• Volleyball history
• Volleyball creator
• Origin of volleyball
• Volleyball world growth
• Game rules
• Volleyball technical fundamentals
• Most recognized countries in volleyball

We explain everything about the history of volleyball, its creation and development until today. Its rules and technical foundations.

With more than 120 years of history, today volleyball is one of the most popular sports.

Volleyball history

Name volleyball in Spanish (and its variants volleyball, volleyball, volleyball or volleyball), it derives from the English “volleyball” and refers to a discipline of more than a hundred years of existence which was created in 1895 by William G. Morgan, director of physical education at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in the United States.

It was originally called "mintonette" but, during a demonstration, they noticed that the volley of the ball over the net described the essence of the game. play and that's why they started calling it “volley ball”.In 1952, the American Volleyball Association unified the words to officially name it "volleyball."

Volleyball is a sport It is played on a court divided in half by a net, where two teams of six players each face off. The objective The game consists of passing the ball over the net so that it touches the ground of the opponent's court, without the opponent being able to reach it.

It is played by hitting or driving the ball and each team has a maximum of three touches to pass it to the opposite field. Players on the same team rotate their position as they earn points.

Volleyball creator

William G. Morgan was the YMCA's director of physical education.

In 1870 William G. Morgan was born in Lockport, New York. During his childhood, he attended public school and worked in his father's shipyard on the banks of the old Erie Canal. Attending Mount Hermon Preparatory School in Massachusetts he met James A. Naismith, then a professor of physical education YMCA and creator of basketball.

Naismith was impressed with the abilities Morgan's athleticism and encouraged him to continue his education at the Young Men's Christian Association International Training School (now called Springfield College). In 1894 Morgan graduated, and the path that would culminate in the invention of volleyball would begin here.

Origin of volleyball

In 1895 William G. Morgan took over as director of physical education at the YMCA and encountered a trouble, should provide the exercise without being overly aggressive or intense. I noticed that the game of basketball, despite being very popular, was too exhausting.

I wanted an alternative where it wasn't necessary to hit or shake as much, so that it would suit a wider audience. Morgan took ideas from various sports, such as soccer ball basketball, the tennis net, the use of handball hands and the concept of baseball innings. Thus, he created a discipline that he called "mintonette".

A year later, the mintonette game was very popular and garnered an audience at the YMCA Conference of Physical Directors, held in Massachusetts. There, Springfield College professor Dr. Alfred Halstead observed that the highlight of the game was the volley of the ball over the net. For this reason, he suggested renaming it "volley ball."

Originally, the "mintonette" was quite different from the volleyball performance that is known today. It was played on a smaller court, with a very heavy ball, a lower net, and too many players hitting the ball an unlimited number of times.

Although Morgan probably did not imagine it at the time, decades later volleyball became the second most popular team discipline in the world, after volleyball. soccer.

Volleyball world growth

In the middle of the 20th century, volleyball was already played all over the world.

In its early days, the game of volleyball achieved wide acceptance thanks to the support and outreach of the YMCA association, encouraged by two professional schools of physical education: Springfield College and George Williams College.

In the early 1900s, Canada was the first foreign country to adopt the game as a sport to be practiced in various institutions. It was soon followed by Japan and the Philippines, where it was included in the program of the first Far East Games in 1913. Thus began its worldwide expansion.

In 1914 he was included in the education and recreation program of the North American armed forces. In 1916 the YMCA succeeded in getting the powerful NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) to contribute to the rapid spread of volleyball among college students in the United States, through the publication of a series of articles on its regulation.

There it was announced, for example, that the number of players per team was limited to six and later, in 1922, the number of touches of the ball per play was limited to three. However, until the early 1930s volleyball was a play of leisure and recreation, with few competitive presentations worldwide and with a regulation that varied according to the country where it was played.

In 1947 the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) was created in France. This world body is in charge of regulating the rules at a competitive level and holding meetings on a regular basis.

At the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924, traditional volleyball was first played as a demonstration sport. But it was not until 1964 that it became part of the Olympic specialties at the meeting held in Tokyo.

Today volleyball is one of the most widely practiced popular sports worldwide, with competitions such as the FIVB World Championship, the FIVB World League, the FIVB World Grand Prix and the Olympic Games. It is a competitive sport with high physical and technical performance that presents some officially accepted variants:

• Beach volleyball. It is played on the sand and since 1996 it has been part of the Olympic disciplines, starting with the meeting held in Atlanta that featured a specially built stadium on the beach.
• Sitting volleyball. It is practiced especially between sports of persons with disabilities and in 1980 he was incorporated into the Paralympic Games.

Game rules

The playing area is an 18 meter long rectangle divided by the net.

Among the basic rules of volleyball are:

• The score. The best score of five rounds of play is disputed, also called "sets". The team that accumulates three sets won will be the champion, for which it must reach twenty-five points in each set and with an advantage of two points over the opponent (for example, twenty-five against twenty-three points). In case the teams reach a score of twenty-five against twenty-four, they must play until they achieve a difference of two points. This is why the duration of volleyball matches varies so much.
• The serve. It is the action that starts each game, it is carried out with the player located behind the baseline and the rest of the team located on the limits of the field. If a player serves and the opponent fails to save the ball, the player scores a point for his team. In the event that the service is unsuccessful (it touches the net and falls in its own court or goes outside the area), the turn of service passes to the opponent.
• Play area. It is bounded by a rectangle eighteen meters long and nine meters wide, and is divided in the center by a network that separates the two playing areas. The designation of the fields for each team is drawn before the game and in each new set the areas are exchanged.
• Attack area. The central line that is located under the net divides the playing field into two equal zones, each measuring nine meters by nine meters. Three meters away from the center line, another line delimits the attack zone for each area, where the actions of the players are limited.
• Network. It is located in the center of the playing field at a height of 2.43 cm for the male category and 2.24 cm for the female category. If the ball touches the net, it is not considered a foul and, by rebounding, you can continue the play.

Volleyball technical fundamentals

The service is taken from behind the baseline.

The technical fundamentals of volleyball (or any other sport) are the basic principles to learn a discipline, and refers to the motor actions characteristic of the activity. In the case of volleyball, the following stand out:

• The serve. There are two types of serve:
  • From below. It is simpler and is used by beginners.
  • From above. It is an offensive technique and its success depends on the force applied in the blow, which can be with the player standing or with the help of a jump in place.
• The player's posture. There are three types of basic positions that are differentiated by the degree of flexion of the knees (low, medium and high). This posture and its variants allow players to be on the alert and act quickly in the face of unexpected reception or high speed of the ball by the opponent.
• The pass. There are different types:
  • Finger swipe. Its main advantage is that it allows you to control the address of the ball.
  • Forearm strike. Its main advantage is that it allows to cushion balls that arrive at high speed.
  • Auction. It is the blow that is given accompanied by a jump, over the top of the ball, so that it reaches the I usually of the opposite field at high speed.
  • Blocking. It is an accompanied jump with outstretched hands, which must be done very close to the net to avoid an opponent's shot.

Most recognized countries in volleyball

The three countries that have won the most medals from international volleyball tournaments in recent years are: Brazil with twenty medals, Italy with fifteen and Russia with fourteen.