The Basics and Mechanics of the Volleyball as a Game

The origin/history of volleyball. Volleyball was created in 1895 by William G. William G. was a graduate of the Springfield College of the YMCA. William wanted to design a game that combined basketball, baseball, tennis, and handball. Volleyball was originally called mintonette. The first World Championships were held in 1949 for men and 1952 for women. Volleyball were first introduced as Olympic sports in 1964. Most volleyball players jump about 300 times a match. The first special designed ball for the sport was created in 1900. Volleyball is the second most popular sport in the world today, exceeded only by soccer. The longest recorded volleyball game was in Kingston, North Carolina. It took 75 hours and 30 minutes. The court’s dimensions are 60’ X 30’ – the same for both men and women. Each half is divided into a 30’ X 30’. The Volleyball net is 1 meter high.The FIVB was founded in 1947 to monitor men's play and in 1952 added women's rules and guidelines. The scoring system was changed from 21 points to 15 points to win the game.

Rules of Volleyball

6 players on the floor at any one time - 3 in the front row and 3 in the back row. Player may not hit the ball twice in a row. A ball is out if it hits an antennae, the floor completely outside the court, any of the net or cables outside the antennae, the referee stand or pole, and or the ceiling. It is legal to contact the ball with any part of a player’s body. It is illegal to catch, hold or throw the ball. Matches are made up of sets; the number depends on level of play. 3-set matches are 2 sets to 25 points and a third set to 15. Each set must be won by two points. The winner is the first team to win 2 sets. 5-set matches are 4 sets to 25 points and fifth set to 15. The team must win by 2 unless tournament rules dictate otherwise. The winner is the first team to win three sets.

Each team consist of 6 players and 6 substitutes. Players can be substituted at any time but if they are to return can only be swapped for the player that replaced themOnly to name a few. Volleyballs’ Offensive strategies/plays just to name a few. A quick set, when you serve faster than normal to hopefully score a point. Hut/Go, This is a set that is to the outside hitter with a high arc, intended to land just inside of the antenna. This can also be called a (4) set. Back row attack, when somebody from the back row attacks the ball. They must jump from behind the ten foot line. A Set, a back row attack from the left side. Pipe Set, a back row attack from the middle. D Set, a back row attack from the right side.

Volleyballs’ Defensive strategies/plays, just to name a few. Player Up “If your opponent’s attack strategy is to pretend that the players are going to spike the ball, but instead they simply tip it over the net, the player-up defense system might give you an advantage. Your team could have a front player 5 to 7 feet from the net, depending on where the opponent’s ball tends to fall. This player is also called the 'off-blocker' because she stands by the block -- one to two players who position themselves directly in front of the opponent who has the ball -- in a supporting role. The off-blocker’s goal is to pass any ball that penetrates the block. Based on how the other team usually tips the ball, your team can devise a more effective version of this defense system.” The next strategie is called Rotation, “In a rotation-defense strategy, you and your team players have basic positions you default to unless you are under attack. When the other team is set to send the ball over the net, you rotate to the defending positions that you practiced prior to the game. Each player needs to know the area of the court for which she’s responsible. If your team is protecting itself against a ball by an outside hitter, for example, your middle-back players rotate to the sideline where the ball is headed.” The last play is called a Block, “A block-defense strategy does two things: It stops the ball from entering your side of the court, and it sends the ball to the other team’s back row. As a blocker, you need to do more than jump and raise your arms. You also have to have the strength to push the ball far back with your palms. When she's not involved in the current play, the blocker must crouch low ready to jump as soon as the ball seems to be headed over the net.” Defense in any sport or game is extremely important for the team's’ success.

The equipment used to play volleyball is quite simple. First you need a net to hit the ball over to try and score a point. Second, you need a Volleyball to even begin your game. No ball no game. Third, not essential, however very useful are some gloves. Gloves are useful because after playing 10-20 minutes your hands will get sore and very very reshed. Forth, if your are playing on a team having matching uniforms will be helpful to either spot you in a crowd or just for style. Fith, having shoes is an awesome idea because shoes have little ripples on the bottom of your shoe to help either not slip or to make fast decisions to dive for the ball to make the game winning save. Last but definitely not least are knee and elbow pads. Letts start with the knee pads, knee pads allow you to slide on the court to either dive for the ball or you need to go on the ground for that awkward playback.

Volleyball is a popular team sport in which two teams of six 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. In other words Volleyball is a 120 year old activity that has progressed into a olympic event. Volleyball is also a fun sport to this day and i think many people would agree.

The Countries that are involved with Volleyball. Just to name a few, morocco, dominican republic, finland Australia, Netherlands, Algeria, Tunisia, Korea, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Iran, Czech Republic, Cameroon, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Japan, Egypt, France, China, Poland, Germany, Argentina, Bulgaria, Italy, USA, Cuba, Serbia, Russia, and Brazil.

Some famous players that came from Volleyball were, Karch Kiraly, who played for Men’s Team USA. Logan Tom, played for Womens Team USA. Flo Hyman was an Olympic silver medalist and played for the US Volleyball team. Facundo Conte, he is an Olympic gold medalist and plays for Argentina men's national volleyball team. Gabrielle Reece, She was named the Offensive Player of the Year in 1994–95, and played for 4-person Women's Beach Volleyball League (WBVL). Ivan Zaytsev, is a bronze medalist of the Olympic Games and plays for Azimut Modena. Polina Rahimova, achieved 58 points in a single match, setting a world record and plays for Azerbaijan women's national volleyball team.

LIke all sports there are specific abilities that need to be used to be good at that specific sport such as baseball you need to be good at throwing. Water polo, you need to be good at swimming. XContry, you need to be good at running. Basketball you need to be good at dribbling. The only way to learn the special abilities is to practice and practice until you unlock them. If your abilities are already known then when you practice they will only get better and better. In Volleyball there are special abilities that make a good volleyball player. Serving Spiking, Jumping, and awareness of the games progress. There are certain drills that can focus on Serving drills on spiking drills on awareness and drills on jumping, These drills will be explained next.

To start off the serving drill will be explained. The first step of serving is to move all your weight onto the right leg. Then extend your left hand out with the ball rests on the tips of your fingers also make sure that your arm has a little bit of bend in it then open your hand out as far as you can and then flick the ball up in the air with the tips of your fingers and smack the ball as hard as you can with a little step inbetween to get the most momentum possible. Next drill is Spiking. There is very specific footing used in spiking the ball. The sequence is Left Right Left and then Swing. Make sure that the net is not touched by the ball or your hand because that would deduct points. Next drill is jumping. First start in a position of a lunge, then you jump up and switch the position of your legs. If you had your left leg in front after the switch your left leg should be in the back, same with the right leg if it was in the back after the switch the right leg should be in the front. After this has been completed repeat it in reps of 10. 3 times with a 15 second break in between. Last but not least is Awareness. An awareness drill is quite simple but mentally challenging. To start off play a normal two by two and every time the ball goes over the net the side that doesn't have the ball will be switching and this goes on over and over again.

In Volleyball there are many different types of injuries. The most common injuries are in the shoulders, fingers, and ankles. There are many ways to get injured when playing any sports like soccer for example, Your feet are very vulnerable for a tackle. Just one slip of the ball can cause you to kick another player and be out for thirteen weeks on crutches. There are also ways to prevent being injured. There are a few risk factors that are involved with getting badly injured. In some cases no treatment is okay, but in most cases treatment is mandatory if this rehab is not fulfilled the injury will affect your life in the long run.

The first common injury is shoulder discomfort. Shoulder discomfort is usually caused by either muscle strain, fatigue, or overuse. Muscles can be strained fairly easily because a strain can mean a stretch that went too far than normal. When your shoulder is fatigued it means that it needs a break to repair the muscle because it was worked a little too much, so the cure would be to just rest for a day ot two. And the last shoulder discomfort would be a overuse. A overused muscle would be the same as becoming sick if you “over do it”. An overused muscle cure would be to rest the shoulder for two to three days to let the muscle repair itself and grow stronger. The second most common body injury would be to the fingers. Fingers are very vulnerable to injuries because the amount of contact that is involved with the sport. Fingers can be fractures, dislocations, and tendon and ligament tears. Finger fractions can happen when the ball is either spiked on your hand or if you dive and put your hands down for support and “punch” the floor. Finger dislocations can happen when you dive and use the floor for support and is not strong enough to support your weight and basically collapses on you and fall and bend your fingers in the opposite direction. A finger or hand ligament tear is when a finger or hand is hyperextended in the wrong position and can nipp a ligament or tendon causing it to strain or tear. The last common injury would have to be a broken or sprained ankle. A sprained/broken ankle can be caused by jumping and not landing correctly, there for tweaking your ankle causing a sprain or break. The only cure to a sprained/ broken ankle would be either in a brace or cast and being on crutches for four to six weeks. The risks of participating in a sport like volleyball is the injury factor. Injuries can be life changing in many ways. A injury can last only for a couple weeks a couple days but then there are some that can last months, years even and those are the injuries that can really bring out the true strength in a person or it can break them.