Volleyball Rotations: Understand What're The Rotations In Volleyball 

Volleyball rotations: A rally winning team gets one point, the right to serve and one rotation clockwise before the next server gets to serve to start a rally. 

Volleyball Rotations: Penn State server begins the rally with a serve as Ohio waits in serve receive after the whistle has blown to start the rally. (Craig Fildes)

If during a game, your team wins a rally then you've won three things 

• Point for your team. 
• One rotation for your team. 
• The right to serve for your team.

• On each half the court there are six invisible zones with corresponding numbers which help dictate which way each of the six players need to rotate after they've earned the right to serve. 

Volleyball Rotations: Rotation Diagram

Left front area is Zone 4.    

Middle front area is Zone 3.  

Right front area is Zone 2.  

Left back area is Zone 5.    

Middle back area is Zone 6 

Right back area is Zone 1

• After a team wins the right to serve, the volleyball rotation rules state they have to rotate clockwise so the same player does not serve twice. 

Volleyball Basics: After a team wins the right to serve, the volleyball rotation rules state they have to rotate clockwise so the same player does not serve twice. (Ralph Aversen)

The player who was in Zone 1 moves to their left rotating to Zone 6 the middle back area of the court...

Zone 6 player moves out of the middle back area to the  to the area on their left, the left back area on the court, rotating to Zone 5...

Zone 5 player moves up to the left front area on the court rotating up to the front row in Zone 4...

Zone 4 player moves to their right rotating over to Zone 3 the middle front area of the court...

Zone 3 player moves over to their right rotating over to the right front area of the court to  Zone 2...

Zone 2 player moves back to the right back area of the court moving them to the back of the court which rotates them back row to Zone 1...

• Players on both sides must be inside the court at the point of service (when the ball is served)

• Players cannot touch any part of the endline while serving the ball. They can step over the endline once they've contacted the ball in their attempt to send it over the net into the opposing team's court. 

Volleyball Basics: A player can step over the end line once they've contacted the ball in their attempt to send it over the net into the opposing team's court. (Richard Yuan)

• Players on a team must stay within their half court during reception of serve.

• Players can go off the court to retrieve a ball back into their court as long as they stay within the designated playing area.

Good times! Where do you need to go now? Here are three options: 

1. Learn more about Basics
2. Follow the suggested reading on our Sitemap page Learning How To Play (Sitemap)
3. Or visit the pages in the Volleyball Rules section in the drop down menu at the top of the page.  

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