Volleyball Substitution Rules

  • September 25, 2019

Substitutions are a key part of a volleyball game. It’s fair to say that a volleyball substitution is some kind of game interruption. The substitution is all about replacing volleyball players during the game. Each substitution has to be recorded by the scorer on the sheet. When replacing volleyball players with others, a volleyball team has to follow the substitution rules. If a team breaks substitution rules, volleyball players will have to deal with penalties.

In order to prevent sanctions and penalties from happening, the coach has to be very careful with substitutions. It’s worth noting that substitutions have to be carried out in the right way. And of course, it’s incredibly important to know volleyball rules to make this happen.

According to the volleyball rules, each volleyball team has to have six players on the court all the time. One or several volleyball players can be substituted during the game at any moment. That means that if a volleyball player exits the court and leaves the game then he/she has to be substituted by someone else.

The head coach may choose to substitute team’s volleyball athletes for various reasons. If, for example, a volleyball player gets tired then the head coach may decide to replace him/her with another volleyball athlete. The head coach can also decide to substitute a volleyball player if he/she gets injured during the game. Sometimes, an injured volleyball player needs assistance in order to be able to exit the court and leave the game. In this case, either the team’s captain or head coach can help an injured volleyball player leave the court.

During the substitution one volleyball player leaves the game and another player takes his/her position on the court. The substitution is the act in the volleyball game that has its own rules. There are certain limitations as well as exceptions when it comes to volleyball substitutions.

How do substitutions work in the sport of volleyball? How many times can volleyball substitutions be carried out during the game? What is the volleyball substitution procedure? If you have just started your journey to the sport of volleyball, then you’ll definitely need to get the answers to all of these important questions.

And of course, you need to familiarize yourself with the volleyball substitution procedure and volleyball substitution rules even before to start learning how to play the game of volleyball. Today, you’ll get a splendid opportunity to dig deeper into volleyball substitution rules.

Volleyball Substitution Rules – Limitations and Exceptions

According to the volleyball substitution rules, it’s allowed to substitute a volleyball player only once per set. Let’s assume that a volleyball player has been substituted by another athlete on the court. If so, a volleyball player may re-enter the game later.

A volleyball athlete has to be substituted by the same volleyball player. That means that an attacker has to be replaced by an attacker, a setter has to be replaced by a setter, a blocker has be replaced by a blocker. If one player leaves the court during the substitution, another player should take his/her position.

If a volleyball player gets injured during the game, he/she can be substituted legally. However, if a team has no legal substitutions left then the coach can take advantage of the so called exceptional substitution. If this situation occurs, an injured player will not be allowed to join the game again.

An exceptional substitution needs to be recorded on the score sheet. However, an exceptional substitution is not considered as a traditional substitution. It’s crucial to know that a coach doesn’t have to make a signal in order to request the substitution for an injured volleyball player.

There are also situations when a disqualified volleyball player has to be substituted during the game. If this happens, a disqualified player will be replaced with another player. This substitution is deducted from the total number of substitutions. The volleyball team will be incomplete if there are no substitutions left.

Volleyball Substitution Rules –Illegal Substitutions

A substitution is considered as illegal if the team has exceeded the limit of substitutions during a game or when a player is replaced with an unregistered player. It’s worth noting that a volleyball team will be punished if a volleyball player is substituted illegally.

Let’s assume that a team has violated volleyball substitution rules and the game hasn’t been stopped. That means that a volleyball team has made an illegal substitution. A team that has broken volleyball substitution rules loses a point as well as the right to serve the ball. In this case, the service is given to the opposing volleyball team. If a volleyball player is on the court through illegal substitution that means that the team commits a fault.

Rules that Determine the Substitution Procedure

It’s crucial to carry out substitution in the right place on the court. In other words, volleyball players have to replace each other within the substitution zone. The substitution zone is the area on the court that has been created by the extension of attack lines and scorer’s table. Volleyball players who are going to enter the game shouldn’t go out of the substitution zone.

A volleyball substitution has to be requested either before a set starts or during a time-out. It’s also important to note that volleyball substitution doesn’t have to take too much time. During substitution one volleyball player has to exit the court and another volleyball player has to enter the court. The substitution needs to be recorded on the score sheet.

Volleyball players shouldn’t try to delay the game with substitution. If volleyball player makes an attempt to delay a subscription, he/she will be punished for this type of violation. In this case, a volleyball player will be a subject to a delay sanction. The substitution begins when a coach requests substitution and a volleyball player comes into the substitution zone.

It all begins with a request for substitution. As we have already mentioned, a volleyball team can request six substitutions per set. It’s important to know that volleyball substitutions are requested by a coach. If the head coach is absent, substitution can be requested by the game captain. A coach has to make use of the corresponding hand signal in order to request a substitution when such a need arises.

Volleyball substitutions are requested differently. Volleyball substitution is requested by either the second referee or the scorer. The substitution is authorized by the second referee. The second referee uses whistle and the scorer uses buzzer to request the substitution during the game. When FIVB tournaments or World and Official volleyball competitions take place numbered paddles are used to request substitution during the game.

There are situations when a volleyball team needs to replace several players of the team at the same time. According to the rules, it’s possible to substitute several volleyball players simultaneously. Initially, all of volleyball substitutions must be authorized by a referee. In addition, all of volleyball subscriptions must be recorded by the scorer.

If more than one substitution is required, all volleyball players need to enter the substitution zone. It’s enough to make only one request to substitute several players simultaneously. Pairs of volleyball players need to be substituted one after another.

Thank you so much for reading this article. As you can see, this blog post gives you an opportunity to get familiar with volleyball subscription rules. Learn volleyball rules, train hard and train smart to take your play to the next level. Best of luck!