Aquatic Volleyball

Aquatic Volleyball is a team sport similar to volleyball, but adapted for competition in a swimming pool. It is also referred to as "pool volleyball", and sometimes as "aquapolo", not to be confused with water polo.

The teams, each consisting of eight players, start on opposite sides of the net. At the referee's whistle, both teams swim to midpoint of the field (known as the sprint or the swim-off); the referee drops the ball near the side of the pool.

Equipment
The ball's circumference is 65-67 cm and its weight is 260-280 g. Its inside pressure shall be 0.30 to 0.325 kg/cm2 (4.26 to 4.61 psi) (294.3 to 318.82 mbar or hPa). The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts and 3 feet (914 mm) high in the center.

Rules of Play
An attacking player lines up on the five meter line in front of the opposing goal. No other player may be in front of him or within 2 meters of his position. If an attacker advances inside the 2-meter line without the ball or before the ball is inside the 2-meter area, he is ruled off side and the ball is turned over to the defense. The opposing team must use a combination of no more than three contacts with the volleyball to return the ball to the opponent's side of the net. The team with possession of the ball that is trying to attack the ball as described is said to be on offense. On defense, the players work to regain possession of the ball and prevent a goal. Teams can contact the ball no more than three times before the ball crosses the net, and consecutive contacts must be made by different players. The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.

Defensive positions are often the same, but just switched from offense to defense. Defense can be played man-to-man or zone. Any defenders flanking the player taking the shot must be no closer than 2 meters. The first team to recover the ball becomes the attacker until a goal is scored or the defenders recover the ball. The first player or team to fail to make a legal return loses the point.

Blocking is also classified according to the number of players involved. Thus, one may speak of single (or solo), double, or triple block. At the same time, the block position influences the positions where other defenders place themselves while opponent hitters are spiking. If the shot goes outside the goal and on to the deck (outside the field of play) then the ball is automatically recovered by the defense. When the ball is turned over because it goes out of bounds, the clock is not stopped. Play stops, and the ball must be served again with no penalty. If the same defender repetitively makes minor fouls, referees will exclude that player for 20 seconds. Most penalties last for two minutes unless a major penalty has been assessed. Major penalties are always served in full; they do not terminate on a goal scored by the other team. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes during which he can not participate in play. The player must move to the penalty area without impacting the natural game play. The offending player(s) are sent to the penalty box where they must remain until the penalty has expired. The statistic used to track penalties is called Penalties In Minutes (PIM). A referee signals a major foul by two short whistle bursts and indicates that the player must leave the field of play and move to the penalty area for twenty seconds. Additional penalties will be delayed until one of the earlier penalties has expired. The referee indicates the foul with one short whistle blow and points one hand to the spot of the foul and the other hand in the direction of the attacking team, who retain possession. The winner of this volley is granted the right to serve first.

Each goal is worth one point. Players also win a rally if their opponents commit a fault, but if a fault is made by the receiving side, the serving side shall be awarded one point and the same hand continues. The team that won the point serves for the next point. The player can serve any number of let services in a point and they are always treated as voids and not as faults. However, placing more than one let service in a single point takes a considerable amount of skill or luck. Let services are somewhat unusual at recreational level and frequent at professional level. If a let is called, the rally is stopped and replayed with no change to the score. If the first service is otherwise faulty in any way, wide, long or not over the net, the serving player has a second attempt at service. If a fault is made by serving team serving hand shall be down and the next player shall serve. However, if the serve is in, it is considered a legal service. If the team that won the point served in the previous point, the same player serves again. A legal service starts a rally, in which the players alternate hitting the ball across the net. The server shall not serve until the other side is ready. If any of the players of the other side attempts to return the service, it shall be considered to be ready.

Jump Serve: an overhand serve where the ball is first tossed high in the air, then the player makes a timed approach and jumps to make contact with the ball. The set is usually the second contact that a team makes with the ball. No player shall strike the ball more than once consecutively. The setter coordinates the offensive movements of a team, and is the player who ultimately decides which player will actually attack the ball. The attack (or spike, the slang term) is usually the third contact a team makes with the ball. The referee blows the whistle and the player must shoot immediately.

A limited number of time-outs, clock stoppages requested by a coach for a short meeting with the players, are allowed. They generally last no longer than one minute unless, for televised games, a commercial break is needed. Additionally, each team is allowed one thirty-second time-out per game, teams are allowed one 20-second timeout per half, and six regular timeouts over the course of the entire game. The game is composed of three 20-minute periods with an intermission of either 15½ or 17 minutes between periods. Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play. As many innings as necessary are played until one team has the lead at the end of an inning. Substitutions are unlimited but can only be done when play is stopped. Substitutions are permitted at any time during the course of the game, although during a stoppage of play the home team is permitted the final change. Thus, the home team always has a chance to respond if the visiting team scores in the top half of the inning; this gives the home team a small tactical advantage. A set consists of a number of games, and games, in turn, consist of points. A set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria. A match is best 3 out of 5 games. Some matches may consist of five sets (the winner being the first to win three sets), while most matches are three sets (the winner being the first to win two sets). In competition play, matches are typically best of five or seven games. Depending on the rules in force, when one team gains a 45-point advantage over the other, the game is either governed by a running clock for the remainder of the game or the game ends immediately. The game is ended under this rule if a team is losing by 45 or more points at halftime or at any point after. The object of the game is for teams to score more goals in a match to win the game. The team with the most goals wins the match.

The end of the match is known as full-time. At the end of the 60 minute regulation time, the team with the most goals wins the game. If a game is tied after regulation time, overtime ensues. If the score is tied at the end of regulation play, two overtime periods of three minutes each are played. The game clock does not run during overtime; the play clock, however, is enforced. The time allowed is actual playing time; the clock is stopped while the play is not active. If the score remains tied at the end of the overtime procedure, an additional overtime procedure is played. If, after each team has had one possession and one team is ahead, that team wins. If the teams are tied after each has had a possession, the next team to score wins. If neither team scores during overtime, the game ends in a tie.

A duration is an amount of time or a particular time interval. For example, an event in the common sense has a duration greater than zero (but not very long), but in certain specialized senses (such as in the theory of relativity), a duration of zero. A stopwatch is a timepiece designed to measure the amount of time elapsed from a particular time when activated to when the piece is deactivated. The stopwatch is typically designed to start at the press of the top button and stop by pressing the button a second time to display the elapsed time. A press of the second button then resets the stopwatch to zero. The second button is also used to record split times or lap times. When the split time button is pressed while the watch is running, the display freezes, but the watch mechanism continues running to record total elapsed time. Pressing the split button a second time allows the watch to resume display of total time. A game clock consists of two adjacent clocks and buttons to stop one clock while starting the other, such that the two component clocks never run simultaneously. The purpose is to keep track of the total time each player takes for his or her own moves, and ensure that neither player overly delays the game. A play clock (also called a delay-of-game timer) is a timer designed to increase the pace (and subsequently, the score)

The referee is assisted by two assistant referees, and sometimes by a fourth official. The second referee, who assists the first referee, is at floor level on the opposite side of the net—and in front of the scorers' table. A referee is a person who has authority to make decisions about play in many sports. These officials are commonly referred to as "referees" but each has a title based on position and responsibilities during the game:

A game's official scorer will use this method, as will amateur scorers. A scorekeeper can track the result of every play in a game, though most amateurs opt not to record some of the smaller details. Timekeeper is an instrument or person that measures the passage of time, often with the assistance of a clock or stopwatch. In addition, the timekeeper records time or time taken, e.g. during a sports event.

Formations
Alternate formations include 4-3-1, 3-4-1, 4-2-2, 3-2-3 and 5-3 among others. The advantage of the 6-2 is that there are always three front-row hitters available, maximizing the offensive possibilities. However, not only does the 6-2 require a team to possess two people capable of performing the highly specialized role of setter, it also requires both of those players to be effective offensive hitters when not in the setter position. In the 6-2 formation, a player always comes forward from the back row to set. The three front row players are all in attacking positions. The 6-2 lineup thus requires two setters, who line up opposite to each other in the rotation. In addition to the setters, a typical lineup will have two middle hitters and two outside hitters. By aligning like positions opposite themselves in the rotation, there will always be one of each position in the front and back rows. After service, the players in the front row move into their assigned positions.
Scoring

Offering and failing to make a good serve (i.e., making a service toss and failing to strike the ball fairly into play)

Errors and faults
A violation of these rules results in loss of possession, or, if committed by the defense, a reset of the shot clock.
*False start
*Offside
*Illegal defense
*Delay of game
*Goaltending
*A player takes more than 8 seconds to serve.
*The same player touches the ball twice in succession.
*Failing to begin a new play after a certain time from the end of the last one.
*A player "lifts" or "carries" the ball (the ball remains in contact with the player's body for too long).
*A player is not in the correct position at the moment of serve, or serves out of turn.
*A player blocks the serve or attacks the serve when the ball is in the front zone and above the top of the net.
*Attempting to call a timeout when the team has no timeouts remaining.
*Re-entering the game after fouling out

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See Also

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