Beach Volleyball (FIVB) — Official Rules

Beach Volleyball is a sport played by two teams on a sand court divided by a net. Each team has three hits for returning the ball over the net, and — uniquely to beach volleyball — the block touch counts as one of those three team hits. A team wins a rally by landing the ball in the opponents' court or when the opponents commit a fault, under the Rally Point System: the team winning the rally scores a point, and when the receiving team wins a rally it also gains the right to serve.

A team is composed exclusively of two (2) players. Only the two players recorded on the score sheet have the right to participate in the match, and both players must always be in play. One of the players is designated team captain on the score sheet. There are no substitutions and no libero in beach volleyball, and there are no fixed court positions or rotational positional faults — players are free to position themselves anywhere within their court.

The playing court is a rectangle measuring 16 m long by 8 m wide, surrounded by a free zone of a minimum of 3 m wide on all sides. The free playing space above the court must be at least 7 m in height, free of all obstructions. For FIVB, World and Official Competitions, the free zone is 5 m to 6 m from the lines and the free playing space is a minimum of 12.5 m high. The court is symmetrical and the surface must be levelled sand; for FIVB events the sand is at least 40 cm deep of fine, loosely compacted grains.

Two side lines and two end lines mark the court; all lines are 5 cm wide and a colour contrasting with the sand. There is no centre line. Court lines are ribbons of resistant material, placed inside the court dimensions. The areas are limited to the playing court, the service zone and the surrounding free zone. The service zone is an 8 m wide area behind the end line (the full width of the court) that extends back to the edge of the free zone — the server may move freely anywhere within it.

The net is placed vertically over the middle of the court, with its top set at a height of 2.43 m for men and 2.24 m for women, measured from the centre of the court with a measuring rod. The height over the two side lines must be exactly equal and must not exceed the official height by more than 2 cm. Net heights may be lowered for age groups (e.g. 2.24 m for under-16, 2.12 m for under-14, 2.00 m for under-12).

The net is 8.5 m long and 1 m (+/- 3 cm) wide when hung taut, made of 10 cm square mesh. Two coloured side bands 5 cm wide and 1 m long are fastened vertically above each side line and are part of the net. An antenna is a flexible rod 1.80 m long and 10 mm in diameter fastened at the outer edge of each side band; its top 80 cm extends above the net with 10 cm contrasting (red/white) stripes. The antennae are part of the net and laterally delimit the crossing space through which the ball must pass to the opponents.

The ball is spherical, made of flexible water-resistant material (leather, synthetic leather or similar) with an inner bladder of rubber. It is a light uniform colour or combination of colours, with a circumference of 66 to 68 cm, a weight of 260 to 280 g, and an inside pressure of 0.175 to 0.225 kg/cm2 (171 to 221 mbar/hPa). All balls in a match must meet the same standards. For FIVB, World and Official Competitions a four-ball system is used, with six ball retrievers stationed around the court.

A team scores a point by landing the ball on the opponents' court, when the opponents commit a fault, or when the opponents receive a penalty. Under the Rally Point System a point is scored on every rally: if the serving team wins the rally it scores a point and serves again; if the receiving team wins the rally it scores a point and gains the right to serve. If two opponents commit faults simultaneously, a double fault is called and the rally is replayed.

A set (except the deciding 3rd set) is won by the team that first scores 21 points with a minimum lead of two (2) points; at 20-20 play continues until a two-point lead is achieved (22-20, 23-21, etc.). The match is won by the team that wins two sets (best of three). In the case of a 1-1 tie, the deciding 3rd set is played to 15 points, also with a minimum two-point lead. A new toss is conducted before the deciding set.

A team that refuses to play after being summoned, or fails to appear on court on time, is declared in default and forfeits the match 0-2, with each set scored 0-21. A team that becomes incomplete (a player is unable to continue and does not recover) loses the set or the match; the opponents are awarded the points and/or sets needed to win, while the incomplete team keeps the points and sets it already had.

Before the official warm-up, the 1st referee conducts a toss; the winner chooses either to serve/receive or which side of the court to take, and the loser takes the remaining option (choices reverse for the second set). The official warm-up at the net is 3 minutes (or 5 minutes if the teams had no prior practice court). Service order, set by the captain immediately after the toss, must be maintained throughout the set; when the receiving team gains the serve, its two players "rotate" so they alternate serving. There are no positional order faults.

The service puts the ball in play. The ball must be hit with one hand or any part of the arm after being tossed or released; only one toss or release is allowed. The server must hit the ball within 5 seconds after the 1st referee's whistle. At the moment of the hit (or take-off for a jump serve) the server must not touch the court, the end line, or the ground outside the 8 m service zone; after the hit he/she may land inside the court. A service executed before the whistle is cancelled and repeated.

Screening is forbidden: the serving player's partner must not, by waving arms, jumping or moving sideways, hide both the service hit AND the ball's flight path from the receivers until the ball crosses the net; no player of the serving team may raise hands above the head during service until the ball passes the net. After a correct hit, the service is a fault if the ball touches a serving-team player, fails to completely cross the net through the crossing space, goes "out", or passes over a screen. A service-order fault is also penalised with a point and service to the opponents.

Each team is entitled to a maximum of three (3) hits to return the ball over the net (a fourth is the "FOUR HITS" fault); these include unintentional contacts. A player may not hit the ball twice consecutively (a double contact fault), except as allowed for blocking and certain first-team-hit and hard-driven-ball actions. When two teammates touch the ball simultaneously, it counts as two hits; if both reach but only one touches, it is one hit, and a collision is not a fault. When two opponents touch the ball simultaneously over the net and it stays in play, the team receiving it is entitled to a new three hits.

The ball may touch any part of the body but must not be caught or thrown — it must rebound (a "CATCH" fault otherwise). On the first hit of the team the ball may contact the body consecutively in one action provided it is not played overhand with the fingers: if the first hit is an overhand finger action, the ball may NOT contact the fingers/hands consecutively. On a hard-driven ball played in defence, the contact may be momentarily extended even with overhand finger action. Assisted hits (taking support from a teammate or any structure to hit the ball) are not permitted.

All actions directing the ball towards the opponents, except the service and the block, are attack hits. Beach-specific attack faults include: completing an attack hit with an open-handed finger action (a "tip" / dink) or with finger tips that are not rigid and together; completing an attack on the opponent's service when the ball is entirely higher than the net; and completing an attack with an overhand pass (set) whose trajectory is not perpendicular to the line of the shoulders (except when setting to one's teammate). Hitting the ball within the opponents' space or hitting it "out" are also faults.

Blocking is the action of a player close to the net intercepting the ball coming from the opponent, with a part of the body higher than the top of the net at contact. The block contact counts as one of the team's three hits, leaving the blocking team only two more hits, and the first hit after the block may be made by any player including the blocker. Consecutive contacts during one blocking action (by one or more parts of the body) count as a single team hit. A blocker may reach beyond the net but must not touch the ball there before the opponent's attack hit, and blocking the opponent's service is forbidden.

The ball sent to the opponents must cross the net within the crossing space, bounded below by the net top, at the sides by the antennae (and their imaginary extension), and above by any structure. While crossing, the ball may touch the net. The ball is "in" if any part of it touches the court including the boundary lines, and "out" if it lands wholly outside the lines, touches the antennae/posts/net outside the side bands, or crosses the net plane outside the crossing space. A ball driven into the net may be recovered within the three team hits.

Contact with the net between the antennae during the action of playing the ball is a fault (the action of playing includes take-off, the hit or attempt, and landing). It is also a fault to touch the ball or an opponent in the opponents' space before or during their attack hit, to interfere while penetrating under the net into the opponents' space, or to use the net as a support. Touching the net outside the antennae, or having the ball driven into the net so that it touches an opponent, is not a fault. Penetrating into the opponents' court is allowed only if it does not interfere with their play.

The only regular game interruptions are time-outs; each team may request one (1) time-out per set, lasting 30 seconds, requested by the captain when the ball is out of play and before the whistle for service. For FIVB, World and Official Competitions, in sets 1 and 2 one additional 30-second "Technical Time-Out" is applied automatically when the sum of both teams' points equals 21. In the deciding 3rd set there is no Technical Time-Out; only the single 30-second time-out per team is available. There are no substitutions.

An improper action that defers resumption of play is a delay — for example prolonging a time-out, repeating an improper request, or exceeding the maximum 12 seconds from the end of a rally to the whistle for service. The first delay by a team in the match is sanctioned with a DELAY WARNING; the second and every subsequent delay by that team in the match is a DELAY PENALTY, awarding a point and service to the opponents. Delay sanctions are team sanctions that remain in force for the entire match.

An interval between sets lasts one (1) minute, during which court changes and service order are recorded; before a deciding set the referees conduct a new toss. To offset sun and wind, teams switch courts after every 7 points played in sets 1 and 2, and after every 5 points in the deciding set 3. Court switches must be made immediately without delay; if a switch is missed it is made as soon as the error is noticed, and the score remains unchanged.

On a serious accident while the ball is in play, the referee stops play immediately, allows medical assistance, and the rally is replayed. An injured or ill player is given a maximum of 5 minutes recovery time; if the player cannot resume at the end of that time, the team is declared incomplete. For external interference, play is stopped and the rally replayed. Interruptions totalling up to 4 hours are resumed with the score acquired; if they exceed 4 hours the whole match is replayed.

Minor misconduct is not subject to sanction. The 1st referee prevents teams from reaching the sanctioning level in two stages: Stage 1, a verbal warning through the captain; Stage 2, a YELLOW CARD to a team member. The yellow card is not itself a sanction but a formal symbol that the team member (and by extension the team) has reached the sanctioning level for the match; it is recorded on the score sheet with no immediate consequence (no point is awarded).

Misconduct is graded by seriousness: Penalty (RED card) for rude conduct — on each of the first two occasions in a set the team loses a point and service to the opponents, and a third rude conduct in the same set is sanctioned by expulsion. Expulsion (RED + YELLOW cards held together) for the first offensive conduct — the player leaves the playing area and the team is incomplete for the set. Disqualification (RED + YELLOW cards held separately) for any physical attack or threatened aggression — the player leaves the playing area and the team is incomplete for the match.

A match is controlled by a 1st referee (positioned on a stand at one end of the net, with full authority over the match) and a 2nd referee (on the opposite side, controlling time-outs, court switches, the scorers, and net/penetration faults primarily on the blocker's side). They are assisted by a scorer and assistant scorer, and by line judges who signal in/out and antenna/foot faults with flags. For FIVB, World and Official Competitions a challenge referee and a reserve referee are compulsory whenever the Video Challenge System is in use.

For FIVB, World and Official Competitions the Video Challenge System (VCS) lets teams request video review of eligible decisions (such as ball in/out, antenna, net touch, foot faults, and ball-handling/double-contact calls). Each team is given a maximum of two (2) challenges per set, requested by the captain. If a challenge is successful the team retains it; if it is unsuccessful the team loses that challenge. Where the video evidence is inconclusive, the referee's decision stands but the team does not lose its challenge.