Apprehensive of playing beach volleyball because you are not aware of the rules involved in the game?
Never mind, the following guideline will help you to get accustomed to the rules of beach volleyball. You never know, someday you might get a call from a professional playing club. Then this knowledge will come handy.
A. NetPlay
1. When playing you have the right to completely go under the net into your opponent’s court to play a ball, provided you do not get into disrupting the move of any of the opponent players.
2. You can play a ball back to ones side of the net if it has crossed over the net, under the net, or outside the antenna as long as a team has one or more contacts left and the ball is played back under the net or outside the antenna.
3. Nowadays the let serve is a part of the beach volleyball.
B. Playing the Ball
1. While playing the ball a soft drink is not allowed. You must cleanly hit or pop the ball.
2. When you dig a hard-driven spike, it can be double-hit and momentarily lifted. Open hand digs are okay.
3. Other than the hard-driven spike or block, you can never double-hit the first contact. If you receive the serve open handed it will be called illegal. Traditional beach volleyball game does not allow the double hit on the first contact, as does the indoor game.
4. Always remember a touch on the block is now counted as one of the three contacts allowed per team.
5. Both indoors and outdoors, in beach volleyball the ball can be played with all parts of the body.
6. When you are using a setting motion to send the ball into the opponent’s court it must be released in the direction in which the shoulders of the player are facing either front or back. Side setting is allowed when attempting to set your partner.
7. Nowadays, beach volleyball rules require the server to clearly release or toss the ball before contacting it for serve.
8. Always remember a player may only have one toss per serve attempt.
9. It is illegal to move the court boundaries during the serving motion, even if the movement is caused by sand.
10. If you are serving, then your teammates must not prevent the opponents, through screening, from seeing the server or the path of the ball. On an opponent’s request, a player must move sideways, bend over or bend down.
11. You will not be allowed a replay for “joust” above the net.
12. Remember “continuation” still exists in the beach game, meaning that, for example, if you touch the net after spiking a ball, it is still a “net” even if the spike hit the sand before you touched the net.
C. Protocol
1. If in the game that you are playing there is an official he will call mishandled balls. Traditionally, judgment of setting is tighter on the beach but each year the move is to let players have more latitude with handsets.
2. According to rule, rotation of players is not required and no substitutions are allowed.
3. You have to switch sides with opponent every 5 points in a game to 15 and every 4 points in a game to 11 to equalize the advantage of sun, wind, etc. Some competitions, mostly women’s play, generally use rally scoring.
4. Each half of the court measures 8 by 8 meters.
5. Regarding the height of the net; you must know it is 7’4 1/8″ for women and 7 11 5/8 for men
Follow these rules so that you can enjoy playing the beach volleyball games in a professional way.
