4) He may only enter or leave the court by the sideline in front of his team
bench between the attack line and the end line.
Playing Format
A. The Toss
1) Before the match the first referee carries out a toss to decide upon the first
service and the sides of the court in the first set.
2) The toss is taken in the presence of the two team captains.
3) The winner of the toss chooses either:
a) The right to serve or to receive the service.
b) The side of the court.
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B. Team Line-up
1) There must always be six (6) players per team in a play.
C. Position of the Player
1) At the same time the ball is scored all players must be in their respective
place.
2) As soon as the ball is served, each player can cover any selection of his
court.
D. Rotation
1) Rotational order is determined by the team’s starting line-up and controlled
with the service order and player position through the set.
2) When the receiving team has gained the right to serve, its player rotate
one position clockwise.
E. Substitution
1) Substitutes and coaches stay on the side of the court opposite the first
referee.
2) Substitution of players is made only on the request of captain or coach
when the ball is not in play.
3) Six substitutions is the maximum permitted per set. One or more players
may be substituted at the same time.
4) A player of the starting line-up may leave the game and re-enter, but only
once in a set, and only his/her previous position in the line-up.
5) A substitute player may enter the game, but only once per set in the place
of a starting line-up player and he/she can only be replaced by the player
whom he/she replaced.
OFFICIALS AND THEIR DUTIES
A. First Referee
Location: the first referee carries out his functions standing on a
referee’s stand located at the end of the net.
Authority:
1) Directs the match from the start until the end. He has the authority over all
officials and the members of the team.
2) During the match the first referee’s decision is final. He is authorized to
overrule the decision of the officials, if noticed that they are mistaken.
3) The first referee may even replace an official who is not performing his
function properly.
4) The first referee has the power to decide any matter involving the game,
including those provided in the rule.
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5) He is responsible for determining before and during the match, whether
the playing area, equipment and condition meet playing requirements.
Responsibilities:
1) Prior to the match, the first referee:
a) Inspects the condition of the playing area, the balls and other
equipment.
b) Performs the toss with the team captains.
c) Controls the team warming-up.
2) During the match, only the first referee authorize:
a) To issue warnings to the teams.
b) To sanction misconduct and delay.
c) To decide upon the faults of the server and of the positions of the
serving team, including the screen.
d) To decide upon the faults in playing the ball.
e) Decide the faults above the net and its upper part.
f) The ball crossed the lower space under the net.
B. Second Referee
Location: the second referee performs his function standing outside
the playing court near the post, on the opposite side facing the first referee.
Authority:
1) The second referee is the assistant of the first referee but has also his
own range of jurisdiction. Should the first referee become unavailable to
continue his work, the second referee may replace the first referee.
2) He controls the work of the scorer.
3) He supervises the team members on the team bench and reports their
misconduct to the first referee.
4) He authorizes the interruptions, controls their duration and rejects
improper requests.
5) He controls the number of team-outs and substitutions used by each team
and reports the 2nd time-out and 5th and 6th substitutions to the first
referee and the coach concerned.
6) In the case of injury of a player, he authorizes an exceptional substitution
or grants a 3 minute recovery time.
Responsibilities:
1) At the start of each set, at the change of courts in the deciding set and
whenever necessary he checks that the actual position of the players on
the court corresponds to those on the line-up.
2) During the match he decides, whistles and signals:
a) Positional faults of the receiving team.
b) The contact with the net at its lower part, or with the antenna on his
side of the court by any player playing the ball or attempting to play
it.
c) Penetration into the opponent’s court and the space under the net.
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d) The attack hit or block faults of the back row players or the libero.
e) The ball that crosses the net outside the crossing space into the
opponent’s court or touches the antenna on his side of the court.
f) The contact of the ball with an outside object or with the floor when
the first referee is not in position to see the contact.
C. Scorer
Location: the scorer performs his functions seated at the scorer’s
table on the opposite side of the court facing the first referee.
Responsibilities:
1) He keeps the score sheet according to the rules, cooperating with the
second referee.
2) Prior to the match, he reports the starting line-up of each team from the
line-up sheet, if he fails to receive the line-up sheets on time, he
immediately notifies this fact to the second referee.
3) During the match:
a) Records then points scored and ensure that the scoreboard
indicates the correct score.
b) Controls the serving order of each team and indicates any error to
the referee immediately after the service hit.
c) Announce to the referee the end of the set and the scoring of the
8th point decider.
4) At the end of the match:
a) Record the final results.
b) Obtains the signature of the team captains and referee.
c) In the case of the protest, with the previous authorization of the first
referee, writes or permits the team captain to write on the score
sheet a statement on the incidents protested.
D. Line Judge
Location: if only 2 line judges are used, they stand at the corners of
the court closest to the right hand of each referee diagonally at 1 to 2
meters from the corner. Each one of them controls both the end line and
sideline on his side.
For FIVB World and Official Competitions, it is compulsory to have
four line judges.
Responsibilities:
1) The line judges perform their functions by using flags:
a) They signal the ball “in” and “out” whenever the ball lands near their
line(s).
b) They signal touches of “out” balls by the team receiving the ball.
c) They signal when the ball touches the antenna, the served ball
crosses the net outside the crossing space.
d) They signal if any player steps outside of his playing court at the
moment the service is hit.
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e) The judges in charge of the end lines signal the foot faults of the
server.
f) At the first referee’s request a line judge must report his signal.
PLAYING RULES
A. Duration of the Game
1) Number of sets in a match - five (5)
B. Beginning of the Game and Change of Service
1) The first service of the first set, as well as that of the deciding set (the 5th)
is executed by the team determined by a toss.
2) The other sets will be started with the service of the team that did not
serve first in the previous set.
3) When the receiving team wins the rally, it gains the right to serve and
rotates actual serving.
C. Hitting a Ball
1) The ball can be hit or struck by any part of the body.
2) The team is entitled to a maximum of three hits for returning the ball.
3) A player may not hit the ball two times consecutively.
4) Two or three players may touch the ball at the same moment.
D. Interruption and Delays
Regular Interruptions
1) Each team is entitled to a maximum of two time-outs and six player
substitutions per set.
2) A request for one or two time-outs and one request for player substitution
by either team may follow on another, with no need to resume the game.
3) However, a team is not authorized to make consecutive requests for
player substitution during the same interruption of play. Two or more
players may be substituted during the same interruption.
Time-Outs
1) A time-out lasts for 30 seconds.
2) During all time-outs the players in play must go to the free zone near their
bench.
Substitution
1) Substitution must be carried out within the substitution zone 3.
2) It only lasted the time needed for recording the substitution on the score
sheet, allowing entry and exit of the players.
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3) At the moment of the substitution request the substitute must be ready to
enter the court, standing close to the substitution zone. If that is the case,
the substitution is not granted and the team is sanctioned for delay.
Injury
1) Should a serious accident occur while the ball is in play, the referee must
stop the game immediately and permit medical assistance to enter the
court. The rally is then replaced.
2) If an injured player cannot be substituted legally or exceptionally, the
player is given a minute recovery time, but no more than once for the
same player in the match. If the player does not recover his team is
declared incomplete.
Game Delays
1) Delaying a substitution.
2) Prolonging other interruptions, after having been instructed to resume the
game.
3) Requesting an illegal substitution.
4) Repeating an improper request in the same match.
5) Delaying the game by a player in play.
Sanction of Delays
1) “Delay Warning” or “Delay Penalty” are team sanctions.
2) The first delay in the match by a team member is sanctioned with a
“DELAY WARNING”.
3) The second and subsequent delays of any type by any member of the
same team in the same match constitutes faults and are sanctioned with a
“DELAY PENALTY” , a loss of rally.
E. Play at Net
1) A ball touching the net in the course of the game and ball passing over the
exterior market is good.
2) Two opponents simultaneously touching the net shall constitute a double
fault.
F. Player of Backline
1) Back row players cannot participate in the spiking and blocking. However
a spiked ball by a back player is if the spiking is not done within the attack
area.
G. Points/Score
1) If one team commits a fault the other team gets a point.
2) When it comes to the 5th set the score consists of 15 points.
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BASIC SKILLS
A. SERVICE
The service is the act of putting the ball into play by the back right
player, placed in the service zone.
Rules in Service:
1) The ball shall be hit with one hand or any part of the arm after being
tossed or released from the hand before it touches any other part of the
body or the playing surface.
2) At the moment of the service hit or take off for a jump service, the server
must not touch the court (the end included) or the ground outside the
service zone. After the hit he may step or land outside the service zone
inside the court.
3) The server must hit the ball within 8 seconds after the first referee whistles
for service.
4) A service executed before the referee’s whistle is canceled and repeated.
Types of Services
1. Underhand Service
Preparatory Position:
Server faces the net with left forward.
Ball is held about waist level in the palm or left hand in front of the right
leg.
Body Action
Swing right arm backward shifting weight to real foot.
To strike the ball, swing right arm forward from shoulder shifting weight
to front foot and strike the ball with open hand or fist closed as left hand
releases hold of ball.
2. Overhand Service
The stance is the same as for the underhand serve, but the kill is
executed by the player tossing the ball approximately above the head level
and hitting it with an extended hitting arm.
3. Sidearm Service
The chief advantage for this method is the descriptive twist or curve,
which is secured if the kill is done properly. However, like the overhand serve,
it is very unreliable.
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Preparatory Position:
Serve turned with the left side closer to the net.
Ball is held shoulder level in the palm of L hand with hand stretched or
half stretched.
Body Action:
Right arm is drawn back and it swings forward contracting the ball.
Ball may be hit directly out of hand or it may be tossed into the air a
few inches high.
The hitting arm follows through parallel to the floor.
B. THE PASS
A serve ball or any ball coming from the opponent is received or stopped by the
other team with any part of the body, but the most usual and effective way is the hand.
Holding is the most common fault in receiving the ball, to avoid this, most coaches
advocate the putting close of the hands together and sometimes up to the elbow so that
the ball is stopped with the fists, wrist or forearms. In this ordinary condition of the play,
however, the ball can be received or passed easily with the firm fingers in open
formation, or cupped without letting the ball touch the palm.
Types of Pass:
1. Underhand Pass
Preparatory Position:
Elbows are bent so that the arm is extended in front of the body.
Hands are close together, fingers cupped.
Body Action:
As the ball comes down knees bend and forearms lowered to a
position lower than the waist.
Upward force is applied to the ball by straightening knees and lifting
arms in a continuous or simultaneous movement.
2. Overhand Pass
Preparatory Position:
Arms are raised with elbows bent and held away from the body at
shoulder level.
Hands are in front of the chest, fingers pointing toward the opposite
hand.
Palms are facing away from the body, fingers cupped so that the ball is
played with fingers.
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Body Action:
As the ball approaches, knees are bent and trunk leans back slightly.
A backward step may be taken by either foot.
To impart force to the ball, straighten the knees and trunk with an
upward extension of arms.
Play ball with “ten points” formed by fingers in front face.
3. Dig Pass
This is a method of fielding balls that are almost out of reach. The
motion of the full arm underhand stroke.
4. Set-up
This kind of pass is for placing the ball in position for the attack player
(spiker) to hit or smash it.
C. ATTACK
Spiking is done by hitting the ball over or above the net with any strong force or
smash such that the ball falls in a downward direction. For an effective strategy,
however, the spikes can be modified by just making the ball roll off the hands over the
net into the opponent’s court. The objective is to contain faults or errors.
Preparatory Position:
Spiker stands close to the net facing the direction from where the ball is
coming.
Body Action:
As the ball starts to come down the spiker jumps high in the air and
swings his right arm upward.
Ball is hit downward when it is still above the net as the body turns in the
air.
Note: a running attack is done by making one, two or three directly forward
before making the jump.
D. DEFENSE
Blocking is the effort of the defensive team to stop a spike. This is done by
putting up the fingers and hand above the net and in front of the ball so that the spiked
ball may be returned to the spiker court with its diminished or lesser force in order for
the other player to be able to handle it.
More than one player can block the ball at the same time. This needs proper
timing. The blockers usually stay three feet away from the net ready to jump high
enough to reach where the ball will be batted.
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Preparatory Position:
Blockers at the net are ready to jump at the same time the spiker does.
Body Action:
As the spiker jumps up to spike the ball, follow him up with arms extended
straight upward and fingers spread and rigid.
Aim to deflect the ball back across the net to the spiker’s side.
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