15 club volleyball tryout tips from a Tennessee Hall of Fame inductee and elite club coach who's helped hundreds of athletes navigate tryouts successfully.

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 your athlete struggles with consistent serve receive, gets subbed out, or is overlooked for playing time—this is the fix you’ve been looking for.

Struggling with passing consistency?

I help talented passers tired of getting pulled from games because of inconsistent serve receive skills BUILD passing confidence without expensive private lessons using the same 3-step system that's helped dozens of my athletes get recruited.

Download my eBook for $7.99 and start building the passing confidence that keeps you on the court—and gets you seen by college coaches.

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.

Volleyball Rotations
Understanding The Volleyball Rotation

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 Order Diagram

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

Volleyball Rotations
Rotation Rules

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...

Volleyball Game Rules
Stay in the Court

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.

Volleyball Basics:
Where Do You Go From Here?

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

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

Learn more from these volleyball fundamentals on the pages below!

How to Serve A Floater Known As The Standing Float Serve in Volleyball
Learn how to serve a floater, also called a standing float serve that's hard for the opposing team to pass because of how the ball floats while crossing the net
What Is Pepper In Volleyball? Lets Explore My Tips, Goals and Benefits
What is pepper in volleyball? Learn tips, set goals and explore the importance of attitude and mentality in this dynamic training exercise. Elevate your skills!
The Volleyball Bump How Do You Get To A Ball And Bump In Volleyball
A good volleyball bump tip for beginner high school players learning how to pass a ball is to avoid running and bumping at the same time in serve receive.
How To Attack In Volleyball Tipping The Ball With An Open Hand Dink
How to attack in volleyball with my 3 attacking strategies using your open hand dink to put the ball in an open spot so you can vary your attack hits to score.
Six Best Volleyball Tips That Help You Get Better At Volleyball Fast
These are six of the best volleyball tips one for each basic skill including passing, setting, blocking, digging, spiking and serving that'll improve your game.
Types of Volleyball Serves Topspin, Missile, Coach Kill, Friendly Fire
Topspin, missile, coach kill, friendly fire and husband and wife play are serving terms used for advanced types of volleyball serves used by varsity players.
Understanding What Are Digs in Volleyball: A Defense Guide for Coaches
What are digs in volleyball? Digs are defensive plays where players use their forearms or hands to save an attacked ball and prevent it from hitting the court.
Tips On Volleyball Hitting Why Hitters Tip Deep, Cut Or Use Roll Shots
Use these tips on volleyball hitting to improve your offensive game by varying your attacks with different hitting options to beat various teams in defense.
The Spike in Volleyball Learn 7 Ways To Improve Your Hitting Skills
Using the block is one of the hitting skills spikers need to know in order to score more points in offense with their spike in volleyball for their team.
10 Hitting Tactics Short Volleyball Players Use Against Big Blockers
These are 10 hitting tactics that short volleyball players, can rely on hit against and sideout and score against teams with big blockers in the front row.

If your athlete struggles with consistent serve receive, gets subbed out, or is overlooked for playing time—this is the fix you’ve been looking for.

Struggling with passing consistency?

Download my eBook for $7.99 and start building the passing confidence that keeps you on the court—and gets you seen by college coaches.

From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Honored At UTK Champions Weekend

Lady Vol volleyball legend and record holder Coach April Chapple a University of Tennessee, Knoxville Hall of Fame Inductee, 3-time All American, 3-time SEC Champion, SEC Tournament MVP, 2-time All SEC Team is celebrated with her 1984 SEC champion teammates at Neyland Stadium during Champions Weekend on November 1-2, 2024.

utkaprilcollegepiconneylandstadiumvideoboard

Tennessee Hall of Fame inductee, Coach April Chapple is

the first First Round Draft Pick for the first American pro indoor women's league
named to the first First Team All-Pro team for Major League Volleyball in USA volleyball history
former USA National team member
one of the few American women players named as an Italian Pro League D-I Championship Finalist, Italian Cup Finalist and Cup of Cups Tournament Finalist

April Chapple The first First round Draft Pick For Major League Volleyball the first American Women's Pro League Honored At Athlete Unlimited Pro Volleyball Match

Coach April's 2025 Private and Semi private Volleyball Training

Pre-Registration now open for 2025 Private and Semiprivate Training Sessions with Coach April . Get prepared for club tryouts or train with me during club season!

Email now for information on semiprivate or private indoor skills, individual or small group training volleyball classes and my Breakfast Club for College Players training for 2025.

Invest in your improvement while preepping for your next level and college goals while working hard and training smart.

Email me right now to register or for more information.

info@improveyourvolley.com

Serving slang is not just about individual techniques; it also relates to overall game strategy. A coach might instruct a player to serve a "short serve" or a "deep serve" to target specific areas of the opponent's court or exploit weaknesses in their serve receive formation.

Ari, my private training client and I are working specifically on serving on jump float cross court serves ...short to Zone 2

There's so much we work on to get to this point where she can contact the ball with

the same toss height and same toss location
the same armswing speed
the same timing for when her serving hand contacts the ball
the middle of the hand contacting the middle of the ball every single time
getting use to watching her serving hand contact the ball at the highest point of her jump ...before she starts to land
and finally contacting the ball in the precise spot on the ball so it goes where the coach wants the player to put it so in this case ..a short serve in the farthest short right corner on the court also called Zone 2.

kamiminerpac12setteroftheyearformercoachaprilchappleprivateclient3years

Tommi Stockham All Big West Conference sophomore former Coach April Chapple private client 3 years

katepriorallwestcoastconferencebyufreshmanformercoachaprilchappleprivateclient3years

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Dear Vegas Parent

Read my open letter to Las Vegas Jr high/high school volleyball parents about my predictions on individual and small group volleyball training trends for 2019/2021

April Chapple

Tennessee Athletics Honors April Chapple at Champions Weekend for Legendary Volleyball Achievements

From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Produces Powerful Passionate Players...is that you?

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Congratulations to my seven Boys-18s Vegas Volley club players who played in two state championship finals yesterday, the 3A and 5A State champinship finals at Sunrise Mountain High School.

TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS!

A-1 Vegas Volley VBC

In It To Win It Tournament

May 2 - 4, 2025 Tournament

Gold Medalists

18s Premier Division

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Making A-1 Vegas Volleyball history as the very first TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS! In the In It To Win It Tournament, May 2-4, 2025 Tournament, A-1 Vegas Volleyball Club Gold Medalists, 18s Premier Division