Basic Volleyball Facts

Volleyball can be played either as a social game or an extremely competitive game. There are regulations for the game of volleyball based on whether it is played indoors in a location such as a gym or athletic club, or outdoors in a location such as a beach, sand pit or on the grass. To play a game of volleyball, you should have at least two players on each team, but you can have as many as you wish for a casual game. The court can get very crowded with more than six players on each team.

  1. Height of the Net

    • The height of the net is determined by if the game is played by all males, all females or a mixed group. A height of seven feet and eleven and five eighths inches is used for men's games or co-ed games. For a game with all females, the height is seven feet and four and one eighth inches high.

    Indoor Volleyball Court Dimensions

    • The width of the volleyball court for indoor play is 29 feet and six inches wide. The length of the court is 59 feet, with 29 and half feet on each team's side of the court on either side of the volleyball net.

    Outdoor Volleyball Court Dimensions

    • Outdoor volleyball court dimensions depend on how many players are playing. In two against two games the dimensions are 26 feet and three inches wide and 52 feet and six inches long. This results in a perfect square on each side of the net. With more than two players per team, the dimension outdoors are 30 feet wide and 60 feet long.

    Outdoor Sand Depth

    • For tournament play, the sand depth of a volleyball court should be at least one foot deep. The sand can be deeper, but this is the minimum depth for tournament beach volleyball play.

    Scoring

    • Two types of scoring can be used. In standard scoring, the game is played to 15 points and only the serving team can score a point. In rally scoring, a point is scored on every serve and a point can be scored by the non-serving team. In rally scoring, a game is played to 21 points.