Serving the ball

25 min

The only skill you control completely

Every rally in volleyball starts with a serve, and the serve is the only moment when one player has the ball alone, with time to choose exactly what to do. A good serve can win a point outright (an ace) or force a poor reception that makes the opponents' attack predictable. A missed serve gives the point and the service away. In Senior 1 you learned the underarm and the basic overarm serve, and in Senior 3 you used serving as an attacking weapon. This lesson refines serving technique, sets out the FIVB rules of 2025–2028, and uses projectile motion to explain why a serve must be aimed up, not straight at the net.

Definition

Service zone: the 9 m wide area behind the end line, extending back to the end of the free zone, from which the serve is made.

Underarm serve: the ball is held at waist height and struck from below with a swinging arm. Overhand float serve: the ball is tossed and struck with a firm, flat hand and no follow-through, so it travels without spin and moves unpredictably in the air. Topspin serve: the ball is struck with a wrist snap that makes it spin forward and dip. Jump serve: the server tosses high, runs in and strikes the ball in the air for maximum speed.

Ace: a serve that scores directly, untouched or not playable by the receivers.

The rules of the serve (FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028, Rule 12)

Rule	What it means
12.4.1–12.4.2	Hit the ball with one hand or any part of the arm, after tossing or releasing it; only one toss is allowed
12.4.3	At the moment of the hit (or the take-off for a jump serve), the server must not touch the court, including the end line, or the floor outside the service zone; afterwards he or she may land in the court
12.4.4	The server must hit the ball within 8 seconds of the first referee's whistle
12.5	The serving team must not screen the server or the flight of the ball, and no player of the serving team may raise the hands above the head during the service
12.6.2	After the hit, the serve is a fault if the ball touches a team-mate, fails to cross the net through the crossing space, goes "out" or passes over a screen
14.5	The receiving team may not block or attack the serve

The net is 2.43 m high for men and 2.24 m for women. School competitions often lower it for younger players.

Technique of the overhand float serve

Stance. Stand behind the end line, the foot opposite the hitting arm in front, pointing at the target; shoulders square to the target.
Toss. Hold the ball in the non-hitting hand at shoulder height and lift it, without spin, about 30 to 50 cm, slightly in front of the hitting shoulder.
Arm. Draw the hitting arm back with the elbow high, at ear level, like drawing a bow.
Contact. Step forward and strike the centre of the ball with the heel of a firm, open hand, wrist locked.
Finish. Stop the hand at contact (no follow-through) so the ball has no spin; walk into the court ready to defend.

Worked example

Worked example 1: will the serve clear the net and land in? Keza serves on a women's net (2.24 m). She hits the ball 2.5 m above the floor, 1.0 m behind the end line, so it travels 10 m to the net and the court on the other side is 9 m long. The ball leaves her hand with a horizontal speed of $15\,\mathrm{m\,s^{-1}}$ and an upward speed of $3.2\,\mathrm{m\,s^{-1}}$ . Ignore air resistance; take $g = 9.81\,\mathrm{m\,s^{-2}}$ .

Time to reach the net: $t = \frac{10}{15} = 0.667\,\mathrm{s}$ .
Height at the net: $y = 2.5 + 3.2 \times 0.667 - \tfrac{1}{2} \times 9.81 \times 0.667^{2} = 2.5 + 2.13 - 2.18 = 2.45\,\mathrm{m}$ It clears the 2.24 m net by about 0.21 m.
Time to land, from $0 = 2.5 + 3.2t - 4.905t^{2}$ : $t = \frac{3.2 + \sqrt{3.2^{2} + 4 \times 4.905 \times 2.5}}{2 \times 4.905} = \frac{3.2 + 7.70}{9.81} = 1.11\,\mathrm{s}$
Horizontal distance: $15 \times 1.11 = 16.7\,\mathrm{m}$ , which is 6.7 m beyond the net: in.

What if she hits it flat (no upward speed)? The ball would fall $\tfrac{1}{2} \times 9.81 \times 0.667^{2} = 2.18\,\mathrm{m}$ before the net and reach it only 0.32 m high: into the net. With an upward speed of $5.0\,\mathrm{m\,s^{-1}}$ it lands 10.8 m beyond the net: out. The serve has a "window" of launch angles, and practice teaches the body to find it. Real float serves are also pushed about by the air, which is what makes them hard to receive.

Worked example

Worked example 2: rating a server. In one set Byiringiro serves 12 times: 9 serves land in, 3 are errors, and 2 of the 9 are aces.

Serves in play: $\frac{9}{12} \times 100 = 75\%$ .
Ace rate: $\frac{2}{12} \times 100 = 17\%$ ; error rate $\frac{3}{12} \times 100 = 25\%$ .

He takes risks: more errors than aces. If his team's block and defence are strong, a safer, well-placed float serve that rarely misses may win more points overall.

Video: "How To Serve A Volleyball | Overhand Float Tutorial", Elevate Yourself. Watch the low, spin-free toss, the high elbow and the firm hand that stops at contact.

Tip

"Toss, step, hit, stop." A consistent toss is half the serve: practise tossing and letting the ball drop onto the same spot in front of your hitting shoulder.

Warning

Common mistakes. Tossing too high or behind the head. Stepping on the end line before the hit (a foot fault). Hitting with a bent wrist or the fingers (the ball spins and drops). Taking more than 8 seconds. Team-mates raising their hands or standing together in front of the server (screening). Safety: serve only on the whistle, and never towards a court where others are still collecting balls.

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Practice

Name four types of serve and say how each differs.
State three FIVB rules about the execution of the service.
Describe the five steps of the overhand float serve.
A ball is hit horizontally (no upward speed) at 2.4 m height, 9 m from the net, at 12 m s⁻¹. How high is it when it reaches the net? Does it clear a 2.24 m net?
Using the data of Worked example 1, find the height at the net if the upward speed is 2.5 m s⁻¹.
A server makes 15 serves: 12 in, 3 aces. Calculate the percentage in play and the ace rate.
Explain why a float serve is struck without follow-through.
Evaluate a team's tactic of jump-serving with every player, even those who miss half their jump serves.

Show answersHide answers

Underarm (struck from below at waist height); overhand float (flat hand, no spin); topspin (wrist snap, forward spin, dips); jump serve (struck in the air after a run-up, fastest).
For example: only one toss; hit within 8 seconds of the whistle; no touching the court or end line at the hit; no screening and no team-mate raising hands above the head.
Stance behind the line, opposite foot forward; low, spin-free toss in front of the hitting shoulder; elbow high; step and strike the centre of the ball with a firm hand; stop at contact.
t = 9 ÷ 12 = 0.75 s; drop = ½ × 9.81 × 0.75² = 2.76 m; it would reach the plane of the net below floor level, so it lands well before the net: a fault.
y = 2.5 + 2.5 × 0.667 − 2.18 = 1.99 m: below 2.24 m, into the net.
In play: 12 ÷ 15 × 100 = 80%; aces: 3 ÷ 15 × 100 = 20%.
Stopping the hand at contact gives the ball no spin; without spin the air pushes it unpredictably, so it floats and moves late.
Risky: each missed serve gives a free point and the service to the opponents. Jump serves suit players who land most of them; others should use float serves aimed at weak receivers or empty zones. Decide by each player's in-play and ace rates.

Quick check

Remember

Court 18 m × 9 m; nets 2.43 m (men) and 2.24 m (women); serve from the 9 m service zone.
One toss; hit within 8 seconds; no foot on the line at the hit; no screening; the serve may not be blocked or attacked.
Float serve: low toss, high elbow, firm flat hand, stop at contact.
Aim up: a flat serve drops $\tfrac{1}{2}gt^{2}$ before the net. Judge servers by in-play %, aces and errors.

Sources and credits

Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028, Rules 1, 2, 12 and 14: court and net dimensions, the service and screening. Summarised, not copied.
Volleyball and Projectile motion, Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0: types of serve and the equations of motion. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Photo: Volleyball Jump Serve-pjt, pjt56, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Video: "How To Serve A Volleyball | Overhand Float Tutorial", Elevate Yourself, embedded from YouTube.
Court diagram, tables, worked examples, practice and quick check: written by Ganzaa. Serve speeds and statistics are illustrative.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1The only skill you control completely

2The rules of the serve (FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028, Rule 12)

3Technique of the overhand float serve

The only skill you control completely

The rules of the serve (FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028, Rule 12)

Technique of the overhand float serve