About Volleyball

Fast moving and spirited, volleyball has become one of the most popular games in the world. Volleyball is a serious competitive team sport with international participation. It is also a favorite recreational sport enjoyed at parks and sandy beaches. Health and fitness centers often sponsor women or men's volleyball teams as a fitness activity.

  1. Identification

    • Volleyball is a game where two teams are separated by a volleyball net. Players hit a volleyball back and forth, over the net, primarily using their hands, wrists and arms to hit the ball. The object is to keep the ball volleying back and forth over the net until one team is unable to return the ball.

    Features

    • The volleyball is round with a leather covering. It measures approximately 8.25 inches in diameter and weighs about 9.5 ounces. When played indoors the playing field, or volleyball court, is 60 feet long and 30 feet wide, with a net dividing the court into two equal sides. In men's volleyball, the net is positioned so that the top of the net is 8 feet high; in woman's volleyball the net is lowered by 7.75 inches.

    Types

    • There are two types of volleyball, indoor and outdoor. Indoor volleyball is played on an indoor surface such as wood. There are six members on each team of indoor volleyball. Outdoor volleyball is also called two-man volleyball or two-person volleyball. The court for outdoor volleyball is on grass or sand. Both types follow similar rules. Although outdoor volleyball has just two players on each team, volleyball is often played for recreation on outside courts by teams larger than two.

    History

    • Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William Morgan in Holyoke, Mass. Morgan was a physical education instructor for the YMCA. Today the game is played worldwide and is very popular in Europe and Asia. In 1964 indoor volleyball became an official game of the Olympics. The International Volleyball Federation includes more than 150 nations, including the United States.

    Considerations

    • In indoor volleyball team members are positioned in two rows of three, parallel to the net. The player at the right back position serves the ball over the net. The opposing team must return it over the net, with no more than three hits from that team. Only the serving team can score. If the serving team fails to return a serve, it looses the serve and the other team begins to serve. Losing a serve is called a side-out. Players rotate court positions, in a clockwise direction, after a side-out.