Volleyball General Knowledge

 

Volleyball is a team sport played by two equal teams in two equal courts separated by a net.

 

According to the rules, the goal is to hit the ball over the net into the opponent's court with any part of the body, preventing it from touching the ground within one's own court.

 

Volleyball, as a sport, not only improves physical fitness but also cultivates judgment, analytical skills, adaptability, and a spirit of teamwork, perseverance, and collectivism.

 

Volleyball originated in the United States. It was invented in 1895 by American Williams Guy Morgan, initially as a recreational game.

 

In the early 20th century, volleyball spread and became popular in the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

The earliest volleyball matches featured 16 players per team, arranged in four rows of four, hence the name "volleyball."

 

With the development of techniques and tactics, the format gradually changed to 12-player, then 9-player, until the 1950s when it became 6-player, with the court size decreasing accordingly.

 

In 1913, volleyball was officially included as a competitive sport at the first Far Eastern Games. At that time, a 9-player format was used.

In 1947, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) was established in Paris and standardized the rules of competition.

 

Volleyball subsequently became a global sport.

Modern volleyball matches use a six-player format, with each team fielding six players on a court divided by a net.

 

A volleyball court is divided into a playing area and a free zone. The playing area is a rectangle 18 meters long and 9 meters wide, surrounded by a symmetrical free zone at least 3 meters wide on all sides, with at least 7 meters of free space measured from the ground.

 

For international matches, the free space outside the sidelines is at least 5 meters, behind the end lines at least 9 meters, and the overhead free space is at least 12.5 meters. The net height is 2.24 meters for women and 2.43 meters for men.

 

The playing area is divided into two equal sections, each 9 meters long and 9 meters wide, by the center line. Each section has an attack line (its width included) 3 meters from the center line.

The area between the center line and the attack line is the front court. The area between the extended attack lines, outside the sideline on the scorer's table side, is the substitution zone.

 

Outside the end lines on both sides, on the extensions of the two sidelines, draw two short lines, each 15 cm long, perpendicular to the end lines and 20 cm away from them. The area between the two end lines is the service court. The service court extends to the end of the free zone.