The Coaches Car Ride Home
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The Coaches Car Ride Home
Episode 6 - The Coaches Car Ride Home
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Welcome to The Coach’s Car Ride Home !
In this episode of The Coach’s Car Ride Home, my dad and I talk about the rules of the game and some tips for understanding the sport better.
Whether you're new to volleyball or already love the game, this is a fun conversation about one of the most exciting sports out there.
Subscribe for more car ride conversations and comment topics below of what you want to hear about.
Welcome back, episode six of the coach's car ride home.
SPEAKER_01We're in the car again.
SPEAKER_00We're in the car. We are on the way to and from practice this evening. Um it is Tuesday, and we are here to deliver an episode. So thank you for listening. Thanks for tuning in. Um I'm your host, Lauren.
SPEAKER_01I'm Coach Paul.
SPEAKER_00And here we go.
SPEAKER_01Today we're gonna talk about rules.
SPEAKER_00Yes. I just want to say thank you for last week and our guest John Broadner.
SPEAKER_01John was great.
SPEAKER_00John was great, and he had a lot of cool things to say. So if you didn't catch it, go ahead and listen to that episode up below. Um but yes, today we are gonna go over all the rules. So just volleyball rules in general. I think it's a good reminder. The rules are always changing, and so we can go over some of those.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they come out with a new rule book every couple of years. Uh thankfully it's online now, so it's easy to access and everybody can can see it. And they do put out rule changes whenever they're gonna change the rules so you can see just the things that have changed and not have to read the whole book again. But it's always a good time to read all the rules and catch back up.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it's it's nice when you're caught up on all the rules and they change and you know you can help each other out and kind of just know everything that's going on.
SPEAKER_01So I always try to discuss the new rule changes with refs early in the season before a game or a tournament, just to make sure I'm interpreting it right and to make sure that they have been schooled in it, and they usually are because they have these ref meetings and classes and things before the tournament where they all get together and discuss the new rules and how they're gonna rule on things and how everything's gonna be handled on the court so that everybody's on the same page.
SPEAKER_00Yep. Yeah, I'm sure they have trainings and long meetings every time there's a new rule so that everybody's on the same page. So um, but yeah, let's just jump right in. So let's talk about the double rule first. I think that one's kind of very confusing for I love the new change though. Um but they changed it this season. They changed they're not calling doubles anymore. So a double is double contact. And the the most time that you see a double call is when the setter is setting the ball, right? Because they have two hands, they can contact the ball at a different time. Um and so we used to see this call a lot when the setter would set the ball and it'd come out super spinny and they would have two hands at the different times touching the volleyball. Um so they took that rule away. Now, they didn't completely take it away.
SPEAKER_01No, because there still will call a double if you set the ball with two hands over the net and you spin it or make a double contact. But if you set the ball with two hands and it stays on your side of the court, either the first contact or second contact, totally legal. Um, anything can happen to it after that. I love this new rule because it just takes away all of those problem calls, right? There was a judgment call basically. So parents would be screaming, coaches are putting up two fingers, everybody's arguing about well, you called that one and you didn't call this one, so this just takes all that away. Right. Now, we're still gonna argue about when we set it over the net and they don't call in a call it, but it's 95% better than it was before.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, definitely. I think it was a lot of judgment, and we would get, you know, different refs who were more strict or less strict, and this kind of just eliminated all of that because we would have a really be, you know, be having a really good day, and our setter maybe had one or two doubles in a game or less than that, and then we would go to a second game and there would be five, and we would be, you know, that would really affect with our setters and setters how to work setters how to work tremendous amount of times on getting the ball to come out clean and not doubling.
SPEAKER_01Right. Now they can spend that training time on other things to become better setters.
SPEAKER_00Right, and a lot about location, right? If you're not worried about doubling it, you can now worry more about getting the ball to the exact spot it needs to be. So we definitely love this rule.
SPEAKER_01Um again, so the double rule if it's amazing how fast we've adapted to it too. Yeah. Like the first, you know, match or two, we're like, oh that's a double, oh that's a double, but then you right away we've changed and now everything's you know just flying by.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah, so parents, if you're watching and you're wondering what the double the double hand signal is, right? So the the referee will blow the whistle and they will hold two fingers up in the air. Um, and that is a double call. Anybody can double contact. It could be, it doesn't have to be a handset either, right? It could hit somebody's arm and then face, and that's a double contact. It sometimes they call it if there's a blocker up at the net and they block the ball and then they play the ball low. Um if it's not a blocking motion, now that's in a whole different rule that we love to argue a lot. Um so if they you know reach back for a tip and then turn around and pass the ball, that's also a double contact. So you'll see that that call a lot. Um of that, the four contact rule. Now this one's very self-explanatory. One, two, three, the third ball has to go over the net. Um, you get the fourth contact if there's four contacts. Now it can get a little dicey if somebody miscounts or the blocking rule comes into play, or something like that.
SPEAKER_01The block is generally a block is not counted as a contact. Correct. So after the ball goes off the hands, then you have three remaining contacts. Unless, of course, you're playing beach, right? Where the first contact in beach, if it's a block contact, counts. So then you have to get the ball over in basically two. Um otherwise, pretty pretty straightforward four contacts. A lot of times you see the four contact, which is four fingers up in the air, when a team hits the ball into the net and it doesn't hit the blocker or get blocked coming back and it comes straight back onto their court, then somebody else touches it, that's four contacts.
SPEAKER_00Right. So the way that wouldn't be four contacts is if the blocker from the opposite team does touch the ball, um, and then it comes back on your team, and now you are covering because then your three count starts over.
SPEAKER_01This is also a judgment call because the R1 or R2 has to see that the blocker contacted the ball, and also a lot of them in their judgment, they'll even if the blocker touched the ball, the ball wasn't gonna come over the net, they'll call it four contacts.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um I'll have to look that rule up in the rule book because I don't know exactly what it is, but uh it happens all the time.
SPEAKER_00Alright, and so our next rule um is the under the net rule. This one also changes all the time. It also changes from high school to club to college. Yeah. It's never the same.
SPEAKER_01That's another good point. A lot of these rules, we're talking basically about USAB in your rules. But there's a whole different set of rules for high school, a whole different set of rules for college, a whole different set of rules for beach. So you have to kind of be aware of the ones that are different. Most of them are the same, but a few of them are different. And this is under the net rule. They changed a few years ago. Um, I think for the better, but it's still misinterpreted by a lot of people. Like the current rule says that in order to be a fault, the player's foot has to go completely over the center line and interfere or cause uh a hazard to the players on the other court. So by the definition of the rule, it's legal for your foot like a setter's running up to the net for a tight ball, and their foot goes over the line into the other side. If nobody's there that can get injured or trip on it, they should continue. Um sometimes they'll call it just because they went under the net.
SPEAKER_00Sometimes they run into the net too. Sometimes they yeah, they call it under, and that is something that's appropriate to argue because if they're not in the play, you know, typically there's a middle trying to block the ball and they are in play, and that's what it gets called.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, a lot of times it's if there's close contact, there's people around. Now, the interesting part of the rule is, and this happened to us in the last tournament, if you go under the net head first and your feet stay on your side of the court, it's not a fault.
SPEAKER_00Yes, unless you touch somebody.
SPEAKER_01Unless you touch them. It's really funny to see a player slide out of the court. Their feet are still on your side, they get back up and they come back into play.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, their entire body's on the other side and their tippy toes are just on the other side and they scoot themselves back.
SPEAKER_01That's always we had it happen to us in the last tournament. Yeah, and they they stopped play.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And we argued that it was not a fault because her feet were on the other side of the line. Yeah. The ref overruled or ruled that it was a hazard to play, and in his judgment, he was calling it, and there was no talking him out of it. So we lost that point.
SPEAKER_00We did lose that point. But we tried to argue the rule because again, we like the rules and we know the rules. So um, but yeah, so that's another one.
SPEAKER_01The other rule that changed this year, which we absolutely love, is 15 subs.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01Used to be able to have 12 subs, now we're allowed to have 15 subs.
SPEAKER_00Which I think this makes it equal across the board, if I'm not mistaken, between college and high school as well. I believe it's always been 15.
SPEAKER_01That was it 15 in college? I don't know.
SPEAKER_00I think so. I believe so. So I think this makes it kind of the same throughout.
SPEAKER_01That's great for us.
SPEAKER_00It's a great rule, especially if you have more than 11 players on a team. You're gonna if it's a back and forth game and you're making a bunch of substitutions, you will run out. We ran out many times last year.
SPEAKER_01Um it also affected the end of a lot of games last year because we're getting down to one or two subs left. We gotta decide who's gonna stay on the court and who's gonna come off, and we don't have our prime rotation that we wanna run. Right. Now, just those three extra subs this year, we've made it through almost every game. I think every game without a substitute without having an issue.
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm. Definitely. So that's that's a good one. And again, substitutions, if you don't know what a substitution is, it's when the girls go in and out for each other. So you can only substitute for that player. So say I'm number five and Coach Paul is number six, and Coach Paul is coming in for me, number five, and then we switch back, and I'm back in the game and he's back on the bench. Coach Paul cannot now go in for number four, he can only come in for me.
SPEAKER_01So you can have multiple players sub into the same position in the rotation, so somebody else can sub into that position as well.
SPEAKER_00As long as they haven't been in the game yet, yep. So that's how substitutions work.
SPEAKER_01Um except for the libero or libro, who substitutes at will for any back row player, um, they just have to go in for that player, tap them, and they they head back out.
SPEAKER_00Yep, so that's that's a um a free substitution, as we could probably call it.
SPEAKER_01It doesn't count against our 15.
SPEAKER_00Yep, they go in and out, but the libero does have their own rules. So if the libero comes in for me, before the libero goes in for coach Paul, she needs to go out for one point and then can come back in for coach Paul.
SPEAKER_01Unless she's going back to subbing into the serve spot, then she can go straight from whatever position she is on the court to the service spot in the rotation, but she can only do that once and she can only do it in that one service rotation. Yep. Um the libero can't serve in more than one service rotation spot in the game. So if she's serving for middle number one, when middle number two's turn comes around, she can't serve for her, so middle number two is gonna have to serve at that point.
SPEAKER_00Yep, so that's why you typically see one middle serving or um you know a DS subbing in for the middle to make the service spot. Um, but the Libero does, and you'll see this, you know, the middles go switch, they switch in and out, and they don't have to use a substitution either. So you'll see your middle switch and your libero go back to serve, and that's the legal substitution where the libero is now back again in one. Um, you know, like a I like to call it an all-time player, right? Because they just they went one, two, three, and then they went back to one. Um and this just keeps your passer in the game. Um, but yeah, that's the libero.
SPEAKER_01Some teams run two liberos. If they have two liberos, they can sub in and out for each other or they can sub in and out for the player that they're replacing on the court. Um, it does happen if they're in for a player, uh that that player has to come back in and sub out if they want to come sub out for a different player.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes, which gets a little confusing. That is a little confusing in itself.
SPEAKER_01We don't have that problem, we don't run to liberos, at least not at this point in the season, but who knows?
SPEAKER_00Yes, you'll see some teams that have liberos switching with each other too, which is it's fine. Oh, and the libero, the libero can't go into the front row, right? That's something that a lot of teams know. But if you are new to volleyball or you don't know a lot of volleyball, the libero does not go in the front row.
SPEAKER_01Not permitted.
SPEAKER_00They are a back row player only, um, and that is why they're the free substitution because they can go in and out freely. Let's talk about who can be libero and how you can't switch libero in between sets. Talk to that, talk about that because that changes all the time too.
SPEAKER_01Well, so it used to be that in the first set you had to declare who your liberos were for the game, for the match. And if you put two liberos on there, you ran two liberos in the first set. Then in the second set, you could run those two liberos or one of those two liberos, but you couldn't bring a different libero into the game. This is the old rule. Now the new rule, they pretty much eliminated all of that, and now you can pretty much do whatever you want. Anyone that can be the libero in any set, you can have two and then one and then two, and different players. Different players. It's like a free-for-all now, which is kind of good too, because it used to get really weird. Right. You know, keeping track of who's been in and who wasn't, and are you allowed to do this and that? So they've just kind of simplified it and made it a little bit easier.
SPEAKER_00Which you'll see too, you know, them switching jerseys really quick on the sideline is probably because they're switching their liberos around, um, because that libero wears a different color jersey and all of those things. So that's that. Um, but let's talk about net violations. Oh, let's talk about foot faults first. Oh, footface. Foot faults is a funny one because um you see it a lot at the younger ages, but you still see it at the older ages, too. Um so the footfall, you'll see that's when the player is back to serve. Um and they foot fault over the line. So the end line, it's just like think about the center line. If they if any part of their foot crosses over that line, it's just like before that they make contact or as they're making contact with the ball. Um now if they're doing a jump serve and they jump behind the line and they land in front of the line, that's okay. As long as they contacted the ball, um, as long as they took off behind the line.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00Um, and you'll see the line judges, their their job is to watch this foot fault.
SPEAKER_01And the signal is they point to the line.
SPEAKER_00They point to the line and they wave their flag in the air, and that lets the up referee know that there was a foot fault and they stepped up.
SPEAKER_01And it's very similar to the rule on the 10-foot line. So a back row player is allowed to attack from the back row as long as they take off behind the 10-foot line. They can land in front of it, they can contact the ball in front of it as long as they're in the air from behind the line, except for the libero. The libero cannot attack from the back row at or above the height of the net. So if the libero stands and hits and they're short enough, then the ball's not above the above the the lowest part of the net. That's illegal attack it. If the libero jumps and hits the ball, and the in the judgment of the R1, the ball is above the plane of the net, that's a fault if their foot was on or in front of the line.
SPEAKER_00Yep, and you'll see that motion is usually this motion here, and that's again.
SPEAKER_01Back row, illegal back row attack. And then there's also the other hand signal that you'll see the ref do where it's an illegal block. So tell us what that one is.
SPEAKER_00So that one's um also similar. That's when the back row player, it could be any one of the three back row players, they are jumping over the plane of the net and reaching the ball to play either back or to hit it over. You're so you're again your back row cannot jump and break the plane of the net in front of the 10-foot line. So you'll see this a lot with setters. If they're going up to save, say an overpass and they reach over the plane in the net to pull the ball back. But if the ball the blocker on the other team touches it, it's typically that back row attack. If they make contact with another player on the other team.
SPEAKER_01Right, it's only illegal if the ball contacts someone from the other side, otherwise it didn't go over. Unless, of course, they touch it and it goes over, then it's an illegal back row attack.
SPEAKER_00Yep, so if your setter's up above the plane and they dump it over and they're a back row player, it's also a back row.
SPEAKER_01But if your setter's in the front row, which if you're running a 5-1 and your setter plays three positions in the front row, they're allowed to attack over the net, they're allowed to block because they're a front row player at that point.
SPEAKER_00Yep, so you'll see the difference, and you might be confused why did she get called on that two points ago, but she's allowed to do it now is because she probably rotated into the front row.
SPEAKER_01And it's hard to track. You have to be paying attention to know if that setter's in the front row or the back row, and it's we actually assign that job to our front row players, middle specifically, to keep an eye on where that setter is and to let the other players on the court know if that setter's front row or back row, because if they're front row, they're a danger to jump up and hit, and we have to block them. If they're back row, they're not a danger to jump up and hit. So we want to block the actual hitters.
SPEAKER_00Yep. Alright, well, let's talk about some net calls then. Um, one of our favorite ones, or also could probably be confusing, is the antenna call. Um, so that's another one where your line judgeons, that's part of their job, is to watch the antenna. If the ball comes in contact with the antenna, they point and they wave their flag in the ball.
SPEAKER_01If it touches the antenna or anything left of the antenna, or even the antenna as it goes through the net, it's out. It's out. It's just like if it bounced out of bounds.
SPEAKER_00Yep. So if the ball hits the net on the left side of that antenna, or the right side if you're on the other side of the pin, um, on the outside of the antenna, it's considered out. And so that's the line judge's job to watch this.
SPEAKER_01It's also out if it travels over the antenna.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_01So if the ball went off the court and the player's trying to save it, and they bring it back over the top of the antenna onto the court, in the line judge's opinion that it went over the antenna, it's out.
SPEAKER_00Which is a really hard call to make because that antenna is like probably this thick, and so if you're watching the ball go up and over, but it's also a group call.
SPEAKER_01It's yeah, it's the line judge, it's the R2, it's the R1. Everybody's involved in kind of making the judgment call on that. And interestingly enough, talking about net violations. If a player contacts the net in bounds, it's a violation. Right. But if a player contacts the net out of bounds, like on the outside of the antenna, it's not a net violation. So if you go running off the court, crash into the net, and you're outside the antenna, play continues.
SPEAKER_00Yep, yep, it's not a net violation. So there is a lot of rules with volleyball. We're not even completely done. Um, so the next one at the net is going to be in the net. I think this one's very self-explanatory. Um, this is gonna be a blocker, a player, a hand, anything. Um, they don't call hair though. They do a really good job. If you land and you whip your head around and your hair hits, they won't call it.
SPEAKER_01They generally don't call uniform either, like if your uniform swings out and brushes the net, but if your body contact contacts the net, then it's a net violation.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so that's the net violation.
SPEAKER_01We're pulling into the parking lot for practice.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and there's a lot going on.
SPEAKER_01A lot of cars here. Another rule is don't be late for practice.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, coach's favorite rule: don't be late for practice.
SPEAKER_01As we're pulling in two minutes before practice, finishing this episode. Oh yeah, there's a spot. Alright, we're here at practice. Made it a quick episode, short tweet about the rules. If you have any questions about rules, um give us a buzz, let us know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Or if there's one we forgot to go over that you want to hear about.
SPEAKER_01Or if we were wrong, correct us. Yeah, we've been known to be wrong before.
SPEAKER_00Um, but yeah, just comment and like the video, share with your friends, share with your parent friends who are like, what are all these hand singles and what are all those calls?
SPEAKER_01And if you're really a volleyball geek, go online and read the entire rule book.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, definitely. So we are excited for this week. Um, we are getting ready for our next qualifier. So next week will be exciting, and in the upcoming weeks, I think we're gonna talk a little bit about recruiting.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, we're in recruiting season, so we're gonna start talking about that. We can hopefully have some special guests on, some college coaches and some folks who are heavily involved in recruiting and how it all works.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so stay tuned, and uh we appreciate you guys. Have a great week.