Volleyball variations

As volleyball is one of the world's most popular team sports, second only to football (soccer) in the number of players, there are numerous variations of the basic rules. The rules have changed around the world since its creation in 1895, as skills have developed, to make the game more suited for spectators, for learning or other special needs. Some variations have been included as a change in the international rules by Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), others have resulted in variations with specific names.

The more notable variations include:

A variation of the game rivaling the original sport of volleyball in popularity, beach volleyball evolved from the recreational games of volleyball played on many beaches around the world. It became an official Olympic sport in 1996. This version, rather than being played on indoor hard courts, is played on sand courts which may either be formed naturally or built specifically for the purpose. Instead of a team of six, each team consists of only two players, but otherwise the rules are almost identical with some exceptions including:

This is a newer variation of beach volleyball. As beach volleyball took volleyball outdoors, indoor sand volleyball takes beach volleyball indoors. In the United States, a growing number of colleges are now considering switching from hard court indoor volleyball to sand court indoor volleyball. The biggest reason for the possible change is the reduced rate of injury of players. Secondary reasons are: 1) bad weather doesn't cancel play, something that commonly happens with beach volleyball; 2) it is thought to make the game more appealing to spectators since sand courts do not require players to wear knee pads or shoes.

Indoor sand volleyball teams vary from two to six members, college teams having six. Normally, rather than using a purpose-built hall, an indoor basketball court is converted. A protective tarpaulin covers the floor of the basketball court and "soft" sand is laid a foot deep over it. The boundaries are commonly marked off with lines in the sand. However, a recent innovation uses colored lasers that illuminate the lines in the sand.

In some venues, there exist sand courts that are used as usual during the spring, summer, and fall months, but during the winter months, a large tent (usually dome-shaped) is erected over the courts.

In shooting volleyball the team consists of normally seven players. Three players play at the back side, three players play center of the court, and one player stands in front of the net. Any ball that goes to into the net is to be out by the player who is standing in front of it, also known as the net man. Some players also smash the ball with high vertical leaps like Olympic volleyball but there is no setter in team. In this game, the players hit the ball with both hands by punching it with both hands. They try to hit as fast as they can in order to force a mistake from opponent players and try to get rebound as a set ball for any player to smash it with jump, using one hand and if the player standing under the net misses the ball than defender tries to take the ball using the under hand and give maximum height to it. When one player smashes the ball with great skill the spectators give prize money to that player and the game has to stop at that time.

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Wikipedia