About the Sequence of Hits in Volleyball

A volleyball team is only as strong as its players' hits. The hitting sequence is extremely important in volleyball. While you can hit the ball with any part of your body, there are a handful of hits with a methodical sequence that typically reap the best results. Most of these volleyball hits utilize the arms and hands.

  1. The Facts

    • In traditional, indoor volleyball, there are six players on each team. The serving team hits the ball to the other team, which then tries to successfully volley the ball back over to the other side of the net. Each team has three hits every time the ball re-enters its side of the court. If the ball touches the floor, goes out of bounds, or if a team breaks a rule, the other team gets a point and gets to serve. Five games are played. The winner of the majority of the games wins the match.

    History of

    • In the past, the typical bump-set-spike volleyball sequence would go on and on in much the same way. Most teams on the offensive team could easily spike the ball, while the defensive team had a difficult time recovering a spike. Games tended to go on and on with no real competition until 2000. A new rule was introduced that teams could substitute a libero in the backcourt for any other player. This libero has unprecedented skills when it comes to the dig hit. Spikes are no longer sure ways to get points now that the libero can recover many with an impressive dig.

    Type

    • There are six different types of volleyball hits, not including the serve: bump, set, spike, tip, dig and block. The bump is typically the first hit in the sequence. It is a defensive move. A set is typically the second hit. The setter uses his fingertips to push the ball high into the air. It is meant to set up a spike. The spike is a fast offensive hit over the net. A tip is when a spiker lightly taps the ball over the net instead of spiking it. A dig is another defensive move that is used in desperation to keep the ball from hitting the ground. Typically, a dig is one-handed. The final type of hit is called a block. This is a also a two-handed defensive hit meant to keep the ball from volleying into your court.

    Evolution

    • Until 1999, the only team that could score a point on a volley was the serving team. If the serving team failed to return a volley or had a penalty, the other team would resume serving and no one would receive a point for that round. The International Volleyball Federation changed those rules, though, and now either team can score no matter who is serving. This is called rally scoring.

    Misconceptions

    • In volleyball, each team is allowed three hits to return the ball to the other court. Some think that during that time, no person can hit the ball twice in a row--with no exceptions. But there is one exception to this rule: The block hit is not counted as one of the three. Also, the player who touches the ball in a block attempt is allowed to hit the ball immediately following.