Volleyball is a complex game requiring specialized skills. The ball is spiked from up to 60 cm above the height of a basketball hoop (about 3.65 metres) and takes fractions of a second to travel from the spiker to the receiver. That means the receiver must assess incoming angle, decide where to pass the ball and then control their pass in the blink of an eye. A purely rebound sport (you can’t hold the ball), volleyball is a game of constant motion.

But volleyball is also a game that is accessible to many people of differing abilities. One can play and enjoy the game regardless of age or level of physical fitness. During the summer, games are usually played at 2pm on weekends and the regulars will happily show a new person how to play. During tournaments, one can join a novice team and even a new player has a chance to be on a winning team.

Rules are set/adjusted by the referee at the start of the game. If there is no referee, the convener may set/adjust the rules for each match.

A team can touch the ball three times on their side of the net but an individual player cannot touch the ball more than once in a row – except on a block when a player may contact the ball twice in a row. The usual pattern is a dig (an underarm pass made with the forearms), a set (an overhead pass made with the hands) and a spike (the overhead attacking shot).

The ball is served into play, either underhand or overhand, from behind the back line. A serve may hit the net as long as it goes over.

Team X gains a point if:

✔️ The ball touches the ground within Team Y’s boundary lines (touching the boundary line in any way is “in”)
✔️ Team Y serves into the net
✔️ Team Y send the ball outside of Team X’s boundaries
✔️ Team Y commits a violation (more than 3 hits, double hit, illegal hit, touching the net, etc…)

Teams can also try to block the opponent’s spike as it crosses the net. During a block, the defending team may contact the attacked ball in the opponent’s side of the net. A block into your own court counts as one of your three touches in beach volleyball, but not in hard-court volleyball.

There are six players per side on the court in a hard-court match, who each must rotate one position clockwise every time their team wins back service from the opposition. A Beach Volleyball team typically has two players. Our main tournament is 6 on 6 but there are often mini tournaments of 2 on 2 and 4 on 4.

Teams score a point on every rally (rally point system), regardless of which team served.

Matches are played best of three or five sets. Sets are played to either 15, 21 or 25 points as determined before the start by either the referee or the convener. A team must win a set by two points. There is no point cap, so a set continues until one of the teams gains a two-point advantage.

Game Uniform: All players must play nude. (all divisions, all levels, all ages) After all, this is a naturist park.