VOLLEYBALL HISTORY AND RULES

VOLLEYBALL

volleyball

HISTORY:

The game of volleyball was invented by William G Morgan of United States. In the beginning it was played for recreation purpose bu using a ball which was a roll of clothes. The ball passed above the net which was tied to poles on both sides. The name 'Volley ball' was coined to this game because the ball passes or volleys above the net. This game was began at Holyoake Massachusetts on Ninth February 1895. Earlier it had named as 'Mintoneet'. In 1896 Dr. Alfred Hallstead of Sringfield renamed it as Volleyball.

      YMCA ( Young Men's Christian Association ) had a major role in popularizing volleyball. As time evolved the rules of the game was modified and after 1916 'Three touch' rule had been established. During the First World War the American army introduced this game to European continents. In the year 1947 FIVB (Federation of International Volleyball ) came into existence. Paul libaud in 1964 the game was formally introduced at tokyo olympics.

volleyball court

The court measures a length of 18 meters and width of 9 meters. The court is divided into 2 equal halves of 9x9 meters. A line is drawn at a distance of 9 meters away from the center line and 6 meters away from the end lines. This line is called ''the attack line''. It separates a court into front zone and back zone. The attack line is extended about 1.75 meters (This line is marked by five dash lines of 15 cms each with 20 cm spacing between them). Similarly , both side lines are extended about 15cms with a gap of  20 cm beyond end line (as shown in the picture) in order to limit 'service area'.

The height of net in the middle of the court for the men is 2.43 meters and 2.24 meters for women as well as sub junior boys and girls (below 14 years).

Equipments:

The equipments that are used in volley ball are: a ball made of smooth leather , a net, side bands and antennae.

The ball: Spherical balls made of soft leather or synthetic materials are used in this game. Such a ball consist of bladder to inflate with air. The balls may be uniform bright coloured or mixture of several colours. Circumference of the ball when inflated shall be 65-67 cm and shall weight about 260-280 grams.

The net: The volley ball net is 9.5m to 10m long and has meshes of 10 cm square. The top of the net is fastened by a white band of 7 cm width along the length of net. On both sides of the net, white side band are tied perpendicular to the side lines and its length is 1 meter and the width is 5 cm.

Antennae: The antennas of of 1.80 m length and 10 mm diameter are fixed at the outer edge of the side bands on both sides of the net.

Poles: The pole between which the net is stretched are fixed firmly 0.05 to 1 meter away from the side lines on either sides and in line with the center line. These poles should be spherical, smooth and 2.55 meters in length above the ground.

Rules of the game:

Every team consists of 6 players and 6 substitutes. The team to serve first shall be decided by a toss of coin. Service is an activity in which one of the players from the serving team (situated in zone 1) tosses the ball into the air and then hits into the opponents court above the net. The receiving team will have maximum of three touches to return it from above the net.

The process of ball being sent across the net from one side to another continues till the ball is dropped or a team commits a foul. Such a process is know as 'rally'.

The team which wins a rally is awarded a point (the rally point system). The team which wins a rally gets to serve the ball with a point to its credit and players of serving team change their position as shown in figure.

Front and back rows are further subdivided into three areas as shown in the figure above. The area in which server is positioned is considered as zone-1.

The players of the team getting the opportunity to serve due to change of side shall move one step ahead clockwise. The player in zone-2 moves to zone-1 , the player of zone-1 moves to zone-6 and so on.

Free zone of 3 meters shall be marked on all sides of the court. All lines are included in the play area therefore the lines are considered integral part of the court or the zone. Any ball that touches any line is considered 'in' or 'good' ball. Antennas are tied perpendicular at the both sides of net and are used to limit the space between side lines above net. All the balls during a rally should pass within the space of antenna without touching them.

Scoring: A team gets a point and the chance to serve when their opponents make a mistake. The team first to reach 25 points first with two points lead is considered winner of the set. A match consists of five such sets and the fifth or deciding set is usually played for 15 points. A team winning three sets is declared winner of the match.