Lesson 1.
History, Facility and Equipment, Volleyball Rules and Regu
Fundamental Skills, Competencies and Strategies
I. Origin
From its origin as Mintonette, the game was later renamed as
“Volleyball”, a term coined by Alfred Halstead. It was introduced
to the Philippines by Elwood S. Brown in 1910, and subsequent
developments in the game occurred as indicated in the timeline
below.
Volleyball was conceived by William G. Morgan in 1895, a mere
four years after basketball was invented by another physical
education professor at the same institution, the YMCA.
There were no restrictions on the number of players participating
in Mintonette, and the game essentially involved serving and
bumping the ball to prevent it from touching the ground.
II. FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT
1. BALL
It must possess a relatively lightweight that allows for precise
movement.
Early versions of Mintonette used bladders from basketballs (or
soccer balls). However, these bladders from basketballs were
deemed too heavy and rigid for the sport.
William G. Morgan approached the A.G. Spalding & Bros. factory in
Massachusetts, requesting the creation of a specialized ball tailored
to the needs of the game.
1900, they produced the inaugural Volleyball, crafted from genuine
leather, with a circumference of 65 cm. The average weight of the
volleyball is approximately 270 grams, and the bladder inside has a
pressure of 0.325 kg per square centimeter.
2. NET
The net utilized by William G. Morgan in the inaugural Mintonette
(Volleyball) match was originally believed to be a tennis net,
although some sources suggest it might have been a badminton
net.
Volleyball nets span the entire width of the court, measuring 9
meters, and are held firmly in place by outer poles usually
positioned at a distance of 0.91 meters from the court's edge.
The central height of the Volleyball net differs between men's and
women's play, with the regulation height set at 2.43 meters for
men and 2.24 meters for women.
3. ANTENNA
The antenna functions as a vertical rod placed atop each end of the
Volleyball net.
The antennas draw the dimensions of the playing court, extending
80 cm above the net.
These antennas serve as extensions of the floor's sidelines. Without
them, it would be challenging to determine if a ball that goes over
the net.
Consequently, if the ball contacts any part of the antenna or the
net's exterior beyond the antenna, the ball is considered out of
bounds. Similarly, the ball is considered out of bounds if it sails
beyond the antennas.
4. PLAYING COURT
The dimensions of a volleyball court cover 18 meters in length and
9 meters in width.
The attack lines are 3 meters away from the net and back rows are
6 meters.
For indoor Volleyball courts, the playing surface must be
constructed from either resilient wood flooring or poured synthetic
urethane.
III. RULES AND REGULATIONS
I. Objective of the Game
1. Volleyball is a sport played by two teams on a playing court divided
by a net.
2. The team has three hits for returning the ball (in addition to the
block contact).
3. The ball is put in play with a service: hit by the server over the net
to the opponents. The rally continues until the ball is grounded on
the playing court, goes "out" or a team fails to return it properly.
II. Scoring System
1. This scoring system means that, in every rally, any of the teams
playing against each other could possibly get a point regardless
of who serves the ball.
2. The scoring system that is being used in volleyball matches
today is rally point or rally scoring system.
3. A point is awarded to the team that successfully grounded the
ball on the opponents’ court within the boundaries. Also, a team
may gain a point if the opposing team commits a violation of
rules or fault.
4. Officially, a team could win a set if they get 25 points with a 2-
point margin or lead against their opponent. Thus, if the
scores of both teams are 24-24, the first team to get 2 points
lead will be declared as the winner for a set. Meaning, in score
24-24, until there is no team that gets 2 points lead over the
other team, the play must go on.
5. “Set number 5 is considered as a deciding set to break a tie (2-
2). In this set, 5th set = 15 points (with 2 points lead)
IV. Basic Rules
1. Service
Whose team serves first?
a. Before the match, the 1st referee carries out
a toss to decide who will serve first and the
sides of the court in the first set. The winner
of the toss coin has the right to choose: to
serve or to receive first, or the side of the
court.
b. Tossing of coin is only done before the first
set and also before the start of deciding set
(set 5).
Who will serve in the team?
a. The player who is at the position #1 of the court should be
the one to serve.
Where shall the player do the service? When shall the player
serve the ball?
a. The serving player shall always do the service beyond or at
the back of the end line of the court.
b. The serving player shall only serve after the first referee
whistles as an authorization to serve.
c. The player has 8 seconds to do the service. Serving the
ball beyond the given time limit will result to a violation.
2. Playing the ball
How many touches or hits to the ball are given to the team to
return the ball to the opponents’ court?
a. A team has a maximum of 3 touches to the ball.
Any of the players inside the court may receive the ball
during service or during rally. However, if the first touch
to the ball is a legal block above the net, the team can
still do another 3 touches to the ball.
Is a player allowed to touch the ball twice successively?
a. No, any players playing is not allowed to touch the ball
twice successively. However, if the first touch is a block
over the net, the player can still touch the ball again
after the block.
Is a player allowed to hold or catch the ball during rally?
a. No, any player shall not catch the ball nor let the ball
comes to rest to any of his body part.
What if after receiving, the ball make a contact to any foreign
object?
a. In that case, the ball will be considered as “ball out”.
Also, in the case that the ball touches or hits the
antenna it is also considered as “ball out”.
b. For the ball, but only one of them touches it, one hit is
counted. A collision of players does not constitute a
fault.
3. Positions and Rotation
What is position in volleyball?
a. The positions of the players are numbered as follows:
the three players along the net are front-row players and
occupy positions 4 (front-left), 3 (front‐center) and 2 (front‐
right); the other three are back‐row players occupying
positions 5 (back‐left), 6 (back‐center) and 1 (back‐right).
b. Player Positions in Volleyball
a.1 Setters
They have the task for orchestrating the offence of the
team. They aim for the second touch and their main
responsibility is to place the ball in the air where the
Attackers can place the ball into the opponents’ court for a
Point.
They have to be Able to operate with the hitters,
Manage the Tempo Of Their Side of the court and choose
The right attackers to set.
Setters need to have a swift and skillful appraisal and
tactical accuracy and must be Quick at moving around the
court.
a.2 Outside Hitters (Left)
They attack from near the left antenna. The outside hitter
is usually the most consistent hitter on the team and gets
the most sets.
Inaccurate first passes usually result in a set to the outside
hitter rather than middle or opposite. Since most set to the
outside are high, the outside hitter may take a longer
approach, always starting from outside the courtside‐ line.
In non‐beginners play, there are again two out‐ side hitters
on every team in every match.
a.3 Opposite Hitters (Right)
They carry the defensive workload for a volleyball team in
the front row. Their primary responsibilities are to put up a
well‐formed block against the opponents' Outside Hitters
and serve as a backup setter.
Sets to the opposite usually go to the right side of the
antennae.
a.4 Middle Hitter (Blocker)
They are players that can perform very fast attacks that
usually take place near the setter. They are specialized in
blocking since they must attempt to stop equally fast plays
from their opponents and then quickly set up a double
block at the sides of the court.
In non‐beginners play, every team will have two middle
hitters.
a.5 Libero
The libero in volleyball is a specialized position that can
only play in the back row. They are commonly called
“defensive specialists” or “ball-control specialists” as they
manage a lot of passing and digging responsibilities.
They are not allowed to attack the ball above the net's
height, block, or serve (with some exceptions in modern
rules). Additionally, they can substitute for any back-row
player without prior notice, making them crucial for
maintaining a strong defense throughout the game.
What is rotation in volleyball?
When the receiving team has gained the
right to serve, its players rotate one position
clockwise: the player in position 2 rotates to
position 1 to serve, the player in position 1
rotates to position 6, etc.
V. FAULTS
A. Playing the Ball
1. Four Hits: a team hits the ball four times be- fore returning it
2. Assisted Hit: a player takes support from a team-mate or any
structure/ object in order to hit the ball within the playing area.
3. Catch: the ball is caught and/or thrown; it does not rebound from
the hit.
4. Double Contact: a player hits the ball twice in succession or the
ball contacts various parts of his/her body in succession
5. Attack Hit Fault: a backrow player (1,6,5) at- tacks the ball with
foot stepping on the attack line or inside the attack area.
B. Fault at the Net
1. A player touches the ball or an opponent in the opponent's space
before or during the opponent’s attack hit.
2. A player interferes with the opponent's play while penetrating the
opponent’s space under the net.
3. A player’s foot (feet) penetrates completely into the opponent's
court
C. Positional Fault
1. The team commits a positional fault, if any player is not in his/her
correct position at the moment when the ball is hit by the server.
D. Rotational Fault
1. A rotational fault is committed when the SERVICE is not made
according to the rotational order.
2. If the rotational fault is determined only after the completion of the
rally which started with a rotational fault, only a single point is
awarded to the opponent, regardless of the result of the rally
played.
VI. BASIC SKILLS
1. Serve
To make the ball comes into play, a player must serve it from
the service zone behind the back- row.
There are two basic serves in volleyball, the underhand and
overhand serves. But most of the time players do overhand
serve more than underhand serve.
1.1 Overhand serve
This serve hits the ball faster and harder to receive
compared to underhand serve. This serve also comes with
variations. Two common overhand serves are floater and
top spin serves.
1.2 Underhand serve
This serve is the easier one. As this Serve does not
involved higher tossing of the ball, the Accuracy and
precision are high. This is how you do the
2. Passing
This skill is used to receive the ball from many attacks that your
opponents do; from services down to spikes. Passing could either
be forearm pass or an overhead pass.
A volleyball player must always remain on his or her ready
position. Always make our pass easy for the setter to set.
2 Types of Pass:
2.1 Forearm Pass or Bump Pass
2.2 Overhead Pass and Setting
3. ATTACK
Attack in volleyball is the intention to gain a point by sending
the ball over the net back to the opponents’ court in a manner
that cannot be returned.
The most common form of attack in volleyball is what we called a
spike.
A spike is the manner of hitting the ball above the net with a
strong downward angle into the opponents’ court.
It is done in different intensities:
a. Hard‐driven Spike
b. Off‐speed Spike
c. Standing Spike
d. Open Hand Tip
Spiking today also has evolved into different forms:
a. Slide Attack
b. Cross‐Court Shot
c. Line Shot
d. Off‐Speed Hit
e. Cut Shot
4. BLOCK
A block is a defensive play on top of the net that aims to deflect any
attacked ball coming from an attacker.
A block may be performed by one front row player or a combination
of front row players jumping near the net in front of an opposing
attacker.
5. DEFENSE
The key to a good floor defense is good ready Position and footwork.
Any player who has a good Footwork is more likely to save an
attacked ball compared To those who do not have.
Footwork is one of the Fundamentals that needs to be primarily
taught to any Aspiring volleyball players. From passing to set‐ ting
up to Spiking, footwork is always be given emphasis.
Many volleyball coaches and trainers teach Their players foot works
called “split step” “shuffle’ and “run through’ to ready them for
upcoming at‐ tacked Ball. It has been proven by many that a “split
step” or” Step‐hop (skip)” in serve receive is effective.
