Volleyball (English volleyball from volley - "blow from the flight" and ball - "ball") is a sport, a team sports game, during which two teams compete on a special platform separated by a net, trying to direct the ball to the opponent's side in such a way that it lands on the opponent's court (finish off to the floor). ), or for a player on the defending team to make a mistake. At the same time, to organize an attack, players of one team are allowed no more than three touches of the ball in a row (in addition to touching on the block).

Volleyball is a non-contact, combinational sport, where each player has a strict specialization on the court. The most important qualities for volleyball players are jumping ability to rise high above the net, reaction, coordination, physical strength for effective production of attacking blows.

For amateurs, volleyball is a common entertainment and a way to relax due to the simplicity of the rules and the availability of equipment, usually held on special beach areas or gyms.

The central body of volleyball as an international sport that determines the set of rules is the International Volleyball Federation, FIVB. Volleyball has been part of the Olympic Games since 1964.

The player playing this game is a volleyball player.

There are numerous variants of volleyball, branched off from the main type - beach volleyball (Olympic sport since 1996), snow volleyball, mini-volleyball, pioneer ball, park volleyball (approved by the FIVB Congress in November 1998 in Tokyo), sitting volleyball (Paralympic sport)

The inventor of volleyball is william J. Morgan, a teacher of physical education at the College of Young Men's Christians (YMCA) in Holyoke (Massachusetts, USA). In 1895,[5] in the sports hall he hung a tennis net at a height of 198 cm, and his students, whose number on the court was not limited, began to throw a basketball over it. Morgan called the new game "mintonet." Later, the game was demonstrated at the college conference of the Young Christian Association in Springfield and at the suggestion of Professor Alfred T. Halstead received a new name - "volleyball". In 1897, the first rules of volleyball were published in the United States: the size of the court is 7.6×15.1 m (25 x 50 feet), the height of the net is 198 cm (6.5 feet), the ball with a circumference of 63.5-68.5 cm (25-27 inches) and a weight of 340 g, the number of players on the court and touches of the ball was not regulated, the point was counted only with its own serve, with an unsuccessful serve it could be repeated, played up to 21 points per game.

In the process of developing the game, its rules, technique and tactics were constantly improved. The basic rules, some of which have survived to this day, were formed in 1915-1925: since 1917, the draw of the game was limited to 15 points, and the height of the net was 243 cm; in 1918, the number of players on the court was determined to be six; since 1922, no more than three touches of the ball have been allowed; in 1925, the modern dimensions of the court, the size and weight of the volleyball were approved. These rules were applied in the Americas, Africa and Europe, while in Asia until the early 1960s they played according to their own rules: with nine or twelve players on the 11×22 m court without changing positions by the players during the match.

In 1922, the first nationwide competitions were held - the YMCA Championship was held in Brooklyn with the participation of 23 men's teams. In 1924, the Union of Basketball and Volleyball of Czechoslovakia was formed, the first volleyball sports organization in Europe. In the second half of the 1920s, national federations of Bulgaria, the USSR, the USA and Japan emerged. In the same period, the main technical techniques are formed - serve, passes, attacking blow and block. On their basis, the tactics of team actions arise. In the 1930s, a group block and insurance appeared, attacking and deceptive strikes varied. In 1936, at the Congress of the International Handball Federation, held in Stockholm, the Polish delegation took the initiative to organize a technical committee on volleyball as part of the handball federation. A commission was formed, which included 13 countries in Europe, 5 countries in America and 4 countries in Asia. The members of this commission adopted American rules as the main ones with minor changes: measurements were carried out in metric proportions, the ball could be touched with the whole body above the waist, after touching the ball on the block, the player was forbidden to touch again in a row, the height of the net for women was 224 cm, the serving area was strictly limited.

After the end of World War II (1939–1945), international contacts began to expand. On April 18-20, 1947, the first congress of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) was held in Paris with the participation of representatives of 14 countries: Belgium, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the USA, Uruguay and Yugoslavia. , which became the first official members of the FIVB. In 1949, the first World Championship among men's teams was held in Prague. In 1951, at the congress in Marseille, the FIVB approved the official international rules, and in its composition an arbitration commission and a commission for the development and improvement of the rules of the game were formed. Substitutions of players and timeouts in games were allowed, matches of both men's and women's teams began to be held in 5 games.

The first president of the FIVB was the French architect Paul Libo, who was subsequently repeatedly re-elected to this post until 1984. In 1957, at the 53rd session of the International Olympic Committee, volleyball was declared an Olympic sport; at the 58th session, it was decided to hold volleyball competitions among men's and women's teams at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad in Tokyo. After the Tokyo Olympics, a significant change in the rules of the game was made - blockers were allowed to transfer their hands over the net to the opponent's side and re-touch the ball after blocking. In 1970, antennas were introduced on the edges of the grid, in 1974 there were referee's yellow and red cards.

In the international competitions of the 1960s and 1970s, the national teams of the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Japan achieved the greatest success. For women, up to the Moscow Olympics-1980, the most significant was the rivalry of the Soviet and Japanese schools - the national teams of the USSR and Japan played gold medals against each other in the first four Olympic tournaments and won two victories in them. Certain successes were also achieved by the national teams of Poland, the GDR, Romania, Czechoslovakia, North and South Korea. In 1978, the usual alignment of forces in women's volleyball was violated by the Cuban national team, which unexpectedly won the World Championship held in the Soviet Union with a huge advantage over rivals.

In 1984, Paul Libo was succeeded as FIVB president by Dr. Ruben Acosta, a lawyer from Mexico. At the initiative of Ruben Acosta, numerous changes were made to the rules of the game aimed at increasing the entertainment of competitions and the "telegenicity" of volleyball associated with reducing the duration of matches. On the eve of the 1988 Olympic Games, the XXI FIVB Congress was held in Seoul, where changes were made to the regulations of the decisive fifth game: it began to be played according to the "rally point" or "tie-break" system ("draw - point"), in the 1990s, a "ceiling" of 17 points was also set for the first four games (that is, they could end with the advantage of opponents in 1 point with a score of 17:16). An experiment was conducted with limiting volleyball games in time, but in October 1998, at the FIVB Congress in Tokyo, an even more revolutionary decision was made - to play on the rally point system every game: the first four to 25 points, the fifth - up to 15. In 1996, it was allowed to touch the ball with any part of the body (including the foot), in 1997 the FIVB proposed to the national teams to include a libero player in their rosters.

During this period, the technique and tactics of the game continued to improve. In the early 1980s, the jump serve appeared and the lateral serve was almost ceased to be used, the frequency of offensive shots from the back line increased, there were changes in the way the ball was received - the previously unpopular technique from below became dominant, and the reception from above with a fall almost disappeared. The playing functions of volleyball players have been narrowed: for example, if earlier all six players were involved in the reception, then since the 1980s the implementation of this element has become the responsibility of two pre-game players.

The game has become more powerful and faster. Volleyball has increased the requirements for the height and athletic training of athletes. If in the 1970s there could not be a single player taller than 2 meters in the team, then since the 1990s everything has changed. In high-end teams below 195–200 cm, usually only the binder and libero. New teams were added to the number of the strongest - Brazil, USA, Cuba, Italy, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia.

Since 1990, the World League has been played, an annual commercial competition designed to increase the popularity of volleyball around the world. Since 1993, a similar competition has been held for women - the Grand Prix. Since the second half of the 1980s, the first truly professional league has been created in Italy, the organization of which becomes an example for the national championships of other countries.

In 1985, a volleyball Hall of Fame was opened in Holyoke, in which the names of the most outstanding players, coaches, teams, organizers, judges are recorded.

Since 2016, the FIVB unites 222 national volleyball federations.[9] Volleyball is most developed as a sport in countries such as Brazil, USA, China, Russia, Poland, Italy, Serbia, Japan. The current world champion among men is the national team of Poland, among women - the national team of Serbia.

In 2008-2012, the Chinese Wei Jizhong worked as the president of the International Volleyball Federation, on September 21, 2012, at the XXXIII FIVB Congress in Anaheim (California), the Brazilian Ari Graça was chosen as the new president of the organization[10].

The FIVB management continues to work on improving the volleyball rules. Some changes in the interpretation of the errors "touching the net" and "intercession" on the opponent's playing half, clarifying the definition of blocking, expanding the team's application for official international tournaments to 14 players, 2 of whom are liberos, were approved in 2009 at the XXXI FIVB Congress in Dubai. In the same year, at the Club World Cup in Doha (this tournament was revived after a 17-year break), the so-called "golden formula" was tested, according to which the host team should conduct its first attack strictly from the back line. In practice, this innovation, which is designed to help equalize the capabilities of opponents and allow the ball to stay in the air longer, not only did not give the expected effect, but also led to a decrease in the entertainment of the game, for which it was criticized by many players, coaches, specialists and volleyball fans and was no longer used.

According to the new version of the rules, which came into force in 2013, the punishment of a player with a yellow card is not accompanied by a loss of a point. In April 2013, it was decided to postpone the implementation of the rule tightening the requirements for receiving a serve from above and at the same time it was proposed to consider reducing the duration of the game from 25 to 21 won points and reducing the pauses between draws of the ball. In the same year, the latest innovation was tested in Euroleague tournaments, the World Championship among men's senior youth teams, the Brazilian championships, but did not receive further distribution. Also, since 2013, the video viewing system has been actively used at international competitions under the auspices of the FIVB and CEV.

On November 1, 2014, at the XXXIV FIVB Congress, held in Cagliari, the rule adopted in 2009 that allowed touching the net was canceled if it did not interfere with the opponent's game. As before, any touch by a player to the net was considered a mistake. In addition, for international competitions, the Congress decided to reduce the size of the free zone from the front lines from 8 to 6.5 m, the inclusion of all 14 players admitted to the tournament in the application for matches and the possibility of reducing the coaching and / or technical timeouts at the suggestion of sponsors and television.