Who writes the rules
The official rules of volleyball are published by the FIVB, the international governing body; in Italy they are adopted by FIPAV, which adds its own regulations for leagues and youth categories. The rules change rarely and only slightly, but they do change: when you find a rulebook online, always check which season it refers to.
In matches between friends, almost no one applies the rules to the letter, and that is absolutely fine. The problem is not making exceptions: it is making exceptions without writing them down beforehand. Sideline arguments almost always stem from the same three points left unspecified: how many sets are played, how the deciding set is won, and what happens when a team arrives late.
The numbers to know by heart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Court | 18 × 9 m, divided into two halves of 9 × 9 m |
| Attack line | 3 m from the axis of the centre line |
| Net height | 2,43 m men · 2,24 m women |
| Players on court | 6 per team |
| Touches per play | 3 (the block touch does not count) |
| Set | to 25 points with at least a 2-point lead, no ceiling |
| Deciding set | to 15 points with at least a 2-point lead |
| Time to serve | 8 seconds from the referee's whistle |
| Time-outs | 2 per set per team, 30 seconds each |
The three questions the rules answer
Everything else is detail. The first question is how to score: under the rally point system, every rally awards a point, regardless of who served. The second is what is a foul: the ball landing out, four touches, a caught or thrown ball, touching the net during play, penetration into the opponent's court, or a positional fault at the moment of service. The third is who can do what and where: this is where the 3 m line for back-row attackers, the limitations of the libero, and the rotation order come in.
Anyone refereeing an amateur match does not need to know the rulebook by heart: they just need to know these three families of rules well and apply them consistently, because inconsistency does more damage than a mistake.
The rules almost no one remembers
- Touching the net is not always a foul. It is only a foul if it occurs between the antennae and during the action of playing the ball. Brushing the net after the rally is over, or touching it outside the antenna, is not penalised. Hair touching the net is also not a foul.
- You can cross under the net. Touching the opponent's court with a foot is permitted, provided that some part of the foot remains in contact with or directly above the centre line.
- A ball that touches the antenna is out, even if it then lands in the opponent's court: the antenna is part of the net and defines the crossing space.
- A block does not count as a touch. After a block, the team still has three touches available, and the player who blocked the ball can play it again.
- You cannot attack or block a serve when the ball is in the front zone and entirely higher than the top of the net.
What amateur tournaments actually change
In practice, almost all one-day tournaments reduce matches to best of three sets, often to 21 points, to fit the schedule into the available hours. Many do away with the libero, do not call positional faults, allow the ball to touch the ceiling if it lands back on their own side, and add team composition rules (gender quotas, age categories, number of registered players). These are all legitimate choices: they only become a problem when they remain unwritten.
The rule of thumb is simple: the tournament rules fit on a single page, every captain knows them, and they are handed out upon registration. If you organise with VolleyFriends, the set score, sets to win, and team constraints are tournament parameters, so they appear pre-written on the public page and apply to everyone's bracket.