Volleyball is a team sport for men and for women.
There are six players on each team.
Volleyball is played on a court that is 18 metres long and 9 metres wide.
A net is stretched across the middle of the court.
Beach volleyball is played by teams of just two people. They play on the sand.
The aim of the game is to send the ball over the net so that the opposing team cannot return the ball or prevent it from hitting the ground in their court.
The server sends the ball over the net © Getty Images
To start the game, one player on the serving team hits the ball with his or her hand to send it over the net. The net is about 2 metres high.
Players use their hands to hit the ball back and forth over the net, keeping the ball in the air. They try to hit it so that the other team cannot hit it back.
Volleyball can be played indoors, outdoors and on a beach. © Getty Images
Only the serving team scores points. The team gets points when the ball hits the floor on the other team's side, or when the other team hit the ball three times before it gets over the net.
When the serving team does not score a point, the other team becomes the serving team.
Beach Volleyball
Beach volleyball©Getty
Beach Volleyball is almost the same as volleyball. A match is played by two teams, but there are only two players on each team. The games are played on a sand court that is the same size as a volleyball court. The ball is yellow or another bright colour. In a Beach Volleyball match, the teams play three sets. When a team reaches 12 points and is ahead by at least 2 points, it wins the match.
History
The game was invented in1895 by an American YMCA instructor, William G. Morgan, who called it 'minionette'. He invented the game for people who found basketball too strenuous.
The name was changed in 1896. The game became very popular around the world because it was easy to organise, didn't need much equipment, and there were only a few rules. It could be played indoors and outdoors by a few people.
It is always a good idea to use more than one source of information, so here are some others for you to investigate
Read about how to play volleyball
http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Volleyball
Volleyball became an Olympic sport in 1964
Watch a video about Beach volleyball at the Olympic Games
https://youtu.be/yEbwdIWNc-I
Read the rules of volleyball
https://www.strength-and-power-for-volleyball.com/basic-volleyball-rules.html
