Volleyball rules for beginners

The court and the teams

Each team has six players on the court at a time. The court is 59 feet by 29 feet 6 inches (18 by 9 m), and the centerline under the net splits it into two square halves.

On each side, the attack line runs 9 feet 10 inches (3 m) from the centerline. Everyone calls it the 10-foot line. The strip between it and the net is the front zone, and it matters for back row players (see the faults below).

A ball that lands on a line is in. To be good, the ball has to cross the net between the two antennas, the striped rods above the sidelines.

USA Volleyball sets the net height by age group:

Older adult divisions (45 and over for women, 55 and over for men) play on lower nets.

Rally scoring, sets and matches

Every rally ends with a point. If the serving team wins the rally, it scores and the same player serves again. If the receiving team wins, it scores and gets the serve. That’s called a side out.

"Set" means two things in volleyball: a game to 25 points, and the touch a setter uses to put the ball up for a hitter. Here it’s the game.

A set goes to 25 points, and a team has to win by 2. There’s no cap: at 24-24 the set keeps going until someone leads by 2, so 26-24 and 27-25 are normal scores.

A match is best two of three sets or best three of five. The deciding set (the third or the fifth) goes to 15, still won by 2.

Serving

The player in the back right spot serves from behind the end line. They toss or release the ball once and hit it with one hand or arm. Bouncing the ball before the toss is fine.

At the moment of the hit, or the takeoff for a jump serve, the server can’t touch the court, end line included. That’s a foot fault. After the hit they can land inside the court.

The server has 8 seconds after the referee’s whistle. A serve that clips the net and still goes over is in play. A serve is a fault if it hits a teammate, goes under the net or outside the antennas, or lands out.

The serving order comes from the lineup. A player keeps serving as long as their team wins rallies; that run is their term of service. When the other team wins the serve back, it rotates one spot and its new back right player serves.

Nobody may block a serve, and no player may attack a serve while the ball is in the front zone and entirely above the top of the net. Teammates of the server can’t raise their hands above their heads until the serve has passed the net.

Three contacts and the block

A team gets up to three hits to return the ball, and the same player can’t hit it twice in a row. Any part of the body can play the ball, feet included.

An attack is any hit that sends the ball at the other team, other than a serve or a block. A spike, a tip and a roll shot are all attacks.

A block touch doesn’t count as one of the three. After a block, the team still has three hits, and the player who blocked may take the next one. Only front row players may block, and the libero can’t even try.

What counts as a fault

Lift or carry

The ball is caught or thrown instead of rebounding cleanly. The rule book calls it a catch.

Double contact

One player touches the ball twice in a row, or it hits two body parts one after the other. Besides the block, there are two exceptions: the team’s first contact (a pass or a dig) made in one action, and the second contact made in one action when a teammate plays the ball next. On the third contact it’s always a fault.

Four hits

The team touches the ball four times before sending it over.

Net touch

A player touches the net between the antennas while playing the ball, or uses the net for support. Brushing the net away from the play isn’t a fault unless it interferes, and touching it outside the antennas is fine.

Centerline

A foot may cross as long as part of the player’s body stays on or above the centerline, nobody is interfered with, and it isn’t a safety hazard. The same goes for hands and other body parts.

Back row attack

A back row player may attack from behind the 10-foot line at any height. In front of it they may attack only if part of the ball is below the top of the net. Their takeoff foot can’t touch or cross the line.

Reaching over

A blocker may reach over the net, but can’t touch the ball on the other side before the other team’s attack. A hitter may follow through over the net if they hit the ball on their own side.

Ball out

The ball lands outside the lines, touches an antenna, or crosses outside the antennas.

Rotation and overlap

The six spots on each side are numbered 1 to 6: front row 4, 3 and 2 from left to right, back row 5, 6 and 1. Spot 1, back right, is where the server comes from. Positions and rotations has a diagram.

When a team wins the serve back with a side out, its players move one spot clockwise. The player in 2 moves to 1 and serves, the player in 1 moves to 6, and so on.

When the ball is served, each player has to be in order with their neighbors. Each front row player must be closer to the net than the back row player behind them, and in each row the left, middle and right players must stay left, middle and right. The referee judges it by where the feet are on the floor. The server is the one player who isn’t checked.

Once the ball is served, players can move anywhere. That’s why you see a setter run from the back row to the net right after the serve. A team that’s out of position at the serve loses the rally, and so does a team whose player serves out of turn.

Substitutions

A team may make 15 substitutions per set. A tournament can cut that to 6 when its format needs it.

A starter can come out and go back in, but only to their own spot in the lineup. A substitute goes into the spot of a starter and can come and go any number of times within the team’s limit, always in that same spot.

The libero

• The libero is a back row specialist in a jersey that clearly contrasts with the rest of the team.
• They can replace any back row player. These swaps don’t count as substitutions and there’s no limit, but a rally has to be played between two of them.
• They can’t block or try to block, and can’t attack a ball that’s entirely above the top of the net.
• If the libero sets the ball with their fingers from in front of the 10-foot line, a teammate can’t attack that ball above the top of the net.
• They may serve, in one rotation per set.
• A team can name up to two liberos, but only one is on the court at a time.

Timeouts

Each team gets two timeouts per set, and each one lasts 30 seconds.

Club, high school and college side by side

Terms on this page

Zones 1 to 6

The six court spots, numbered from your own side facing the net. Zone 1 is back right, where the serve is hit from.

        net
  4     3     2
  5     6     1
      end line

Pin and antenna

The pin is the end of the net where outside hitters attack, and the left pin is on your left as you face the net. The antenna is the striped rod above each sideline; the ball has to cross the net between the two.

Roll shot

A slower shot hit with topspin that arcs over the block and drops into the court.

Setter

The player who usually takes the second contact and sets the ball to a hitter.

Tip

A soft shot the hitter pushes just over the block with the fingertips.

Dig

Playing a hard-hit ball up off the floor, usually with a platform.

More beginner guides

• Volleyball positions and rotationsThe six zones, what each position does, why players rotate, and what 5-1, 6-2 and 4-2 mean.
• Volleyball for parents: what’s going on out thereWhy players switch spots, who the libero is, how a club tournament runs, and what to bring.
• How to read a volleyball box scoreK, E, TA, hitting percentage with a worked example, aces, digs, blocks and 0 to 3 pass ratings.

Sources

1. USA Volleyball, Indoor Rules Book (2025-2027).
2. NCAA, Women's Volleyball Rules and Interpretations (2026 and 2027).
3. NCAA, Divisions II and III Women's Volleyball Rules Changes (2026 and 2027).
4. NFHS, NCAA and USA Volleyball, Summary Comparison: NCAA/USA Volleyball/NFHS Volleyball Rule Differences (revised July 2025).
5. NFHS, Libero Rules Adjusted in High School Volleyball (2026-27 rules changes, February 2026).
6. NFHS, 2025-26 Volleyball Rules Changes (2025-26).
7. Brainerd Dispatch (Minnesota), New rules: Prep volleyball adopts rally scoring, other changes (August 22, 2003).