The main aspects of the rules of beach volleyball appeared in 1930, and have changed little since then. 4 players play two-on-two on a sand court. The players' clothing is light: shorts, T-shirts, swimming trunks, bathing suits. Court size: 16 × 8. The court is covered with sand at least 40 cm deep. For beach volleyball, a bright colored ball is used a little more than usual: a volume of 66-68 cm.

Short story

The game of volleyball appeared in 1895 and was invented by William J. Morgan. William Morgan mixed elements of basketball, baseball, tennis and handball.

The first volleyball net was borrowed from tennis and was 197 cm (6’6″) high. A basketball chamber was used as a ball. Later, at the YMCA conference of young Christians, the game was given the name "volleyball", and in 1897 the first official rules appeared. In 1949, the first men's world championship was held, in which the USSR team took first place.

General rules

25 points are required to win. One point is awarded:

• When the ball touches the ground in the opponent's half of the court.
• In case of unsuccessful submission of the opponent (into the net, out of bounds).
• When an opposing player touches the net.
• When an opponent player steps into your half of the court.
• When stepping over the front line in the serve.
• When the ball is touched for the fourth time or more by the opposing team, or when the ball is touched twice by the same player.

In the official rules, the game is played in 2 games. Each game lasts up to 21 points. If both teams have 20 points each, the game continues until one of the teams has a 2-point advantage. For example, such a score could be 30:28 or 26:24. The third, decisive game lasts up to 15 points.

The game has a transition system. It works according to the following principle:

• Team 1 serves Team 2 the ball and the rally wins a point.
• The next submission is in progress. And so on until team 2 scores a point for team 1.
• The right to serve passes to team 2.
• Team 2 serves until team 1 scores.
• In this case, team 1 makes a transition: a pair of players change places.

Important nuance: the first time any command is given, no transition occurs!

Technical aspects

• Net height for men: 2.43 m. For women: 2.24 m.
• Site perimeter: 16 x 8 meters.
• The circumference of the volleyball is 66-68 cm, and the weight of the ball is 250-280 g.

Elements

Volleyball consists of the following elements: serve, receive, pass, strike, block.

Innings

Produced from behind the front line. In no case should you step over the front line until the ball is tossed! The serve is lower, upper, twisted, gliding and power in the jump. Lightest: bottom. Suitable for beginners. The ball in this case is beaten from below with the back of the hand. It turns out a kind of "candle". The most difficult: power in the jump. It is an element of an attacking strike, practiced by professionals or very good players. A good power supply can only be received from below.

Separately, there is a planning feed. Such a ball does not fly in a straight line, but along a sinusoid, slipping out of the hands when received. Served from the spot or from a small jump. Straight blow with outstretched palm to the center of the ball.

The serve must be in the opponent's field and as difficult as possible to take.

Reception

The ball can only be received by the lower reception. In beach volleyball, there is a very reverent attitude towards the overhead pass: it is allowed only with minimal rotation of the ball. Therefore, players always try to receive and pass with the bottom gear.

Pass

Having received the ball, the second player hangs a pass for a shot.

Forward kick

The attack is similar to the rules of classic volleyball. But with the difference that only one person participates in it, and there is no possibility of a discount. If there is a discount, then it should be a short pointy fist movement or a slap on the ball with the palm of your hand.

Block

Likewise with the classics. However, the so-called just often happens in the beach - when both players hold the ball over the net, trying to throw it to the opponent's side. If the ball rolls behind the antenna after the just, the serve is replayed.

Gestures

One of interesting features beach volleyball is to use signals to tell the partner what tactics of the game will be chosen. The signal is given behind the back by a player who is closer to the net during the service or just before blocking. Hands correspond to the sides of the attack - left hand for the attacker on the left, and the right one for the attacker on the right. Typically, one finger means line block, two fingers diagonal block, a fist means the player will not block, and an open hand means ball block. When serving, "blinking" the hand, i.e. alternating between clenching the hand into a fist and unclenching it, means that the blocker wants his or her partner to serve at the player on the corresponding side of the court.

In addition to hand signals, beach volleyball also uses voice prompts. The player remaining in defense can use them both for hinting to the partner and for informing the partner about his position. As a rule, these are line and diagonal signals, meaning blocking of the corresponding direction of impact. In addition, players can agree among themselves on other conditional signals.

Video for the lazy

Beach volleyball - olympic view sports, sports team game with a ball on a sandy area divided high mesh, the purpose of which is to direct the ball towards the opponent in such a way that it lands in the opponent's half or to cause an error on the part of a player of the opposing team.

The International Volleyball Federation (from the French Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, abbr. FIVB) is an international federation that unites 220 national federations. The headquarters is located in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

The history of the emergence and development of beach volleyball

Beach volleyball originated in the early 1920s on the beaches of California (USA). In 1927, beach volleyball was introduced to Europe, first in France and then in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Latvia.

The first official beach volleyball tournament was held in the United States in 1947, after which the game began to gain popularity and almost equaled surfing.

The California Beach Volleyball Association was formed in 1965 and developed the first beach volleyball rules. In 1983, the Association of Professional Volleyball Players (AVP) was formed.

In 1986 Beach volleyball received the status of an international sport, and in 1987, the first, not yet official, world championship was held in Rio de Janeiro. The first official championship was held only in 1997 in Los Angeles.

In 1996, beach volleyball made its debut on Olympic Games in Atlanta (USA).

Beach volleyball rules (briefly)

Consider briefly the rules of the game of beach volleyball. Immediately make a reservation that the rules in beach volleyball are the same for men and women. Teams in beach volleyball consist of two people, if one of the players is injured and cannot continue the game, then this team is considered defeated.

Teams play the serve in turn, with the first team serving until they forfeit the right to serve due to a loss of a point or an error. After the team plays the serve again, another player serves, etc.

A beach volleyball match consists of two games, the score of which goes up to 21 points. If the game reaches the third set, then the score is kept up to 15 points. To win in each of the games, a score difference of at least two points is required. Teams switch sides more often than in normal volleyball. Sides are changed after every seven points in the first two sets, and every five points in the third.

Rules for receiving the ball: in beach volleyball, the ball can be hit with any part of the body, but players of the same team can touch the ball no more than three times, after which they must return it to the side of the enemy.

Players receive warnings for rule violations or inappropriate behavior ( yellow card), remarks (red card), removal (red and yellow card at the same time, means defeat in the game) or disqualification (red and yellow card at the same time in different hands, means defeat in the match).

Beach volleyball court

The beach volleyball court measures 16 meters long and 8 meters wide. The site is covered with sand to a depth of at least 40 cm and is divided into two equal parts by a grid. The net in the men's beach volleyball is at a height of 2.43 meters, and in the women's at a height of 2.24 meters.

The marking of the volleyball court is carried out using 5 cm tapes, which are fastened with metal pegs or special wooden discs.

Outfit and equipment for beach volleyball

The beach volleyball is slightly larger than its classic counterpart (66-68 cm), and the pressure in it, on the contrary, is less. The ball must be brightly colored.

Beach volleyball equipment consists of shorts or bathing suits, without any shoes on the feet.

Refereeing

Refereeing in beach volleyball is carried out with the help of two main referees, one of whom (the first) ensures that technique during the game were performed in accordance with the rules. He can also correct the decisions of the second referee.

The second referee watches the play at the net and at middle line, as well as the behavior of coaches and substitutes, provides comprehensive assistance to the first referee. In addition to the main judges, there are line judges on the field.

All the strongest masters of beach volleyball have gathered these days on the Pacific coast in the US state of Florida. In Fort Lauderdale starts the first in this season stage of the World Series. Among the participants are five Russian couples, three of which will start fighting with group stage, and two will have to make their way through the qualifications.

Two "failures", not counting the "beachers". Results of the year in volleyball

Mistakes of mentors, the Olympic "drought", judicial lawlessness and new main ones - what happened in 2016 in volleyball.

Best Statistically

Almost six months have passed since we last time wrote about beach volleyball. These were my reports from Rio de Janeiro, where all three domestic duets performed above all praise, although they did not win awards. It is no coincidence that the reporting and election conference All-Russian Federation volleyball, and then the Supervisory Board of the WFV recognized the performance of Russian couples at the Olympics as worthy. In contrast to the teams in the classic version of the popular game, whose performance in Brazil did not satisfy anyone.

I already wrote about judicial lawlessness at Copacabana, when, to please the hosts, the Brazilian referees impudently, defying the rules and common sense, dragged the Italian couple into the final, which was more convenient for the Brazilian duet, - Konstantin Semyonov from Vyacheslav Krasilnikov the owners were frankly afraid.

Over the past six months, the FIVB has changed the system of holding the World Tour, distributing all tournaments into categories, like hotels.

But he did not write that in almost all technical indicators, our “beach players” were indeed among the best - either the first or in the top three in almost all positions. The same Krasilnikov was recognized as the best defender, and in a pair this duo was the second. In team attack Nikita Lyamin And Dmitry Barsuk- the first, our other couple - the 6th. And according to individual indicators, Lyamin is 3rd. In the command block, Semyonov and Krasilnikov are second, and Semyonov is second in the individual standings. In the team service, our first duet is in 3rd position, and Semyonov is second in the individual standings and the first among the servers in terms of speed - 102 km / h. Nice numbers, right?

Wind from the Atlantic in their sails

Can't believe it's the best Russian couple in beach volleyball will beat the former world champions. But they were close to it.

Star categories

Over the past six months, the FIVB has changed the system of holding the World Tour, distributing all tournaments into categories, like hotels: a five-star competition (Fort Lauderdale, Rome, Porec, Gstaad and Hamburg) is the most significant with the largest prize fund, three four-star (Rio de Janeiro, Lucerne and Olsztyn), four tournaments marked with three stars, including Moscow (May 29 - June 4). In addition, the 2017 calendar includes the World Championship in Vienna from July 28 to August 6 and the European Championship in Jurmala from August 16 to 20.

Immediately after Florida, the men will go to Iran for Kish Island. And then there will be almost a two-month break. Strange, agree. And the next big one international competition will be held only at the end of April in the Chinese city of Xiamen. The last starts of the international season will take place in mid-October in China and Thailand.

Main coach Russian men Vyacheslav Nirka united Vyacheslav Krasilnikov and Nikita Lyamin into one duet.

As for domestic competitions, this time there are more of them, and the geography of tournaments has become wider: Lipetsk, Ryazan, Kazan, Samara, Kaliningrad, Anapa, Sochi…

Nirka: you really understand the Olympics only from the second time

The head coach of the Russian "beach players" Vyacheslav Nirka summed up the first results of the performance of his wards at the Olympics.

Faces are familiar, couples are new

Well, now about those who start the season in Florida today. All these are well-known masters of sand games, Olympic champions and prize-winners of different years, multiple winners of the World Tour tournaments. And they start the competition not from scratch, but with the points already available in the asset for previous merits.

The first in this list are well-known Latvians from repeated performances on the sand in Anapa, Sochi and Moscow. Janis Smedins And Alexander Samoilov with 3940 points. Brazilian duet Alison And Bruno Schmidt(3780) and Americans Phil Dahlhausser And Nicholas Lucena (3720).

Agree, and really cool and eminent. Moreover, which happens not so often, all the first numbers have kept their duets in the same form as in the previous season. The notorious Italians did not change themselves either. Paolo Nicolai And Daniele Lupo(2740) - ninth position.

There are two domestic couples in the main draw of the first tournament. After Barsuk completed his performances and decided to try himself in classical volleyball Semyonov, Main coach Russian men Vyacheslav Nirka united Krasilnikov and Lyamin in one duet (2200). Today it is our really strongest couple. They are in 14th position. The first Olympic champions among youth in Nanjing are quite a bit inferior to their compatriots Oleg Stoyanovskiy And Artyom Yarzutkin (2170).

Of the 24 pairs included in the main draw at the end of last year, only one Russian duet - Anastasia Barsuk -.

Among the participants of the first tournament, I did not see only the Dutch, who, it seems, decided not to “shine” ahead of time. Our youth couple will break through the qualification to the main draw Maxim Sivolap And Igor Velichko, who won one of the tournaments of the Eastern European Volleyball Association last summer. They have only 816 points, and this is their first performance at a tournament of such a high rank. There is also a list of reservists, the first in which are Grigory Goncharov And Ruslan Bykanov. They will qualify if one of the participants withdraws from the competition.

In the women's part of the tournament, again, there are many well-known names. No only German Laura Ludwig, Olympic champion paired with Kiroy Walkenhorst. The latter has a new partner today - Julia Grossner. Of the 24 pairs included in the main draw at the end of last year, only one Russian duet - Anastasia Barsuk- , which looked good on the eve of the Olympic Games and managed to earn 1519 points in this way.

Not thick compared to the leaders - Americans April Ross And Kerry Walsh with 4180 points. But even this was enough for our girls to get into the number of “chosen ones” with 22nd indicator out of 24 selected by points. However, they have good chances to qualify and be in the main draw with Nadezhda Makroguzova (1418).

The French still like to talk about the fact that it was on the nudist beaches of the Cote d'Azur that they first began to throw the ball over the net. But everything happened differently. Such a sport as beach volleyball could only be invented by the Americans. Why? Because in many ways it is an ideal sport discipline. Team excitement, spectacular battles on the sand and, of course, beauty human body in all its original nature. It was the Americans who lobbied for the inclusion of beach volleyball in the official program of the Games (naturally, this happened in the USA, at the Atlanta Olympics), and today athletes from the New World top the lists of the most titled and richest "beach players" on the planet.

Thanks swimmers

If legends are to be believed, the founding father of beach volleyball was Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku, a legendary figure in many ways - a real "man band": a three-time Olympic swimming champion (1912 and 1920), a member of the US water polo team and one of the first surfers in the history of world sports. Despite the sincere love for sea ​​element, at some point he was still tired of swimming and wanted to sports entertainment on the land. To find beach activity Duke and his friends were helped by one of the leaders of the Outrigger Beach & Canoe Club, the famous swimming coach George David Center. In 1915, for fun, he bought some volleyballs and nets and, with the help of Kahanamoku and his friends, adapted the indoor game to beach conditions. The venue for the debut (and, of course, friendly in every sense) match is considered to be Duke's native Waikiki beach in Honolulu (Hawaii). The first fights were held, however, in the classic format - six to six.

In the early 1920s, following Kahanamoku, a new version of volleyball moved to California, to the beaches of Santa Monica. At that time, Duke competed in swimming and water polo for the teams of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, popularized surfing, starred in Hollywood films, but did not forget about the ball game. Moreover, “sand” volleyball quickly conquered the Californians, and in 1922 several beach clubs already existed in Santa Monica. It is quite natural that very soon their members wanted to measure their strength and identify the best of the best. So in 1924, the first ever beach volleyball tournament was held in California.

Of course, at that historical championship, the competitions were held according to traditional rules. The case helped to reduce the quantitative composition and forever change the face of this sport. And the resourcefulness of Paul Pablo Johnson, one of the best classic volleyball players of his time. On a lovely summer day in 1930, Pablo wanted to play ball with his friends on Santa Monica Beach. One problem - there were only three friends: Charles Conn, Bill Brothers and John Allen. There was a shortage. Johnson decided not to give up and persuaded his friends to split two by two and play a full match on one quarter of the usual site. We tried it - we liked it, but it seemed that there was not enough space, and high growth Johnson gave him too much of an advantage. As a result, they decided to play all over the court, and it quickly became clear that in this case, small but nimble volleyball players compensate for their lack of growth with rapid movements.

Pablo Johnson and Bill Brothers still won that debut match, and the pleasure from the process received by the whole quartet turned out to be so great that the guys decided to play two on two since then. Gradually, the advantage of the new format was appreciated by other "beachers". And Johnson, apparently as a reward for ingenuity, became one of the best players in history. With various partners, he performed at the highest level until the age of 63, but he won one of his first big victories (in the championship of the athletic club in Santa Monica) in 1931, along with Clarence Crabbe, another (like Kahanamoku) world swimming legend . A year later, Crabbe won Olympic gold at a distance of 400 meters freestyle, at the same time becoming the author of a whole series of world records at six different distances, and not without success competed with the great Johnny Weissmuller for the title of the first actor among swimmers.

Hit the spot with the bikini

Surprisingly, it is a fact: the first commercial beach volleyball tournaments were not held by the Americans. While in the USA the winners were awarded with cups, prizes and even boxes of Pepsi, in Europe they began to compete for sponsors' money. Already in the early 1960s in France, the prize fund of beach volleyball tournaments reached 30 thousand francs, which at that time was quite a decent amount. The first commercial tournament on the beaches of California took place only in 1974, and the winners could only count on $1,500. However, two years later, the prize fund of the Californian competitions increased to 5 thousand, and more than 30 thousand spectators gathered to watch the sand battles. And off we go! In 1980, a series of seven tournaments was launched with a total prize pool of $50,000. As a result, rapidly developing species took sports under its wing International Federation volleyball (FIVB), which in 1987 held the first (not yet official) championship of the planet in Rio de Janeiro. Beach volleyball was on TV more and more, audiences swarmed over it, and top players (like Karch Kiraj and Sinjin Smith) became world stars.

In 1989, the first official international beach volleyball tour, now known as World Series. It started with three championships in Brazil, Japan and Italy, but quickly gained momentum. So when in February 1993, then IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch visited the World Series final in Rio, he was shown the product in person. The wild popularity of beach-volley, its dynamism, 140 thousand viewers per week and, most importantly, the support of the National Olympic Committee The United States decided the matter - on September 24, 1993, at the IOC session in Monte Carlo, this discipline was included in the official program of the Games in Atlanta.

The first Olympic champions in the new sport were Americans Karch Kiraly - Kent Steffes (among men) and Brazilians Jacqueline Silva - Sandra Pires (among women). Particularly indicative here was the medal of Karch Kiraj, to whom beach volleyball, in fact, extended sports career up to 46 years old and allowed him to become a three-time winner of the Games. Today, this American is the only volleyball player in the world who managed to win Olympic gold both in the classic version (1984, 1988) and in the beach version (1996). But the main thing is that, having become a "beach man", Kirai became a real superstar and earned more than three million dollars in prize money.

In the last decade, the income of beach volleyball players has become more and more impressive. So, in the 2008 season, the total prize pool of the Swatch FIVB Beach Volley World Tour series, which includes 20 men's and 19 women's tournaments worldwide, amounted to more than 8 million dollars. And there are also structures competing with the FIVB - for example, the Association of Professional Volleyball Players (AVP), which is also popular in the USA, also does not skimp on the prize money. Moreover, men and women in this sport are paid exactly the same. “Fortunately, there is no financial discrimination in our discipline. Although over the four years that I have been playing in the World Series, the prize money in the championships has not grown, and a couple of years ago it even fell a little, ”said “ big sport» Champion of Europe-2006 Alexandra Shiryaeva.

It is possible that the innovative methods of FIVB President Ruben Acosta, who in 1999 introduced a mandatory uniform for beach volleyball - a bikini for women and a T-shirt with short shorts for men. Thus, the head of the FIVB, without any hesitation, took and put on display the beautiful, tanned bodies of the athletes. The audience immediately liked the innovation - the TV ratings instantly went up. But some volleyball players took Acosta's initiative with hostility. Australian Natalie Cook was especially persistent, complaining about a banal inconvenience - they say, in cool weather on the beach it is very easy to freeze and catch a cold. Some representatives of Muslim countries rested on the shameful, inappropriate appearance of such a form and removed their participants from the competition. However, over time, the protests have dwindled. “In fact, there is not much difference in which swimsuit to play - closed or open. The introduced form standard looks impressive from the point of view of television. Personally, I'm sure almost all volleyball players are happy. So, in my opinion, Acosta was absolutely right,” Aleksandra Shiryaeva admits today.

America will help us

And the 2006 European champion knows what she is talking about - over the past few years, paired with Natalia Uryadova, she has become the face of Russian beach volleyball in the world. True, at least in the next few months, Shiryaeva is not going to play on the sand - she decided to take a break from her career for family reasons. But he promises to return to big sport.

Another famous Russian duo - Dmitry Barsuk and Igor Kolodinsky - won silver at the 2007 World Championships. And although the Russians have not yet won a single medal at the Olympic Games (in Beijing, the Americans collected all the gold), it is still impossible to say that today we are on the sidelines of beach volleyball. Moreover, this sport began to be cultivated in the country relatively long ago - the first official competitions took place in the USSR in 1986. Three years later, the Soviet "beachmen" made their debut on the international arena, in 1993 the first awards of the Russian championship were played.

In recent years, major competitions have been held in Russia quite often - from 2005 to 2007, the World Series stage was held in St. one thousand dollars. Today the Russian capital claims to host the 2011 World Cup, and this year in Sochi the championship will take place Old World. However, Russian beach volleyball has more than enough problems so far.

“I don’t argue, in terms of holding competitions high level we have made a huge step forward, but if we talk about infrastructure, it is not only lagging behind, it is missing in Russia as a class! Only this year, Natalya Uryadova in the Moscow region began to train at the indoor stadium for beach volleyball, but before that it was impossible. Unlike the same Norway, we have practically no conditions for training indoors, we simply do not have special halls for beach volleyball. In past years, except for the 2008 Olympics, we went to pre-season training camps in Turkey or Egypt, sometimes we had to start training only in March-April, and this is unacceptably late. I sincerely hope that the conditions for training will change soon,” Alexandra Shiryaeva complained to us.

And, apparently, the conditions today really have a chance to get better. At least for the first team. Appointed in February 2009 as head coach national team American Dane Selznick promised to hold training camps for the strongest couples in California in the near future and organize sparring sessions with the best American "beach players", including Olympic champions. Achievement list Selznick, 52, is impressive. His favorite students were Beijing champions Kerry Walsh and Misty May-Trainor, and before the Russian national team, he worked with the Chinese and was able to take them to a new level - Selznick's wards won silver and bronze at the home Olympics. Now the American wizard will cut Russian "beach diamonds". I really want to believe that he will succeed.

Five facts about beach volleyball

1. According to the modern regulations, "beach players" play on a 16x8 meter area divided into two equal parts. Covering - sand with a depth of at least 40 centimeters. The height of the net is the same as in the "classic" - 243 cm for men and 224 cm for women. All participants play barefoot. The winner of the match is the pair that wins two games. The first two sets are held up to 21, the decisive one is up to 15 points. As in indoor volleyball, each game is played up to a difference of two points.

2. Considering the fact that beach volleyball is played outdoors, on loose, uneven surfaces and often in conditions of high temperature (20-30°C and above), with bright sun and strong wind, it is only natural that players in this sport experience significantly greater physical and stress loads than in classical volleyball.

3. The FIVB rules prohibit holding classic volleyball competitions at a temperature in the hall above +25 and below +16 ° C, but such restrictions are not provided for the beach.

4. In one hour of playing time, a high-class “beachman” performs an average of 85 jumps, 234 starts and runs about 772 meters, that is, he jumps every 42 seconds and starts running every 15.4 seconds, overcoming an average of 3.3 meters in one acceleration. Meanwhile, in classic volleyball, a player performs a jump every minute and makes a dash every 19 seconds.

5. For two years now, Russian Igor Kolodinsky has held the world record for feed speed: in 2007 it was 110 km / h, and in 2008 - 114 km / h.

Why SWATCH beach volleyball

The Swiss watchmaker has become title sponsor World Series of Beach Volleyball Tournaments back in 2003. Five years later, in 2008, Swatch and FIVB extended their relationship until 2012. As Klaus Peter Mager, Head of PR & Events at Swatch, stressed at the signing of the new contract, “Nowhere else do sports and entertainment come together as fully as in beach volleyball. That is why we consider whiplash to be the ideal discipline to promote the Swatch brand.”