You stare into the eyes of your opponent on the other side of the net. You watch as the ball sails onto your team’s side of the court, just above where you are poised to return it. You smile with satisfaction as you successfully transfer it to another teammate, who knocks the ball over the net, scoring another point for your team!

Your teammates exchange high-fives, and you grin along with them, glad that you learned to play the game.

Volleyball, traditionally an American backyard game, has evolved into an international Olympic sport, with variations from beach volleyball to footvolley. Volleyball is a sport the whole family can play (indoor volleyball can be played year-round), and it offers a wide variety of difficulty and skill levels—from gentle volleying games to high-speed, heart-pounding, competitive events.

A New American Sport

Volleyball originated in 1895, when YMCA physical education teacher William G. Morgan needed to develop an exercise program. He had previously tried working with the recent invention of basketball, but found that the sport was too violent and intense for older members. Not finding a suitable alternative, he sought to create a physical game in which all of the membership could participate, not just the younger, more fit men.

Morgan first looked to tennis, but found that the racquets were a problem, although he thought the net was a good idea. He then found a similar game in India, called “minton,” which was a variation of badminton, and developed a racquet-free version of the game called “mintonette.”

After further developing the rules, Morgan demonstrated a working version of the game at an 1896 YMCA college conference. A professor at the conference noticed that the distinguishing feature was keeping the ball in the air, or “volleying” the ball. From then on, the name of the game was changed to “volley ball.” The game was accepted at the conference and was added to YMCA physical education programs that year, with a handbook appearing the following year. Volleyball’s popularity quickly spread throughout the United States, and then internationally in the following decades.

Keep It Up!

Volleyball, as its name implies, primarily involves preventing the ball from hitting the ground. More specifically, it involves not letting the ball hit the ground anywhere on your side of the net, or “court,” while trying to cause it to hit the ground on the opponents’ side of the court.

When the ball lands within defined boundary lines (a nine meter by nine meter square area on either side of the net), a point is scored by the team on the opposite side of the net. However, if the ball lands outside the boundary lines on either side of the court, the last team to touch the ball awards a point to the opposing team. Also, whenever the ball strikes an obstruction (such as the ceiling or the poles rising from the net) the ball is ruled “out,” and the last team to touch the ball gives up a point.

When the ball passes over the net, the team receiving the ball has up to three hits to pass the ball back to the other side. The same player cannot hit the ball twice in a row. However, as soon as another player on their team or the other team touches the ball, they may hit it again. Players are not allowed to maintain long contact, in other words “carry” the ball. The ball cannot maintain contact with the player’s hand for more than a split second. Players may strike the ball with any part of the body, including the head, although hands and arms are much more appropriate. Violating any of these rules adds a point to the opposing team.

Play usually begins with a coin toss to determine the first team to have the ball. This first play, as well as play after all subsequent points, must begin with a serve. The serve is a single hit by one player, behind the back boundary line, that is hit over the net to the opposing team. As with all other parts of the game, a serve that lands outside the boundary line awards a point to the opposing team. Modern Olympic volleyball allows serves to touch the net before going over, but many variations still do not allow this and consider such hits “short.”

After the serve, play often continues with the receiving team handling the ball with three hits. First, one player attempts to “bump” the ball, usually using an under-handed forearm hit to make contact with the ball before it hits the ground. Next, another member of the same team “sets” the ball using an over-handed, two-hand hit to pass the ball to a third player, who is waiting to “spike” the ball, with an over-handed, one-hand, high-speed hit, attempting to ground the ball somewhere on the other side of the net. The original serving team then tries to receive the ball with the same “bump, set, spike” method.

Volleyball rules vary depending upon the type and context in which it is played. Backyard volleyball often has extremely loose rules regarding carries, multiple hits, as well as chances to redo mistakes, allowing it to be a game that the whole family can enjoy. On the other end of the spectrum, beach volleyball has very strict rules. Indoor Olympic volleyball, probably the most common volleyball played, has a balance between the two extremes, allowing for some double-contact hits, as well as longer-lasting contact, which would be ruled a carry in beach volleyball, but still doesn’t allow a player to hold or lift the ball in any way.

Gather a Group of Friends

Volleyball is an excellent team sport. You cannot win the game by trying to hit every ball yourself. Not only would you miss quite a few balls, you would likely run over your teammates. Since nearly every play involves most or all of the players on a team, volleyball encourages strong communication among players.

To help one another, teammates need to tell when they can see that a ball is out-of-bounds or inbounds. When receiving the ball, players should also let their teammates know that they will be able to hit the ball. A good team will communicate to one another the direction they are hitting the ball, to whom they are setting, whether the other team is attempting to block, and what kind of hit is best based on the defensive setup of the opposing team.

All this productive yelling and talking is a great way to develop effective communication. You need to learn how to clearly—and quickly!—get your message across if you want to help your teammates win the match.

For youth in the Church looking for group activities, volleyball can be a fun game for mixed groups of young boys and girls. It is an excellent opportunity to become comfortable interacting with and getting to know members of the opposite sex.

When playing volleyball, remember to be a good sport and to use the basic etiquette of competition. While you should always strive to win, remember not to take it personally when you do not. If you lose, congratulate the winning team. When you win, remember not to mock or criticize the losing team. If another player asks for constructive criticism, give it honestly, but always be gentle, including both good points and bad. Always follow the rules, and when it seems a call is made unfairly against you, you may point it out, but if overruled, do not take it personally. Overall, remember the goal is to have fun—so do what you can to make sure everyone is able to do so.

Hit the Court!

Whether backyard volleyball, Olympic, beach, or even footvolley, the sport can be played with close friends during the week or with distant relatives once a year at a family reunion. As was mentioned earlier, volleyball was created specifically as an exercise program—clearly, that means it is a great way to exercise!

The basic rules of volleyball can be learned in a single session; most players can apply the basic hits after a few games.

Volleyball is good exercise physically, mentally and socially—and it’s fun. So, take time to learn the rules of whatever form of volleyball you like best, then get together with some friends—and go play!