Re: hitting the ball with your foot

[Todd <tdh@vbref.org>]

swithers@my-dejanews.com writes:
> I think I remember seeing volleyball players hitting the ball with
> their foot and the play keeps going.  Is this illegal? Is this
> counted as one hit?  Can you hit it over the net with your foot?
> Can any bodypart be used and considered legal or just the hands (and
> feet)?


What you saw on TV was probably AVP men's 2's.  Under AVP rules (which
don't enjoy widespread use outside of the men's tour), it is legal to
play the ball with any part of the body, including the feet.
        
        AVP Rules 
        18.6 Ball Contact
        A. The ball may contact any part of the body

        See http://www.volleyball.org/avp/rules.html for details.


Contacting the ball with the foot (intentionally or nor) is also legal
under the more-prevalent USA Volleyball (formerly USVBA) rules.  These
are the rules you're most likely to come across in adult play in the
USA: 

        USAV Indoor 1997-98 Rules
        14.4 Characteristics of the hit
        14.4.1 The ball may touch any part of the body


        USAV Beach 1997-98 Rules 
        13.4 Characteristics of the contact
        13.4.1 A player may touch the ball with any part of the body


FIVB (international) rules toe the same line.
        
        FIVB Beach 1996-2000
        13.4.1The ball may touch any part of the body.

        FIVB Indoor 1997-2000
        10.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HIT
        10.2.1 The ball may touch any part of the body.


NAGWS rules used by NCAA Div. I women's college teams are slightly
different--they factor intent into any contact below the knee.  NFSHSA
(a.k.a. "Federation", high school) rules are different still--they
have a history of restrictions to contacts below the waist.  These
rulebooks are not handy, so I pray that the net.rules.police from
prodigy.net will forgive my withholding further comment these
rulesets.  8-P


As always, purchase and consult the applicable rulebook for complete
details.  A good place to start is:

        http://www.volleyball.org/rules/index.html



Best Regards,
--
                  Todd H.   tdh@vbref.org
USAV Regional Referee, Great Lakes Region, Palatine, IL
Todd's Volleyball Referee Page http://www.io.com/~tdh/vball/
"So you're a Ref and an engineer? Oh that explains it...."