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8 Volleyball Serve Rules on The Toss and When and Where You Can Serve

Learn the rules of serving along with the most common fouls and service faults committed in competition.

8 Volleyball Serve Rules On The Toss and When and Where You Can Serve: Improve your volleyball with knowledge of these volleyball serve rules.(Shots by Shanty)

According to the volleyball serving rules each rally begins with the serve.

This makes the serve the first opportunity for a player to score a point.

Long-time private client Syd Wilkes in high school working on her float serve with me.

Years later after graduating and attending Seattle University Syd is now playing for Niagara University and still comes to train with me during the summer to prep for each college season

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A post shared by Niagara University Volleyball (@niagaravb)

Volleyball Serve Rules About The Toss

When you look at my players you'll see (or should see) that all of them have the same serving form and technique. (Shots by Shanty)

When you look at my players you'll see (or should see) that all of them have the same serving form and technique. We work hard on -

keeping the elbow close to the ear
watching their hand when they contact the ball
watch how their hips are facing where they want to serve the ball (we were working on serving line to zone 5)
all of them are or will contact the ball at the same spot on the ball, so the upper part of the palm just below the knuckles contact the middle panels of the ball
working on a consistent toss on every serve so I know exactly where to contact the ball

No matter your serving style, the toss is a fundamental part of the serve in volleyball.

You can't serve a ball without tossing it up in some way, shape or form.

With that being the case, the volleyball serve rules state that when you serve, only one toss is allowed once the referee has blown their whistle.Once a player tosses the ball up for their serve, if they catch the ball without completing their service action, that is a fault and the referee will blow their whistle and award the opposing team the ball.

Addi works on her jump float serve toss consistency while aiming for a deep line serve to Zone 5.

If you are a server and you realize you've given yourself a bad toss, according to volleyball serve rules you can let the tossed ball drop.

Once the ball drops, you can catch the ball.

After its been dropped, the referee will blow their whistle indicating that the complete service action will begin again and will give you, the server a second opportunity to serve within 5 seconds time .

Not only does the server need to let the ball drop in order to reset their five seconds to serve again, but the ball needs to drop to the floor without touching any of the server's body parts on the way down.

Many times a server will toss a ball up to serve it and then can't get out of the way fast enough before the tossed ball hits them on the way down.

If this happens, then the referee will blow their whistle and award the ball to the opposing team.

Don't you hate when that happens?

Volleyball Serve Rules:
Can A Player Serve From Anywhere on the Court?

During my Breakfast Club for College Players summer training for college players in Vegas home for the summer we work on partner jump float serving technique where two servers at a time in two different lines serve behind Zone 1 and Zone 5 to a designated spot on the opposing court.

Pairs work together to get the ball "in" and if one player in the serving pair misses their serve neither of the two score a point for their team.

So no point for the two people serving and no point for the team they represent so the pressure feels like its double the weight.

The more we do this drill the more the server feels the weight of making their serve in.

The service action has to take place within the service zone of each team's court.

The service zone is parallel to the endlines and centerlines of the court and is located behind the end line on each team's court.

The endline is also referred to as the "service line" when the team on defense is serving.

The service line is the line a player cannot touch or step over while in the act of serving the ball over the net.

(See the area in red in the diagram.)

If the player touches the line while serving this is considered a fault, and the referee will blow their whistle and then award the opposing team the ball if such an action occurs.

The server can serve the ball from anywhere behind the service line within that 29 foot 6 inch area marked as the service zone.

The server can serve the ball from anywhere behind the service line within that 29 foot 6 inch area marked as the service zone.

Volleyball Serve Rules
When Can A Player Serve The Ball?

Volleyball Serving Drills: Addi, Piper and Hadley Working on their Jump Float Serve To Chairs for Accuracy and Points during semiprivate training with me

Once a player is ready to serve, they are standing in their team's service zone and they must wait for the referee to blow the whistle before beginning any service playing action.

The server has 8 seconds from when the referee blows the whistle to complete their service action, whether they choose to use an under hand serve, overhand serve or jump serve and to get the ball over the net and into the opposing court to start the rally.

They must start their pre-serve routine and contact the ball behind their service line within that red zone and cannot enter the court until after they've contacted the ball.

More Volleyball Serve Rules

What team gets to serve first? And how are they chosen?

At a certain time before the start of a match, usually 10 - 15 minutes before the start, the head official called "the head referee" will whistle for the team captains from each team to meet at the net. They will shake hands and introduce themselves. The official is responsible for setting the ground rules for the match. This will include explaining to both captains the playing areas of the court, overhead obstructions and court surroundings.

Once finished the referee will produce a coin and ask one of the team captains "who wants to choose?" and then will ask "what do they want "heads" or "tails"?.

The team captain who wins the toss will choose either "side" or "serve".

If they pick "serve" then they will be "awarded" the opportunity to serve first during the first set of the match.

For the subsequent sets, teams will alternate who serves first. So if Team A won the coin toss and served first the first set, then Team B will automatically begin the second set with the serve.

If four sets are played and both teams have won two each, then before the fifth tie breaking set, the head referee will call the two captains over again for a second coin toss to determine who will serve first at the beginning of the tie breaking match.

If a server does not hear the whistle and serves the ball they will have to re-serve the ball. The service cannot start a rally without the referee first blowing their whistle to indicate the service can begin.

Volleyball Serve Rules:
Where Do You Go From Here?

Where do you need to go now?

Your three options are:

You can learn more about the Rules of Volleyball by visiting the related links below.
Follow the suggested reading on our Sitemap page Learning How To Play (Sitemap)
Or visit the pages in the How to Play Volleyball section in the drop down menu at the top of the page to get started.

Learn more from these volleyball rules pages!

What Is Blocking In Volleyball? Rules That Varsity And JV Players Know
What is blocking in volleyball? When the serving team's on defense with 3 front row blockers who try to stop opposing hitters from hitting into their court.
What Is A Side Out And What Happens During A Sideout in Volleyball?
Learn what is a side out, what happens during a sideout and why its called a sideout which is how your team earns the right to serve the ball and score a point
What Are The Volleyball Rotations? 6 Positions on the Court Explained
What are the volleyball rotations and the 6 positions on the court that players on offense and defense rotate in and out of once their team wins a rally?
Volleyball Rotation Learn How To Rotate On The Court in Volleyball
The volleyball rotation has 6 rotational positions on the court called zones, 3 backrow and 3 front row areas that every player position rotates in or out of.
Volleyball Libero Rotation: A Guide to Roles and Responsibilities
Lets explore the volleyball libero rotation including offensive and defensive strategies for maximizing their impact during rotation transitions
Volleyball Game Rules: Serving, Score, Skill, Rotation and Regulations
Volleyball game rules review the regulations for basic skills, scoring and for playing actions allowed and not allowed in the game along with rotation rules.
4 Volleyball Blocking Rules and Rule Violations To Know in Volleyball
Learn four volleyball blocking rules, regulations and violations that you can and cannot do when you are front row performing defensive skills at the net.
Volleyball Attacking Rules: What Is A Spike In Volleyball?
These volleyball attacking rules describe what a spike is and governs how an "attack hit" which is any playing action, that is not a serve or is not a block.
Rotation in Volleyball Your 8 Rotation Volleyball Questions Explained
I answer your questions about rotation in volleyball like how does rotation work? Does the libero rotate? and What positions serve in volleyball? and many others
Block Volleyball Definition and Rules Defensive Players Should Know
The block volleyball definition and rules when the serving team's on defense with 3 front row blockers who try to stop opposing hitters hitting into their court.

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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.

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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