Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since Tokyo 1964. Beach Volleyball was introduced to the programme at the Atlanta 1996. The adapted version of volleyball at the Summer Paralympic Games is Sitting Volleyball.
Racquetball is a racquet sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek is credited with inventing the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velocity and control. Unlike most racquet sports, such as tennis and badminton, there is no net to hit the ball over, and, unlike squash, no tin to hit the ball above. Also, the court's walls, floor, and ceiling are legal playing surfaces, with the exception of court-specific designated hinders being out-of-bounds.
Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the court. Each team works in unison to prevent the opposing team from grounding the ball on their side of the court.
Arena football is a variety of eight-man gridiron football. The game is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game that can be played on the floors of indoor arenas. The sport was invented in 1981, and patented in 1987, by Jim Foster, a former executive of the National Football League and the United States Football League. The name is trademarked by Gridiron Enterprises and had a proprietary format until its patent expired in 2007.
American handball, known as handball in the United States and sometimes referred to as wallball, is a sport in which players use their hands to hit a small, rubber ball against a wall such that their opponent(s) cannot do the same without the ball touching the ground twice nor hitting out-of-bound. The three versions are four-wall, three-wall and one-wall. Each version can be played either by two players (singles), three players (cutthroat) or four players (doubles), but in official tournaments, singles and doubles are the only versions played.
Squash tennis is an American variant of squash, but played with a ball and racquets that are closer to the equipment used for lawn tennis, and with somewhat different rules. For younger players the game offers the complexity of squash and the speed of racquetball. It also has exercise and recreational potential for older players.
Pickleball is a paddleball sport that combines elements of badminton, table tennis, and tennis. Two or four players use solid paddles made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball, much like a wiffle ball, with 26–40 round holes, over a net. The sport shares features of other racket sports: the dimensions and layout of a badminton court, and a net and rules somewhat similar to tennis, with several modifications.
A point in tennis is the smallest subdivision of the match, the completion of which changes the score. A point can consist of a double fault by the server, in which case it is won by the receiver; otherwise, it begins with a legal serve by one side's server to the receiver on the other, and continues until one side fails to make a legal return to the other, losing the point. Four points win a game, counted as 15, 30, 40. A game must be won by at least two points.
Ball badminton is a sport native to India. It is a racket game, played with a yellow ball made of wool, on a court of fixed dimensions divided by a net. The game was played as early as 1856 by the royal family in Tanjore, the capital of Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu, India. It enjoys the greatest popularity in India. Ball badminton is a fast-paced game; it demands skill, quick reflexes, good judgment, agility, and the ability to control the ball with one's wrist.
Hoover ball is a medicine ball game invented by President Herbert Hoover's personal physician, Medal of Honor recipient Joel T. Boone, to help keep then-President Hoover fit. The Hoover Presidential Library Association and the city of West Branch, Iowa co-host a national championship each year.
Fistball is a sport of European origin. It is similar to volleyball in that players try to hit a ball over a net. The current men's fistball World Champions are Germany, winners of both the 2015 Men's World Championships and the fistball category at the 2017 World Games, while the current women's fistball World Champions are also Germany, after winning the 2016 Women's World Championships.
Inner tube water polo (ITWP) is a variation of the sport water polo with the important difference that players, excluding the goalkeeper, are required to float in inflatable inner tubes. By floating in an inner tube, players experience less contact and expend less energy than traditional water polo players, not having to tread water. This allows casual players to enjoy water polo without undertaking the intense conditioning required for conventional water polo.
Sitting volleyball is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor during the game.
Several sports related to volleyball have become popular. Beach volleyball is an event at the Olympics, and sitting volleyball at the Paralympics. Other varieties are localised, or are played at an amateur or informal level.
Newcomb ball is a ball game played as a variation of volleyball.
Bossaball is a team sport that originated in Spain and was conceptualised by Belgian Filip Eyckmans in 2005. Bossaball is a ball game between two teams, combining elements of volleyball, football and gymnastics with music into a sport. It is played on an inflatable court featuring a trampoline on each side of the net. The trampolines allow the players to bounce high enough to spike the ball over the net and score direct points.
Paddle-ball is a sport that is played on a court half the size of a tennis court, using paddle racquets amongst two players or in doubles with two teams consisting of two players. The Paddle-ball paddle is made of wood or graphite and has holes for less air friction. Below are the instructions for single games.
Roundnet is a net sport inspired primarily by concepts from volleyball. It was originally created in 1989 by Jeff Knurek although the equipment he created for the game became outdated and lost popularity in 1995. The sport experienced a revival in 2008 when Spikeball Inc. began promoting it. The company manufactures equipment for the sport, and so "spikeball" became a common name for the sport. There are multiple ways to play roundnet. Most games consist of four players, but there are also two- and six-player variants. Differences include where the players line up and infraction penalties, among others. The materials used in roundnet include a small trampoline-like object with string netting, a small bouncing ball with a 12-inch circumference, and four players. Players initially line up directly across from one another, forming an even diamond around the net at the start of a point. In all versions, the game starts with a serve from one team to another, continues as long as the ball is being hit by players back to the net, and ends when an infraction occurs between either the players or the ball. The game is constantly evolving, with new defensive strategies, serving stances, and playstyles being developed every season. The first ever Roundnet World Championship was scheduled for September 2020 in Belgium.
Snow volleyball is a winter team sport played by two teams of three players on a snow court divided by a net. The objective of each team is to score points by sending a ball over the net so as to ground it on the opponent's court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent. A team is allowed up to three touches to return the ball across the net, and individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively.
