The court dimensions A volleyball court is 18 m (59 ft) long and 9 m (29.5 ft) wide,
divided into 9 m × 9 m halves by a one-meter (40-inch) wide net. The top
of the net is 2.43 m (8 ft 0 in) above the center of the court for
men's competition, and 2.24 m (7 ft 4 in) for women's competition,
varied for veterans and junior competitions.
The minimum height clearance for indoor volleyball courts is 7 m (23 ft), although a clearance of 8 m (26 ft) is recommended.A line 3 m (9.84 ft) from and parallel to the net is considered the
"attack line". This "3 meter" (or "10-foot") line divides the court into
"back row" and "front row" areas (also back court and front court).
These are in turn divided into 3 areas each: these are numbered as
follows, starting from area "1", which is the position of the serving
player. After a team gains the serve (also known as siding out), its members
must rotate in a clockwise direction, with the player previously in area
"2" moving to area "1" and so on, with the player from area "1" moving
to area "6". Each player only rotates one time after the team gains
possession of the serve; the next time each player rotates will be after
the other team wins possession of the ball and loses the point.The team courts are surrounded by an area called the free zone which is a
minimum of 3 meters wide and which the players may enter and play
within after the service of the ball.
All lines denoting the boundaries of the team court and the attack zone
are drawn or painted within the dimensions of the area and are
therefore a part of the court or zone. If a ball comes in contact with
the line, the ball is considered to be "in". An antenna is placed on
each side of the net perpendicular to the sideline and is a vertical
extension of the side boundary of the court. A ball passing over the net
must pass completely between the antenna (or their theoretical
extensions to the ceiling) without contacting them.
\Volleyball court
The ball
FIVB regulations state that the ball must be spherical, made of
leather or synthetic leather, have a circumference of 65–67 cm, a weight
of 260–280 g and an inside pressure of 0.30–0.325 kg/cm2. Other governing bodies have similar regulations.
The first official ball used in volleyball is disputed; some sources
say that Spalding created the first official ball in 1896, while others
claim it was created in 1900.
The rules evolved over time: in the Philippines by 1916, the skill and
power of the set and spike had been introduced, and four years later a
"three hits" rule and a rule against hitting from the back row were
established. In 1917, the game was changed from 21 to 15 points. In
1919, about 16,000 volleyballs were distributed by the American Expeditionary Forces to their troops and allies, which sparked the growth of volleyball in new countries.The first country outside the United States to adopt volleyball was Canada in 1900. An international federation, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), was founded in 1947, and the first World Championships were held in 1949 for men and 1952 for women. The sport is now popular in Brazil, in Europe (where especially Italy, the Netherlands, and countries from Eastern Europe
have been major forces since the late 1980s), in Russia, and in other
countries including China and the rest of Asia, as well as in the United
States.
Japanese American women playing volleyball
