Volleyball: Rules to Play Volleyball Game

A team sport, volleyball is played between two teams of six players each - wherein each tries to ground the ball in the opponents court to earn a point. While just grounding the ball into the opponents court may sound quite simple, there are some rules and regulations which make this simple part a bit difficult. These rules are basically constituted to ensure that the game is played in a free and fair manner.

Volleyball Rules and Regulations
Court Dimensions: According to the guidelines set by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the volleyball court has to be 18 meters in length and 9 meters in width. The court should be exactly divided into two halves by a net suspended in the middle of it. The two halves of the court, on either side of the net, are assigned to one team each. At a distance of 3 meters, parallel to the net, on either sides is a line which demarcates the 3 meter box.

Net and Ball: The height of the net should be 7 ft 11-5/8 inches for men, while 7 ft 4 1/8 inches for women. The ball used in the game should weigh approximately 9 to 10 ounces, and have a pressure of around 4.5 and 6.0 lbs.

Start of the Game: Volleyball is started with a coin toss, wherein the team winning the toss starts the game with a serve. The objective of each of these teams is to score a point over the opposition, by grounding the ball into their court. The game starts with one of the players serving the ball all the way across to the opponents side of the court, over the net.

Service: In volleyball, the ball can either be served underhand or overhand. The service should be executed from the end line, without any part of the servers body coming in contact with the end line. If the player serving the ball touches the end line before or while connecting the ball, it is considered to be a foul and the opposition team gains a point. Even if the serve brushes on to the net and goes towards the other side of the court, it is considered to be a legal serve.

Game Play: Both the teams are supposed to ground the ball into each others side court by returning it with their hands, or upper body. Though the ball can be sent directly to the other side on the very first touch, official rules of the game allow a particular team to play the ball thrice, before finally sending it to the other side. This move requires great coordination among the players. When the ball is served, the opposition players cannot return it with a direct 'attack' or 'block', it has to be taken as a bump and passed on to the setter, who will in turn 'set' it for the attacker to attack.

In a process referred to as a rotation, the players are supposed to move in clockwise direction every time their team wins the serve. A single player cannot play the ball continuously twice, unless the first touch was actually a block, which is not considered to be a hit. The ball coming off the net is also legal and thus has to be played. If the ball falls exactly on the line, which is 5 cm thick, it is considered to be a legal ball. Only the front line players are allowed to switch their positions, however, that can be only done it when the serve is completed. If two players touch the ball at the same time, it is considered to be a single touch.

Scoring: According to the new volleyball rules, the rally scoring technique is used to decide the points. This means that the team which is on the offensive, as well as the team which is on the defensive, both have almost an equal chance of scoring in a particular game. A single game consists of 5 sets of 25 points each. In order to win each set, the team has to make 25 points with a margin of 2 points. This continues for the next set as well, and finally the person who wins 3 sets first wins the game. A particular team scores a point every time their opponents fail in taking the ball. On the other hand, basic fouls by a particular team earns points for the opponents.

Basic Fouls: A number of moves in the volleyball game are considered to be against the basic volleyball rules, and hence are deemed to be fouls. These moves may include touching the end line while serving, failing to send the ball across the net, carrying or palming the ball, touching the net with your body, not executing proper rotation or order of serving, etc. When a player from a particular team commits these fouls, the other team automatically earns a point.

It is important to get a good understanding of volleyball rules to master the game. Other than learning about the rules to play volleyball, one should also get well-versed with volleyball terms - such as ace, assist and libero. Volleyball is an interesting game which is easy to learn, but when it comes to mastering, it is bound to take some time and serious efforts on your behalf.