Best 10 Volleyball Rules | You Should Know In 2023

Have you ever found yourself confused by the rules of volleyball? Fear not! I’ll break down the basic rules and answer all your burning questions. The volleyball game was invented by 25-year-old young legend William G. Morgan, a physical education instructor in Massachusetts, in 1895.

Did you know that Volleyball was initially named MINTONETTE, and the name was changed by its founder when it became popular? To spill the beans on volleyball rules, I collaborated with Volleyball legends, whose insights are as precious as diamonds, to get the inside scoop on the rules.

General 10 Volleyball Rules

1. You’ve 6 players in each team, 3 players in the front row, and other 3 players in the back row, who can play on the court.
2. You can hit the ball up to 3 times.
3. Don’t try to hit the ball 2-times, because It’ll be counted as a violation.
4. By any chance, If the ball touches the line of boundary, it’ll be “IN”.
5. If the ball touches the antennae, It’ll be out.
6. Any team can play up to 25 points, once one of the teams reaches 25 points. The team will win the game, but remember the winning team should win by at least 2 points margin.
7. If the ball touches your body then it’ll not considered as any type of foul.
8.  If you catch, hold, or throw the ball in the game then it’ll be declared as a rule violation.
9. If two or more players touch the ball simultaneously, it’s considered a single play, and either player involved can make the next contact as long as it’s not the team’s 4^th hit.
10. In International volleyball tournaments, only 6 substitutions are allowed per set.

How to Play Volleyball?

Many experts examine a few old-fashioned ways to play volleyball, but they weren’t as right as rain. Well, you haven’t missed the boat yet, I write below some main tricks that help you to play like a champ by the skin of your teeth.

Passing in Volleyball

When you get a ball from the server while playing, You should pass the ball to the player who’s the playmaker. You must hit the ball in a controlled manner with an underhand bump.

Setting in Volleyball

The setter is a playmaker in the team, and he makes the ball ready for a hitter to hit the ball and try to score a point. An Overhead Setting is generally When a player makes a triangle above the forehead with their thumbs and fingers, and they hit the ball up for attackers.

Spiking in Volleyball

Blocking in Volleyball

This move is for defensive players. When the other team’s player tries to hit the ball, up to 3 players of our team come close to the net, and jump right after the other team player’s arms come up. When he hits the ball, it’ll be automatically blocked by your players.

Digging in Volleyball

When the other team hits the ball, and the ball is going to touch the floor then 1 of our team players needs to act fast to bump the ball by hook or by crook and pass it to another player.

Volleyball High School Rules

Volleyball High school rules are typically more specific and detailed than general rules. They often follow the guidelines that high school sets for them.

• Scoring: In high school volleyball matches, you’ve to earn up to 25 or 30 points, and the team must win by at least a 2-point margin.
• Substitutions: Substitutions are typically allowed only during dead-ball situations and must be reported to the scorer before the substitution takes place.
• Uniforms: All team players should wear matching uniforms, including a jersey, shorts, and athletic shoes. Any type of jewelry or accessories is not allowed to wear.
• Net height: The height of the net for high school is around 8 feet.

Volleyball Most Essential Information

I make a table to help you understand the most essential information that every player should know. Observe the table below to get information.

Volleyball Serving Rules

Serving is the initial step in every game of Volleyball, a player starts the game by hitting the ball with a certain style according to the rules of the game. You must have a grip on the serving rules to be a pro-level player. Read the following detailed rules of serving to achieve the key to success:

1. You’ve to rotate the ball in a clockwise direction before serving.
2. You can toss the ball, using only one hand while holding or releasing it.
3. You can’t toss the ball two times.
4. You must not touch or cross over the end line while serving.
5. If the ball touches the net during a serve and lands in the opposing team’s court, it’s called a let serve and the serve is replayed.

Who Serves First in Volleyball?

The player in the back row from the right side can serve first for his team. At the beginning of the match, It’s decided by the coin toss, whoever wins the toss will serve first.

What Are The Rules of Substitution in Volleyball?

Substitution is a way to send one player and get back any player of the team from the court. It helps you to play safely, and it can change the match result as well. Substitutions can be arduous if you don’t follow the rules closely. The 2^nd referee is the only one who’s authorized substitution.

How Many Substitutes Are Legal?

It depends on the different levels of the game. As I explained in the rules, 15 substitutions per set in high school matches, 12 substitutions per set in club matches, and only 6 substitutions per set are legal in International volleyball matches.

What’s the Substitution Zone in Volleyball?

The substitution zone, where players are ready to sub, is not a part of the court but it’s inside the 10-foot line.

Rules for Beach Volleyball

People love to play volleyball on the beach to enjoy their trip, but they don’t know the exact rules for playing volleyball on the beach. The court dimensions for beach volleyball are smaller, 2 meters short, and 1 meter narrower, than indoor volleyball.

The ball is a little bit larger and lighter than in an indoor game, and double contacts are not allowed in beach volleyball. In beach rules, you can play until any team reaches 21 points. Every team wants to make it difficult to play for other teams, but after reading this, the ball is in your court to play like a pro.

Volleyball Sitting Rules

Sitting volleyball can be played by everyone, but mostly disabled athletes play this game. If you’re planning to play in the United States National Team, you should be classified as Disabled or Minimal Disabled, for playing in the competition.

The main difference in this game is almost 3 feet net height. According to the sitting volleyball standard rules, the height of the net for men is 1.15 meters, and for women is 1.05 meters. In sitting volleyball, the court is divided into 2 parts of 5 meters x 6 meters. 

What are the Basic Violations in Volleyball Rules?

If you wanna play volleyball, you should examine the violation of volleyball. So, you don’t do any violations and get a penalty while winning the game. There are some violations that I learned from some volleyball diamonds.

• You’re not allowed to step over the service line while serving.
• You can’t lift, carry, and throw the ball illegally.
• You can’t touch the net with your body part while playing.
• You must not serve the ball out of order.
• While playing, you should take care of back-row players as you can’t block them.

How to Win The Game?

If you want to win the game, you should score more points(at least 2 points) than other teams. Mostly best of 3 or 5 sets are played and the winner should win more sets than others.

Volleyball Positions

There are a total of 6 basic positions, each player is responsible for their position in volleyball. If you don’t have any knowledge about volleyball positions, you should know as it’s very significant to be familiar with these positions to play skilfully. Now you can examine 6 positions in detail in the illustrated YouTube video:

• Volleyball Setter: Setter is a specialized position that requires extreme practice, and hustle. This position is for the offensive leader. Communication plays a vital role in this position. One of the responsibilities for this position is to take the 2^nd ball and pass it to the best hitter of the team to attack.

• Volleyball Libero: Libero is a specialized position just as setters are. This position requires a ton of diligence, agility, and the ability to read the court and the ball at all times. This is for a defensive leader, and this position is allocated to the most sharp-minded player. Liberos are the strongest diggers and passers on the team.

• Volleyball Outside Hitter: Outside hitters are sometimes referred to as left-side hitters. They can play from the front and back rows. They can pass the balls to other players on the team and they can also attack, and serve.

• Volleyball Opposite Hitter: Opposite hitter is sometimes referred to as a right-side hitter. Opposites can play back row and front row, they need to be well-rounded players. This is a superior position to play for lefties. Opposites’ strongest skills should be attacking, blocking, passing, and serving.

• Volleyball Middle Blocker: A Middle blocker is sometimes referred to as a middle hitter. This position is for the tallest member and the main blocker of the team. The middle hitter needs to be a rapid attacker and read the other team’s attacker’s mind.

• Volleyball Defensive Specialist: The defensive players play a vital role in the team, as they can substitute any player from the team. They can play front and back row. Libero and defensive players can play at the same time.

Volleyball Court Dimensions

The exact dimensions of the volleyball court are 18 meters by 9 meters. The Volleyball court is divided into 2 parts of 9 meters each. In the center of the court, the net height is 2.43 meters for the men and 2.24 meters for the women. Net height is different for women, and men.

Volleyball Terms And Translations

There are many basic terms in volleyball. I’ll let you know the most difficult terms because many terms are dull. Without wasting your time, read below the arduous volleyball terms and their translation.

Equipment Used in Volleyball

People count many things in equipment, but 7 pieces of equipment are mainly used in volleyball. Please check the equipment list below:

1. Volleyball
2. Braces 
3. Leeves 
4. Pads
5. Court
6. Net and poles
7. Penalty cards

Volleyball Fun moment

There are many fun moments in volleyball, but one of them I like the most. During a match, One of the team players spiked the ball and hit the other team’s player. The ball bounced back and went to the same player who hit the spike and he hit again toward the player who got hit before. Watch the video below to laugh as I laughed many times.

Can You Play Volleyball With a Football?

You can play volleyball with football, I’ll not recommend you to play with football. Volleyball and Football look the same, but they’re not. Volleyball’s weight is 260 to 280 grams. On the other hand, Football’s weight is about 400 to 450 grams. The difference in weight is almost double. 

FAQs

Ending On A High Note!

Volleyball is the most commonly played game, especially on the beach. The rule of thumb is to hit the ball forcefully, so the ball hits the floor of the other team’s court. We need to keep an eye on volleyball, and we should be more active, intelligent, and fast in this game.