1. History
Origin of volleyball
William G. Morgan
On February 9, 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts (USA), William G. Morgan, a YMCA physical education
director, created a new game called Mintonette as a pastime to be played preferably indoors and by any
number of players. The game took some of its characteristics from tennis and handball. Another indoor
sport, basketball, was catching on in the area, having been invented just ten miles (sixteen kilometers)
away in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, only four years before. Mintonette was designed to be an
indoor sport less rough than basketball for older members of the YMCA, while still requiring a bit of athletic
effort.
The game quickly became known as volleyball (it was originally spelled as two words: "volley ball").
Volleyball rules were slightly modified by the International YMCA Training School and the game spread
around the country to various YMCAs.
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.
Beach volleyball, a variation of the game played on sand and with only two players per team, became a
FIVB-endorsed variation in 1987 and was added to the Olympic program at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Volleyball is also a sport at the Paralympics managed by the World Organization Volleyball for Disabled.
TECHNIQUES:
A Serve, service: Servicio o saque. Server: sacador, jugador que saca
An Underhand serve: saque de abajo
An overhand serve: saque alto
A Set: Colocación de dedos. Setter: colocador
An Overhand pass, a finger pass: Toque de dedos
A Forearm pas, a dig, a dumb: Toque de antebrazos
A Dive: plancha
A Spike or Smash: Remate. Spyker: rematador.
A Block: Bloqueo
A Rally: un punto, la duración de un punto, jugada.
A tip, a dink: dejada.

2. ACTIONS:
To serve, to pass, to set...
To attack: atacar
To defend: defender
To switch or rotate: rotar
Clockwise: sentido de las agujas del reloj
PLAYERS:
Front row player: delantero
Back row player: zaguero
Captain: Capitán
Libero: libero
Hitter or spiker: rematador
WHAT´S A VOLLEYBALL GAME LIKE?
Volleyball players hit a ball over a net using any part of their bodies.
Points are scored when a team is either unable to return the volleyball over the net or prevent it from
touching the court surface.
You don' t need to have the posession of the ball to score.
Who wins?
The first team to score 25 points by a margin of two points, wins the set.
The team that wins two out of three sets wins the volleyball match
How Long Is A Match?
There is no set time limit for a volleyball match.
There are two-minute breaks between each game; teams switch court sides after each break.
Team captains flip a coin to determine which side will serve first.
How many people play?
At the moment the ball is contacted by the server, each team must be completely within its own side of the
court in two rows of three players, so six players.
What are the main faults?
A fault occurs when:
-The ball is held, thrown or pushed.
-A team contacts the ball more than three times consecutively. Except when the first contact is a block.
-A ball touches a player twice in succession or the ball touches the body twice in succession.
-Players are out of position at service.
-A player enters a non-playing
area to play the ball.
-A player touches the net.
-A player attacks the ball above the opponent court or steps in an opponent’s court.

3. A) THE SERVE:
The serve begins play, and it can be decissive in a game. A missed serve counts as a fault. There are
many types: underhand, sidearm, or overhand motion to strike the ball, standing in a stationary position or
jumping in the air. We will learn the basic one, the underhand service.
.
The Server
- Stands with both feet in the “service area”: behind the baseline of the volleyball court.
One player serves continuously until his or her team commits a “fault”, after which the opposite team
“rotates” and serves the ball.
B) THE FOREARM PASS (or Dig or dumb):
Use it to receive a serve or a low hit ball.
C) THE SET:
-The set is an overhead pass in which the setter directs the ball upward with a high arc
to front-line players at the net for them to spike.
-There are many different types of sets: to the front, to the side, to the back...

4. D) THE SPIKE (or Smash):
-The spike is a powerful overhand smash into the opposite court performed by front-line players.
E) THE BLOCK:
-The block is the first deffensive action a team makes. It can be individual, double or triple.
There are a couple of things to remember:
You must not touch the net, and you must be sure not to hit the ball twice!. To do a good block, you must
stay close to the net to be able to react quickly.
F) THE DIG
Woman going for a dig.
Digging is the ability to prevent the ball from touching one's court after a spike or attack, particularly a ball
that is nearly touching the ground.

5. Positions:
There are six positions in the court. Three in the front line and three in the back line. Players must keep
their positions before the other team serves. After the server hits the ball, player can move freely.
Starting at the serving position and going clockwise, the positions are numbered 1-6. Number one is the
server (right back when facing the net).
Rotation:
Everytime your team gains the posession of the ball, your whole team must rotate one position clockwise.
So the player that was in position number 2 goes to position number 1 and serves. Player that was on
number one moves to number 6 and so on.
Each player must be within the court at the time the ball is served. All players must be in their correctly
rotated position. If one player is out of his position, the team commits a fault and they lose a rally.