Volley­ball rotations

The court and the six zones

Each team has six players on court: three in the front row, near the net, and three in the back row. The spots are numbered starting from the server and going counter-clockwise: 1 right back, 2 right front, 3 middle front, 4 left front, 5 left back, 6 middle back. Left and right are as the players see it, facing the net.

A zone is really a place in the order, not a fixed patch of floor. It matters at one moment only: when the server hits the ball. After that, players run wherever they're needed.

Rotating

When your team wins a rally on the other team's serve, you score and win the serve back. That's called a side-out. Before you serve, the whole team moves one spot clockwise: 2 → 1, 1 → 6, 6 → 5, 5 → 4, 4 → 3, 3 → 2. The player who arrives in zone 1 serves.

If you win a rally on your own serve, you score, the same player serves again, and nobody rotates. Every player passes through every zone, so everyone takes a turn in the front row and a turn serving.

Coaches name the six rotations after the setter's zone: "rotation 1" means the setter is in zone 1. Since the setter moves 1 → 6 → 5 …, a team plays its rotations in the order 1, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

The positions in a 5-1

S Setter

Takes the second touch on almost every rally and decides who attacks. Usually sets with the fingertips. One setter plays all six rotations: the "1" in 5-1.

OPP Opposite

Stands opposite the setter in the order (three spots away), so they're never in the same row. Attacks from the right side, blocks the other team's best outside hitter, and attacks from the back row when the setter is in the front.

OH Outside hitters (2)

Opposite each other in the order. They attack from the left and pass the serve, so they're the most all-round players on the team.

MB Middle blockers (2)

Also opposite each other. In the front row they block across the whole net and hit fast "quick" sets close to the setter. In the back row they're usually replaced by the libero.

L Libero

Back-row defensive specialist in a different-coloured shirt. Comes on for a middle once that middle reaches the back row, and goes off when the middle rotates back to the front. These swaps don't count as substitutions, but there has to be a completed rally between two of them. May not block, may not attack the ball above net height, and may not serve under FIVB rules (some leagues allow it). A finger set from the libero in front of the 3 m line can't be attacked above the net.

The overlap rule

At the moment of the serve, players must stand in their order. Two kinds of pairs are checked:

• Front and back: each front-row player must be closer to the net than the back-row player directly behind them: 4 in front of 5, 3 in front of 6, 2 in front of 1.
• Side to side: within each row, left to right: 4, 3, 2 in the front row and 5, 6, 1 in the back row. Only neighbours are compared, so 4 and 2 never are.

Position is judged by where the feet touch the floor, and the serving team's server doesn't count. A fault gives the other team the point. Teams "stack" and "hide" players inside these limits so that, a split second after the serve, everyone can sprint to their real position. In the Receive view you can drag players around and watch the lines turn red.

Back row rules

Back-row players may not block. They may attack the ball above net height only if they jump from behind the 3 m line; landing in front of it afterwards is fine. That's what makes the "pipe" (back-row outside hitter, through the middle) and the "D ball" (back-row opposite, from the right) legal.

A back-row setter can set from anywhere, but can't send the ball over from above the net while in front of the 3 m line.

Words you'll hear

Side-out

Winning a rally on the other team's serve: a point, plus you serve next.

Target

The spot the passers aim for: about a metre off the net, right of the middle.

Penetrating

A back-row setter sprinting to the target as the ball is served.

Switching

Running from your rotation spot to your specialty position after the serve.

Quick

A low, fast set to a middle who is already in the air.

Pipe, D ball

Back-row attacks through the middle and from the right.

Cover

Crouching around your own hitter to dig a ball blocked straight back.

Off-blocker

The front-row player not in the block, who drops back to defend.

Perimeter defense

Back-row defenders spread around the edges of the court, playing the hard hits.

Dig

Passing a hard-driven attack.

Rally scoring

Every rally scores a point, whoever served. Sets go to 25 (the fifth to 15), and you have to win by 2.