Jocelyn
Henderson
Volleyball
Origin of volleyball
Created by William G. Morgan a Y.M.C.A physical education director in
Holyoke, Massachusetts on February 9, 1895. It was originally called
Mintonette and it was played mostly indoors and with any number of
players. The game took characteristics from tennis and handball.
A
player stands behind the endline and serves the ball, in an attempt
to drive it into the opponent's court. His or her main objective is to
make it land inside the court; it is also desirable to set the ball's
direction, speed and acceleration so that it becomes difficult for the
receiver to handle it properly. A serve is called an "ace" when the
ball lands directly onto the court or travels outside the court after
being touched by an opponent.Underhand and
Overhand Serve: refers to whether the player strikes
the ball from below, at waist level, or first tosses the ball in the
air and then hits it above shoulder level. Underhand serve is
considered very easy to receive and is rarely employed in high-level
competitions.Also called reception, the pass is the attempt by a team
to properly
handle the opponent's serve, or any form of attack. Proper handling
includes not only preventing the ball from touching the court, but also
making it reach the position where the setter is standing quickly and
precisely.The skill of passing involves fundamentally two specific
techniques:
underarm pass, or bump, where the ball touches the inside part of the
joined forearms or platform, at waist line; and overhand pass, where it
is handled with the fingertips, like a set, above the head. The set is
usually the second contact that a team makes with the
ball. The main goal of setting is to put the ball in the air in such a
way that it can be driven by an attack into the opponent's court. The
setter coordinates the offensive movements of a team, and is the player
who ultimately decides which player will actually attack the ball. Each
team consists of six players. To get play started, a team is chosen to
serve by coin toss. A player from the
serving team (the server)
throws the ball into the air and attempts to hit the ball so it passes
over the net on a course such that it will land in the opposing team's
court (the serve). The opposing team must use a combination of
no more than three contacts with the volleyball to return the ball to
the opponent's side of the net. These contacts usually consist first of
the bump or pass so that the ball's trajectory is aimed
towards the player designated as the setters.When the ball contacts the
floor within the court boundaries or an
error is made, the team that did not make the error is awarded a point,
whether they served the ball or not. The team that won the point serves
for the next point. If the team that won the point served in the
previous point, the same player serves again. If the team that won the
point did not serve the previous point, the players of the team rotate
their position on the court in a clockwise manner. The game continues,
with the first team to score 25 points (and be two points ahead)
awarded the set. Matches are best-of-five sets and the fifth set (if
necessary) is usually played to 15 points. (Scoring differs between
leagues, tournaments, and levels; high schools sometimes play
best-of-three to 30; in the games are played best-of-five to 25.
Blocking refers to the actions taken by players standing at the net to
stop or alter an opponent's attack.
A block that is aimed at completely stopping an attack, thus making
the ball remain in the opponent's court, is called offensive. A
well-executed offensive block is performed by jumping and reaching to
penetrate with one's arms and hands over the net and into the
opponent's area. The jump should be timed so as to intercept the ball's
trajectory prior to it crossing over the net. Palms are held deflected
downward about 45-60 degrees toward the interior of the opponents
court. A "roof" is a spectacular offensive block that redirects the
power and speed of the attack straight down to the attacker's floor, as
if the attacker hit the ball into the underside of a peaked house
roof.By
contrast, it is called a defensive, or "soft" block if the goal
is to control and deflect the hard-driven ball up so that it slows down
and becomes more easy to be defended. A well-executed soft-block is
performed by jumping and placing one's hands above the net with no
penetration into the opponent's court and with the palms up and fingers
pointing backward.Blocking is also classified according to the number
of players
involved. Thus, one may speak of single (or solo), double, or triple
block.Successful blocking does not always result in a "roof" and many
times does not even touch the ball. While it’s obvious that a block was
a success when the attacker is roofed, a block that consistently forces
the attacker away from his or her 'power' or preferred attack into a
more easily controlled shot by the defense is also a highly successful
block.
At the same time, the block position influences the
positions
where
other defenders place themselves while opponent hitters are spiking.The
history of Olympic volleyball can be traced back to the 1924 Summer
Olympics in Paris, where volleyball was played as part of an American
sports demonstration event.
After the foundation of FIVB and some continental confederations, it
began to be considered for official inclusion. In 1957, a special
tournament was held at the 53rd IOC
session in Sofia, Bulgaria to support
such request. The competition was a success, and the sport was
officially included in the program for the 1964 Summer Olympics.