Blazer Media is giving you the first edition of Volleyball 101.  This is an introductory guide to the sport of volleyball.  Topics covered are:
1.  What is Volleyball (0:12)
2.  Types of Contacts in Volleyball (1:24)
3.  The Volleyball Court and Net (2:42)  
4.  Rotational and Serving Order (4:12)
5.  Player Positions and Rotations (7:26)
6.  Setting Number Systems (11:47)

This is a Blazer Media Productions.  Big thanks to Houston Juniors volleyball club and FAST complex for use of their facility and players for this film.

Volleyball is a sport where 2 teams compete against each other to win a match.

There are many variations on how many people can play on a team and how long those matches can be.

The most common situation that we will focus on is 6 person indoor volleyball.

Each point is initiated with a serve and is called a rally.

The winner of that rally is awarded a point no matter which team served the ball.

Each team is allowed to contact the ball up to 3 times before it must go over the net to the opponent's side.

A match is won by being the winner of a specific number of sets or games.

For club volleyball, you must win 2 out of 3 games.

For high school, college, or international volleyball, he must win 3 out of 5.

Each game is played to 25 points, with a final set being played to 15.

The winner of each set in all types of volleyball must win by 2 points, unless altered by local tournament rules.

The The volleyball court is divided up into 2 even sides.

There are 2 side lines and 2 end lines that mark the perimeter of the court.

There is also a center line that divides the 2 sides in half and is directly under the net.

There is an attack line that is 3 meters behind the center line on both courts.

It is called the 3 meter line or 10 foot line.

The net is above the center line and spans the width of the court hanging just over each side line.

There are antennas that are attached to the net and are directly over each side line.

They are considered to be out of play if the ball touches them.

The height of the net for men is 7 feet 11 and 5 eighths inches.

For women, the height is 7 feet 4 and 1 quarter inches.

Net violation rules differ depending on the level of play.

At the high school and college level, you are not allowed to touch the net at all during play.

At the international and club level you are allowed to touch any part of the net as long as you don't touch the white tape across the top of the net.

At the club level a center line violation only occurs if the player's foot steps on or over the line and it interferes with the opponent's play on the other side of the net.

You will hear people talk about being in right back or left front, etc.

When someone is in right back, they are talking about position 1.

You will always face the net to determine your right and left from there.

Front and back are used to determine front row or back row players.

These terms will be used throughout this video.

The positions on the court can be laid out several different ways.

In general, there are 2 of every position on the court, and they are opposite each other on the court, so you always have 1 of these positions in the front and back row.

The players are placed in a rotational order.

Players are not allowed to move out of their rotational order once their position is set.

When you rotate, this is the direction that the players will follow.

What rotation you are in is usually determined by where the setter is for that particular rotation.

If you start the match with your setter serving the ball, you are said to be in rotation 1.

Teams will stay in that rotation while they are serving.

If they lose their serve or the other team sides out, then they are said to be receiving in rotation 1.

Once they side out and get the ball back, then they rotate and the setter will be starting in the second rotational position and they are now serving in rotation 2.

As far as positions on the court, we will pretend that the setter is in rotational position 1.

The person opposite of her is generally another setter, or when they are in the front row, we call them a right side hitter or opposite hitter.

Next to the setter in position 2 and their opposite player in position 5 are the middle blockers.

In position 3 and 6 you will have your outside hitters or left side hitters.

This setup is used by over 80% of the teams you will see.

You may hear it referred to as setter follows middle follows outside.

As you can see, when the setter eventually rotates to position 4, then her opposite goes into position 1.

Hence you will have 3 of every position in the front and back.

The DS and Libro are also inserted into the game and we will talk about that soon.

And now we will look at serving order, or serving zones.

As you can see, these are the opposite of the rotational order.

Serving zones are the targets that a coach will indicate to a player as far as where they want them to serve.

If the coach shows 5, they are asking the server to serve to left back position.

Zone 6 is usually shown with a closed fist and indicates a serve to middle back.

Serves to zones 2, 3, and 4 are called short serves, and are generally expected to fall in front of the 10-foot line.

At the international level, teams use serving order, or zones, for both the serving zones as well as the positional slash rotational order.

What we call rotation 2, they would call rotation 6, even though it is the same thing.

The setter is sometimes referred to as the quarterback of the volleyball team.

This person is responsible for establishing the offense on the court.

The setter generally will handle the second contact of 3 possible contacts.

They typically will set 1 of the hitters in the front row and sometimes will set a hitter in the back row.

They also have the option to send the second contact over to the opponent's side of the court.

Setters will communicate with hitters the different sets that they want them to run and we'll set these hitters based on circumstances at the time of setting.

The outside or left side hitter will usually attack the ball from the left front position.

Generally these hitters will also have a lot of passing duties and are most often 6 rotation players.

The middle blocker or attacker usually attacks the ball from the middle of the court.

They can spread these attack options around and can hit the ball closer to the left front or it can run all the way to the right front usually called a slide.

On defense they are responsible for adding a second blocker to assist the left or right front player as well as block the middle attacker on the other team.

Usually this player is a 3 rotation player with some having the option to serve.

The right side or opposite player is usually the person opposite the setter and will play in the front row.

The defensive specialist will substitute in the back row for 1 of the hitters.

When the DS rotates back to position 4, they will be subbed back in for the hitter whose place they took, or by another hitter of the same position.

The Libro is the 1 who wears the opposite colored jersey from the rest of the team.

They are allowed to enter and exit the court at any time without the need for a substitution.

Typically you will see them entering for a middle blocker when they move to the back row.

A lead row can only enter into the back row.

They are allowed to serve for 1 specific position each game or set.

That person is usually 1 of the middle blockers.

Think back to the last time you played 6 person volleyball.

You probably rotated in a clockwise direction and you had 3 rotations through the back and 3 rotations through the front.

Those same rules apply to volleyball today, but it looks a little bit different as we have specialized positions and so we try to get players into a position where they are strongest.

So before the ball is served, all players have to line up in the rotational positions that they are in.

But once the ball has been contacted, they are freely able to move about the court where they are strongest.

As you can see, we are serving in rotation 1.

Opposite the setter is the opposite or right side hitter.

You have your middle blocker in the front and in middle back is the libro who is in for the other middle blocker.

Left back is an outside hitter and right front is an outside hitter as well.

Now once the ball is served You will see our front row players switch spots so that our left side hitter is on the left side and our right side is on the right.

Defensive positions in the back row can vary, but for this example, the libero is in left back for defense and the outside hitter is in middle back for defense.

We have just lost serve and are now receiving in rotation 1.

You'll see our setter is still in right back, but the right front person has pulled back into the passing lane.

You will see that the right front player is still slightly in front of the right back player, our setter, which means that they are not overlapped.

In the left front area you will see our opposite and our middle blocker.

They too are still in their rotational order with the opposite on the left side of the middle blocker so that they avoid an overlap.

In this particular rotation, many times the left side hitter will hit the first ball on the right side of the court and our opposite will hit the first ball on the left side of the court.

After that, they will switch to their strong positions with the opposite going to the right and the outside hitter going to the left.

Once the ball goes over the net, both front and back row will go back to their strongest positions.

Most teams use the following number system, or a variation thereof, to determine where the setter is to set the ball.

This communication happens between the setters and the hitters.

If you look at this diagram, the red diamond is our setter.

The numbers to the front and back of the setter are numbered 1 through 9.

1 typically being for our left front hitters, 5 for middle blocker in front of the setter, and 9 for our right side hitters.

The numbers above the net, numbered 1 through 5, indicate the peak height of the ball.

A 14 is a 1 all the way to the left side at a 4 height.

A 51, the middle blocker will hit quickly out of the setter's hand.

And a 94 will be a high set to the right side hitter.

Most teams shorten these numbers, so you'll hear them say a 1 is just a high set to the left side or a 9 is a set to the right side.

A 52 is a little bit higher set to the middle.

Teams may use some form of these numbers, or they may come up with sets completely on their own.

There is sometimes a letter system used by the middle blockers instead of the number system.

An A would represent a 51, a B would represent a 31 or 32, a C would represent a 61, and a slide would represent a 92 or 93.

The back row tackers also have their own set of letters or numbers to indicate where they want to be set.

If the back row is divided into 3 sections, those sets can be called red, white, and blue.

If it is divided into 4 sections, it is sometimes called ABC, or D.

A pipe would be a set in the middle back row somewhere between B and C.

It is set in the same spot as a pipe that has a height of 2 and is hit quicker.

A combo set is where 2 hitters will hit in positions that they don't normally hit in.

In this case the middle blocker will start in front of the setter, but will run and take off with 1 foot and hit a 93.

The right side hitter will then cross around creating the X and hit a 52 in front of the setter.

There are countless number of combo plays and possibilities, but this basic number system will help you understand where the sets are on the court.


Speaker 0: Volleyball is a sport where 2 teams compete against each other to win a match. There are many variations on how many people can play on a team and how long those matches can be. The most common situation that we will focus on is 6 person indoor volleyball. Each point is initiated with a serve and is called a rally. The winner of that rally is awarded a point no matter which team served the ball.

Each team is allowed to contact the ball up to 3 times before it must go over the net to the opponent's side. A match is won by being the winner of a specific number of sets or games. For club volleyball, you must win 2 out of 3 games. For high school, college, or international volleyball, he must win 3 out of 5. Each game is played to 25 points, with a final set being played to 15.

The winner of each set in all types of volleyball must win by 2 points, unless altered by local tournament rules. The The volleyball court is divided up into 2 even sides. Each side is 9 meters by 9 meters. Total court is 18 by 9 meters. This is roughly 30 feet by 60 feet.

There are 2 side lines and 2 end lines that mark the perimeter of the court. There is also a center line that divides the 2 sides in half and is directly under the net. There is an attack line that is 3 meters behind the center line on both courts. It is called the 3 meter line or 10 foot line. The net is above the center line and spans the width of the court hanging just over each side line.

There are antennas that are attached to the net and are directly over each side line. They are considered to be out of play if the ball touches them. The height of the net for men is 7 feet 11 and 5 eighths inches. For women, the height is 7 feet 4 and 1 quarter inches.

Speaker 1: Net violation rules differ depending on the level of play. At the high school and college level, you are not allowed to touch the net at all during play. At the international and club level you are allowed to touch any part of the net as long as you don't touch the white tape across the top of the net. At the club level a center line violation only occurs if the player's foot steps on or over the line and it interferes with the opponent's play on the other side of the net.

Speaker 0: You will hear people talk about being in right back or left front, etc. When someone is in right back, they are talking about position 1. You will always face the net to determine your right and left from there. Front and back are used to determine front row or back row players. These terms will be used throughout this video.

The positions on the court can be laid out several different ways. In general, there are 2 of every position on the court, and they are opposite each other on the court, so you always have 1 of these positions in the front and back row. The players are placed in a rotational order. Players are not allowed to move out of their rotational order once their position is set. When you rotate, this is the direction that the players will follow.

What rotation you are in is usually determined by where the setter is for that particular rotation. If you start the match with your setter serving the ball, you are said to be in rotation 1. Teams will stay in that rotation while they are serving. If they lose their serve or the other team sides out, then they are said to be receiving in rotation 1. Once they side out and get the ball back, then they rotate and the setter will be starting in the second rotational position and they are now serving in rotation 2.

As far as positions on the court, we will pretend that the setter is in rotational position 1. The person opposite of her is generally another setter, or when they are in the front row, we call them a right side hitter or opposite hitter. They are in position 4. Next to the setter in position 2 and their opposite player in position 5 are the middle blockers. In position 3 and 6 you will have your outside hitters or left side hitters.

This setup is used by over 80% of the teams you will see. You may hear it referred to as setter follows middle follows outside. As you can see, when the setter eventually rotates to position 4, then her opposite goes into position 1. Hence you will have 3 of every position in the front and back. The DS and Libro are also inserted into the game and we will talk about that soon.

And now we will look at serving order, or serving zones. As you can see, these are the opposite of the rotational order. Serving zones are the targets that a coach will indicate to a player as far as where they want them to serve. If the coach shows 5, they are asking the server to serve to left back position. Zone 6 is usually shown with a closed fist and indicates a serve to middle back.

Serves to zones 2, 3, and 4 are called short serves, and are generally expected to fall in front of the 10-foot line. At the international level, teams use serving order, or zones, for both the serving zones as well as the positional slash rotational order. What we call rotation 2, they would call rotation 6, even though it is the same thing. The setter is sometimes referred to as the quarterback of the volleyball team. This person is responsible for establishing the offense on the court.

The setter generally will handle the second contact of 3 possible contacts. They typically will set 1 of the hitters in the front row and sometimes will set a hitter in the back row. They also have the option to send the second contact over to the opponent's side of the court. This action is called a setter dump. Setters will communicate with hitters the different sets that they want them to run and we'll set these hitters based on circumstances at the time of setting.

The outside or left side hitter will usually attack the ball from the left front position. Generally these hitters will also have a lot of passing duties and are most often 6 rotation players. The middle blocker or attacker usually attacks the ball from the middle of the court. They can spread these attack options around and can hit the ball closer to the left front or it can run all the way to the right front usually called a slide. On defense they are responsible for adding a second blocker to assist the left or right front player as well as block the middle attacker on the other team.

Usually this player is a 3 rotation player with some having the option to serve. The right side or opposite player is usually the person opposite the setter and will play in the front row. They attack and block from right front. The defensive specialist will substitute in the back row for 1 of the hitters. When the DS rotates back to position 4, they will be subbed back in for the hitter whose place they took, or by another hitter of the same position.

The Libro is the 1 who wears the opposite colored jersey from the rest of the team. They are allowed to enter and exit the court at any time without the need for a substitution. Typically you will see them entering for a middle blocker when they move to the back row. A lead row can only enter into the back row. They are allowed to serve for 1 specific position each game or set.

That person is usually 1 of the middle blockers. Think back to the last time you played 6 person volleyball. You probably rotated in a clockwise direction and you had 3 rotations through the back and 3 rotations through the front. Those same rules apply to volleyball today, but it looks a little bit different as we have specialized positions and so we try to get players into a position where they are strongest. So before the ball is served, all players have to line up in the rotational positions that they are in.

But once the ball has been contacted, they are freely able to move about the court where they are strongest. As you can see, we are serving in rotation 1. Our setter is in right back. Opposite the setter is the opposite or right side hitter. You have your middle blocker in the front and in middle back is the libro who is in for the other middle blocker.

Left back is an outside hitter and right front is an outside hitter as well. Now once the ball is served You will see our front row players switch spots so that our left side hitter is on the left side and our right side is on the right. Defensive positions in the back row can vary, but for this example, the libero is in left back for defense and the outside hitter is in middle back for defense. The setter plays right back on defense. We have just lost serve and are now receiving in rotation 1.

You'll see our setter is still in right back, but the right front person has pulled back into the passing lane. You will see that the right front player is still slightly in front of the right back player, our setter, which means that they are not overlapped. In the left front area you will see our opposite and our middle blocker. They too are still in their rotational order with the opposite on the left side of the middle blocker so that they avoid an overlap. In this particular rotation, many times the left side hitter will hit the first ball on the right side of the court and our opposite will hit the first ball on the left side of the court.

After that, they will switch to their strong positions with the opposite going to the right and the outside hitter going to the left. Once the ball goes over the net, both front and back row will go back to their strongest positions. Most teams use the following number system, or a variation thereof, to determine where the setter is to set the ball. This communication happens between the setters and the hitters. If you look at this diagram, the red diamond is our setter.

The numbers to the front and back of the setter are numbered 1 through 9. 1 typically being for our left front hitters, 5 for middle blocker in front of the setter, and 9 for our right side hitters. The numbers above the net, numbered 1 through 5, indicate the peak height of the ball. A 14 is a 1 all the way to the left side at a 4 height. A 51, the middle blocker will hit quickly out of the setter's hand.

And a 94 will be a high set to the right side hitter. Most teams shorten these numbers, so you'll hear them say a 1 is just a high set to the left side or a 9 is a set to the right side. A 52 is a little bit higher set to the middle. Teams will call that either a 5 or a 2. Teams may use some form of these numbers, or they may come up with sets completely on their own.

A 31 can also be called a gap. There is sometimes a letter system used by the middle blockers instead of the number system. An A would represent a 51, a B would represent a 31 or 32, a C would represent a 61, and a slide would represent a 92 or 93. The back row tackers also have their own set of letters or numbers to indicate where they want to be set. If the back row is divided into 3 sections, those sets can be called red, white, and blue.

If it is divided into 4 sections, it is sometimes called ABC, or D. A pipe would be a set in the middle back row somewhere between B and C. A Bic is a back row quick. It is set in the same spot as a pipe that has a height of 2 and is hit quicker. And lastly there are combo sets.

A combo set is where 2 hitters will hit in positions that they don't normally hit in. A very common 1 is called a slide X2. In this case the middle blocker will start in front of the setter, but will run and take off with 1 foot and hit a 93. The right side hitter will then cross around creating the X and hit a 52 in front of the setter. There are countless number of combo plays and possibilities, but this basic number system will help you understand where the sets are on the court.

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Volleyball 101 - A basic guide to Volleyball