By Ryan Walker. Updated November 5, 2026: every definition checked against the FIVB, NCAA and NFHS rulebooks, regrouped by what’s happening on the court, with a term finder, the official referee signals and a free printable cheat sheet.
One bad pass can be a reception error, a zero, a shank and a first-ball problem, depending on who’s talking. Know all four and you’ll never be the player nodding along in a timeout.
Volleyball terms come from three places: the rulebook, the stat sheet and the gym. These are the 20 you’ll hear in your first week, and the rest of the page is grouped the same way the ball moves, from the serve to the whistle. If the six court spots are new to you, start with what each of the six positions does.
- Ace: a serve that scores directly.
- Attack (spike, hit, swing): any attempt to send the ball over to score.
- Block: front-row players reaching above the net to stop an attack.
- Bump (forearm pass): playing the ball off joined forearms.
- Dig: keeping an attacked ball off the floor.
- Free ball: an easy ball sent over with no attack. Everyone yells “free!”
- Kill: an attack that scores.
- Libero: the back-row defensive specialist in a different-colored jersey.
- Overlap: players out of position when the serve is hit, a fault.
- Pancake: a one-hand save with the hand flat on the floor.
- Rally: everything from the serve until the ball is dead.
- Rotation: moving one spot clockwise when your team wins the serve back. See our full guide to volleyball rotations.
- Serve receive: passing the other team’s serve.
- Set: the second contact, usually overhead, that puts the ball up for a hitter. Also a game within the match.
- Setter: the player who takes the second contact and runs the offense.
- Shank: a pass that flies off target.
- Side-out: winning the rally on the other team’s serve.
- Tip: a soft touch over or around the block.
- Tool: hitting the ball off the blocker’s hands so it lands out.
- In system / out of system: whether the pass let the setter run the full offense or forced a high, safe set.
115 terms below, grouped by phase of play.
Four names for one bad pass
Last fall I watched another club’s coach call a timeout halfway through a set. His team’s passes were spraying everywhere. He told his libero, “Our first ball is killing us. Fix the seam.” She nodded and moved a step. Two of his other players looked at each other and drifted back to their spots.
I asked them about it after the match. One knew what “the seam” was but not “first ball.” The other thought “seam” was something only that coach said. Both had played for years. The stat sheet had logged their passes as reception errors, the coach called it a first-ball problem, and the libero would have called them shanks. Same passes, four names. That’s the gap this page closes.
Rulebook words vs gym words
| What happens | Rulebook or stat-sheet term | What you’ll hear in the gym |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting the ball over to score | Attack hit | Spike, swing, hit, hammer |
| Passing with the forearms | Forearm pass, reception | Bump, pass |
| A perfect pass to the setter | 3 pass (on a 0-3 scale) | Dime, perfect |
| A pass that flies off target | Reception error (when the serve can’t be kept in play) | Shank |
| Stopping an attack at the net for a point | Block (solo or assist) | Roof, stuff |
| A soft attack over the block | Attack (tip, off-speed) | Tip, dink, roll shot |
| Ball held or thrown | Catch | Lift, carry |
| Same player touches the ball twice | Double contact | Double |
| Players out of position at the serve | Positional (rotational) fault | Overlap |
| Winning the rally on their serve | Side-out | Side-out, sideout |
| Winning the rally on your own serve | Point on serve | Break point |
| Attack the defense keeps in play | Attack attempt | Zero, dug ball |
Serving terms
Serve: the first contact of every rally, hit with one hand or arm from behind the end line after the referee’s whistle. You get 8 seconds under FIVB, NCAA and USA Volleyball rules and 5 in US high school. Here are the serve types and toss mechanics.
Ace: a serve that scores directly, either landing untouched or touched by a receiver who can’t keep it playable. Here’s what officially counts as an ace.
Float serve: a serve hit with no spin, so it wobbles and drops unpredictably, much like a knuckleball.
Jump serve (topspin jump serve): the server tosses, approaches and hits the ball with heavy topspin at the top of a jump. The fastest serve in the game and the riskiest.
Jump float: a float served from a short jump. Higher contact than a standing float, with the same wobble.
Let serve: a serve that clips the top of the net and still crosses between the antennas. It’s in play under every major rulebook.
Foot fault: the server touching the end line or the court before contacting the ball. Point to the other team.
Service error: a serve into the net, out of bounds, outside the antennas, or not hit within the time limit.
Seam: the gap between two passers. Servers aim for it because both passers hesitate.
Screen: a serving-team player blocking the receivers’ view of the server or the ball. It’s a fault, and US high school and NCAA rules from 2026-27 ban serving-team players from raising their hands above their heads during the serve.
Short serve: a serve aimed just over the net, to pull a passer forward or catch a back-row team sitting deep.
Passing and serve-receive terms
Forearm pass (bump): playing the ball off a platform made by joining the forearms. Here’s how to build a clean bump.
Platform: the flat surface of joined forearms. “Angle your platform” means point it at the target before the ball arrives.
Serve receive: the team’s formation and passing on the other team’s serve.
Passing scale (0 to 3): how coaches rate passes. A 3 gives the setter every option, a 2 still allows a quick set or one pin, a 1 leaves only a high ball outside, and a 0 is an ace or reception error. In my gym nobody says “good pass.” We say the number, because the setter needs the number.
Dime: a perfect pass, right on the setter’s target.
Shank: a pass that flies off target, often into the bleachers. Usually a platform angle problem, not an arm-strength one.
Reception error (RE): the stat for a serve that couldn’t be passed playably, which is also an ace for the server.
Overpass: a pass that goes straight back over the net. If it’s above the net, the other team’s front row can attack it.
Free ball: an easy ball sent over without an attack, usually with a pass. The receiving team calls “free!” and drops into its free-ball positions.
Down ball: an attack hit from a standing or barely-jumping position, harder than a free ball but not worth putting up a block for.
Setting terms
Set: the second contact, usually an overhead pass with the fingers, that puts the ball where a hitter wants it. The word also means a game within the match, played to 25 (15 in a deciding set).
Setter: the player who takes the second contact and decides who attacks. Here’s how setters choose and deliver a set.
Assist: the stat for a set or pass that leads directly to a kill.
Front set and back set: a set forward to the left side, or backward over the setter’s head to the right side.
Bump set: a set made with the forearms, the safe choice when the pass is low or the setter isn’t sure where her feet are.
Dump: the setter attacking on the second contact instead of setting, usually a tip into an empty spot.
Tempo: how fast the hitter starts the approach compared with the set. First tempo (a quick): the hitter is already in the air as the setter touches the ball. Second tempo: the hitter starts the approach as the setter contacts the ball, for a fast, flatter set. Third tempo: a high set, and the hitter starts after it’s released.
Quick (1): a first-tempo set to the middle, barely above the net.
Slide: a quick attack where the hitter runs along the net and takes off from one foot, usually behind the setter.
Shoot (go): a fast, flat second-tempo set to the outside.
High ball (4): a third-tempo set to the outside pin, the safe set off a bad pass.
In system / out of system: in system means the pass let the setter run the full offense; out of system means the setter is chasing and the offense is down to a high ball. More on staying in system on serve receive.
Names of volleyball hits
Spike (attack): a hard attack hit down into the opponent’s court. The rulebook word is attack hit. Here’s the approach and arm swing.
Cross-court (angle): an attack hit diagonally across the court, the longest path available.
Line shot: an attack straight down the sideline, past the outside of the block.
Cut shot: a sharp angle hit inside the block toward the near sideline, close to the net.
Roll shot: a slower attack with topspin, placed into an open spot.
Tip (dink): a soft fingertip touch over or around the block.
Tool (wipe, block-out): hitting the ball off the blocker’s hands so it lands out. It counts as a kill for the hitter.
Off-speed shot: any attack hit with less than full power on purpose: a tip, roll or slow swing.
Pipe: a back-row attack from the middle back (zone 6), taken off behind the 3 m line.
Bic: a quick, low set to a back-row attacker coming from zone 6, faster than a pipe.
Back-row attack: any attack by a back-row player. If the ball is completely above the net, the attacker must take off from behind the 3 m line.
Kill: an attack that scores. Here’s what counts as a kill and what doesn’t.
Blocking terms
Block: front-row players reaching above the net to stop or slow an attack. The block touch doesn’t count as one of the team’s three contacts. Here’s how a block touch is counted.
Solo, double and triple block: one, two or three blockers going up together.
Roof (stuff): a block that sends the ball straight down on the attacker’s side for a point.
Soft block: a block that slows the ball and deflects it up to your own defense instead of trying to stuff it.
Penetration: reaching over the net with the hands and forearms. Blockers may reach over, but they can’t touch the ball on the opponent’s side until the opponent has attacked it.
Kong: a one-armed block, usually by a middle who is late getting outside.
Closing the block: the second blocker moving in to seal the gap next to the first one.
Read and commit blocking: a read blocker waits to see the set before moving; a commit blocker jumps with the quick hitter regardless.
Middle blocker: the player who blocks across the whole net and hits quicks. More on the middle blocker’s job.
Defense terms
Dig: keeping an attacked ball off the floor, usually with the forearms. Here’s how a dig is scored and taught.
Pancake: a save where the player slides a flat hand on the floor and lets the ball bounce off the back of it.
Sprawl: a low, sideways extension to reach a ball without a full dive.
Hitter coverage: teammates crouching around their own hitter to play a ball that bounces back off the block.
Base: the spots players return to before the opponent sets.
Perimeter defense: back-row defenders staying deep near the lines, which leaves the middle open for tips.
Rotation defense: one back-row player moving up to cover tips while the others rotate to cover deep angles.
Joust: two opposing players contacting the ball at the same moment above the net. Play goes on, and the ball can end up on either side.
Transition: switching from defense to attack after a dig or block. A point won this way on your own serve is a break point.
Faults and rules terms
Double contact: one player touching the ball twice in a row, or the ball hitting two body parts one after the other. Allowed on the team’s first contact. On a set, US high school, college and club rules allow it if a teammate plays the ball next; the FIVB rulebook still calls it, though the 2026 FIVB test events relaxed the call when the ball stays on your side.
Lift (catch, carry): the ball coming to rest in the hands instead of rebounding. Here’s how officials judge a lift.
Four hits: a team playing the ball four times before sending it over. Block touches don’t count.
Net fault: touching the net between the antennas while playing the ball. High school rules call almost any net contact, apart from loose hair.
Centre-line fault: a foot landing completely in the opponent’s court under the net. Under FIVB rules part of the foot must stay on or above the line, and other body parts may cross as long as they don’t interfere; NCAA calls it whenever a whole foot crosses and touches the other court.
Overlap (positional fault): players out of order when the serve is hit: each back-row player must be behind the front-row player in front of them, and side players must stay outside the middle in their row. Under FIVB 2025-2028 rules, only the receiving team is checked.
Rotation fault: serving out of order.
Back-row attack fault: a back-row player attacking a ball that is completely above the net after taking off on or in front of the 3 m line.
Antenna: the rods on top of the net above each sideline. A ball that touches one, or crosses outside it, is out.
Kicking: legal. The ball can be played with any part of the body. Here’s when kicking actually helps.
Replay: the rally is played again, for example after a double fault or outside interference.
Yellow and red cards: misconduct sanctions. A yellow is a warning; a red costs a point. Under FIVB rules, red and yellow together means expulsion for the set, and shown separately means disqualification for the match.
For how all of these fit together, the full volleyball rules guide compares the FIVB, NCAA, high school and club rulebooks.
Systems and positions
Zones 1 to 6: the six court spots. Front row 4, 3, 2 from left to right; back row 5, 6, 1. Zone 1 serves.
5-1: one setter for all six rotations, five attackers. Here’s running a single setter through all six rotations.
6-2: two setters who each set from the back row, so three hitters are always in front. Here’s the two-setter offense explained.
4-2: two setters who set from the front row, leaving two front-row hitters. Common in youth and rec leagues. See the 4-2 rotation diagram and cheat sheet.
Outside hitter (pin hitter): attacks from the left side, passes and plays defense. More on what a pin hitter does.
Opposite (right side): lines up opposite the setter in the rotation and attacks from the right side.
Libero: a back-row specialist in a different-colored jersey who replaces back-row players without using a substitution. Here are every libero replacement and serving rule.
Defensive specialist (DS): a back-row substitute in a regular jersey whose entries count as substitutions. More on the DS role.
Serving specialist: a player subbed in mainly to serve.
Scoring, match and stats terms
Rally scoring: a point on every rally, whoever served. Here’s rally scoring point by point.
Side-out: winning the rally on the other team’s serve, which also wins you the serve. More on side-outs and why they matter.
Side-out scoring: the old system where only the serving team could score.
Break point: a point won while your team is serving.
Set and match: a set goes to 25, win by 2, and a deciding set to 15. Matches are best of three or best of five. Here’s the match format at each level.
Set point and match point: one point away from winning the set or the match.
Timeout: a 30-second break under FIVB rules, two per team per set. NCAA timeouts are longer.
Substitution: swapping a player in from the bench, counted against a per-set limit: 6 under FIVB rules, 15 in NCAA Division I and club, 18 in high school and NCAA Divisions II and III.
Challenge: a coach asking for a video review of a call, used in NCAA and at major FIVB events.
Hitting percentage: (kills minus attack errors) divided by total attempts. Work out yours with the hitting percentage calculator.
Zero ball: an attack the defense keeps in play: not a kill, not an error, but still an attempt.
FBSO (first-ball side-out): the share of the other team’s serves you win on your first attack after the pass.
Box-score abbreviations: SP sets played, K kills, E errors, TA total attacks, A assists, SA service aces, SE service errors, RE reception errors, DIG digs, BS block solos, BA block assists, BHE ball-handling errors.
Volleyball slang and gym lingo
Campfire: a ball that drops between several players who all stood and watched it.
Husband and wife: two players letting a ball drop between them, each thinking the other had it.
Six-pack (facial): a defender getting hit in the face by a spike.
Chicken wing: a one-arm save with the elbow bent out, when there’s no time to get both arms on the ball.
Mine! / Help! / Out!: the calls that prevent campfires: “mine” claims the ball, “help” asks for the next contact, “out” tells a teammate to let it go.
Roof: a stuff block. “Roof!” is what the bench yells after one.
Dime: a perfect pass.
Tool: to hit off the block on purpose, as in “tool the big blocker.”
Beach volleyball terms
Pokey: an attack hit with the knuckles, usually a soft shot over the block.
Cobra: an attack hit with the fingertips of a stiff, straight hand.
Skyball: a very high serve, hit straight up so it drops into the sun or wind.
Option: attacking on the second contact instead of setting your partner.
Block signals: the hand signals a beach blocker shows behind the back before the serve: one finger means block the line, two fingers the angle, a closed fist no block, and an open hand block the ball.
Referee hand signals
These are the FIVB official hand signals from the 2025-2028 rulebook. US high school and college referees use very similar signals.
| Signal | What the referee does |
|---|---|
| Authorization to serve | Moves the hand to show the direction of service |
| Team to serve (point) | Extends the arm toward the team that will serve next |
| Change of courts | Raises the forearms front and back and twists them around the body |
| Time-out | Places one palm over the fingers of the other hand to form a T, then points to the team |
| Substitution | Circles the forearms around each other |
| Warning, penalty, expulsion, disqualification | Yellow card; red card; red and yellow together; red and yellow in separate hands |
| End of set or match | Crosses the forearms in front of the chest, hands open |
| Ball not tossed or released at the serve | Lifts the extended arm, palm up |
| Delay in service (8 seconds) | Raises eight fingers, spread open |
| Blocking fault or screening | Raises both arms vertically, palms forward |
| Positional or rotational fault (overlap) | Makes a circular motion with the forefinger |
| Ball in | Points the arm and fingers toward the floor |
| Ball out | Raises the forearms vertically, hands open, palms toward the body |
| Catch (lift) | Slowly lifts the forearm, palm up |
| Double contact | Raises two fingers, spread open |
| Four hits | Raises four fingers, spread open |
| Net touched, or serve fails to cross | Points to the relevant side of the net |
| Reaching beyond the net | Places a hand above the net, palm down |
| Attack hit fault (back-row player, libero, attacking the serve) | Makes a downward motion with the forearm, hand open |
| Centre-line fault, foot fault or ball under the net | Points to the centre line or the relevant line |
| Double fault and replay | Raises both thumbs vertically |
| Ball touched | Brushes the fingers of one vertical hand with the palm of the other |
| Delay warning or penalty | Covers the wrist with a yellow card (warning) or a red card (penalty) |
New volleyball terms for 2026
Serving team free alignment: under the FIVB 2025-2028 rules, only the receiving team has to be in rotation order at the serve. Here’s the full list of FIVB 2025-2028 rulebook changes.
Challenge bookmark: a 2026 FIVB test at the VNL and other events: a team can mark actions during a rally and challenge one of them if it loses the rally.
Two liberos per set: from 2026-27, US high school teams can name zero, one or two liberos for each set, one on court at a time.
Centre-line challenge: from 2026, NCAA coaches can challenge whether a foot completely crossed the centre line. More on the college rule changes for 2026.
MLV and LOVB: the two main US women’s pro leagues: Major League Volleyball (formerly the Pro Volleyball Federation) and League One Volleyball, pronounced “love.” LOVB Austin won the first LOVB title in 2025. Here’s how LOVB started.
Free printable volleyball terms cheat sheet
Two pages: the 40 terms new players hear most, and the referee signals with the gym slang. I hand it out at the first practice of the season.
40 essential terms, referee signals and gym slang on two printable pages.
How I teach the words to a new team
- Make every call out loud. In passing warm-ups, nobody touches the ball without calling “mine.” In hitting lines, the setter calls the set and the hitter repeats it.
- Name it when it happens. When someone gets tooled or shanks a pass, I stop the drill for 20 seconds and name it. The word sticks because it’s attached to something they just felt.
- Use numbers, not adjectives. Passes get 0 to 3, sets get a name, and nobody says “good job” when a number says more.
- Watch film with the sound off. Players call the plays themselves, in both rulebook and gym words.
Volleyball terms FAQ
Start with ace, attack, block, bump, dig, free ball, kill, libero, rally, rotation, serve receive, set, setter, side-out and tip. They cover the serve, the three contacts and how points are won.
A one-hand save where the player slides a flat hand along the floor and the ball bounces off the back of the hand. It is legal because the ball rebounds instead of being caught.
An easy ball sent over the net without an attack, usually with a pass. The receiving team calls free and moves into its free-ball positions to run a clean offense.
A pass that flies off target, often out of the court. It usually comes from the angle of the forearm platform rather than from swinging the arms too hard.
Two opposing players contacting the ball at the same moment above the net. Play continues, and the ball can end up on either side.
A block that sends the ball straight down on the attacker’s side for a point. It is also called a stuff block.
The main attacks are the spike, cross-court or angle shot, line shot, cut shot, roll shot, tip, tool off the block, and back-row attacks such as the pipe and the bic.
The pass was good enough for the setter to run the full offense, including quick sets. Out of system means the setter is chasing the ball and the attack is usually a high set to the outside.
If you’re just starting out, these beginner drills put most of these words to work in the first week.
Keep playing,
Ryan Walker
Sources
- FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025-2028: definitions, faults and Diagram 11 (official hand signals)
- 2026 and 2027 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Rules
- NFHS 2026-27 volleyball rules changes
- FIVB rule tests for 2026 competitions