About Volleyball
Ranked #5 in the world, Volleyball has 900 Million Fans. (Asia, Erope, Americas, Australia)
Volleyball is an Olympic team sport in which two teams of 6 players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. This article focuses on competitive indoor volleyball; numerous other variations of volleyball have developed, most notably the Olympic spin-off sport beach volleyball.
The complete rules are extensive. But simply, play proceeds as follows: A player on one of the teams begins a rally by serving the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm), from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into the receiving team's court. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court. They may touch the ball as many as three times. Typically, the first two touches to set up for an attack, an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the serving team is unable to prevent it from being grounded in their court.
The rally continues, with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches, until either (1): a team makes a kill, grounding the ball on the opponent's court and winning the rally; or (2): a team commits a fault and loses the rally. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point, and serves the ball to start the next rally. A few of the most common faults include:
-causing the ball to touch the ground outside the opponents' court or without first passing over the net;
-catching and throwing the ball;
-double hit: two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player;
-four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team.
-The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.
A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking (because these plays are made above the top of the net the vertical jump is an athletic skill emphasized in the sport) as well as passing, setting, and specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures.
Volleyball Basics
Example of a good volleyball rally
Excellent Volleyball Spikes
Recommended Volleyball Resources
Training for Volleyball
Volleyball Warm Ups
The importance warming up offers three major benefits to a player, namely:
- 1. Low risk of injury – by doing low intensity exercises that simulate the movements you'll be doing in a match or training session, you prepare the body for them and avoid the risk of getting a muscle or joint injury by a high percentage. Think of your muscles as an elastic string. Stretch it in a fast snapping motion and the string might break, but if you stretch it slowly and gradually, it will get used to its new form and successfully stretch. The warm-up phase stands for the gradual and slow stretching of the string.
- 2. Higher performance – a player that is warmed up will dish out a better performance than if he jumped straight into a match, because of two reasons: he will not be worried about injuries and will be able to play at the best of his abilities and his heart rate, respiration and mental setup will already be fixed on the same wavelength needed for a match. This also works for training sessions, so if you want your players to train at their fullest potential, make sure they warm up well beforehand.
- 3. Flexibility – Most warm up programs include stretching exercises and these have a double role: they prepare your muscles, tendons and joints for the upcoming effort, much like any other warm-up exercise and they increase your flexibility, making you more agile, and better player.