How Volleyball Serving Screens Work Explainer
A volleyball serving screen occurs when players on the serving team prevent the opponents from seeing both the service hit and the ball's flight path until it reaches the vertical plane of the net. The rule protects the receiving team's opportunity to read and react to the serve.
Players may create an individual or collective screen by waving their arms, jumping, moving sideways during the serve, or standing grouped so that the required view is hidden. Height alone does not automatically make a front-row player guilty; the actual visibility and coordinated actions matter.
If either the service hit or the flight path remains visible to the receiving team, the current FIVB wording says there is no screen. Officials judge the formation from the receivers' perspective and may warn teams about positioning before repeated behavior becomes a called fault.
When a screen is called, the serving team loses the rally and the opponent gains the point and service. The rule lets teams use ordinary formations and tactical serving positions, but not a moving human wall that conceals the action through the critical first part of the serve.
No. The group must hide both the service hit and the ball's flight path.
Waving, jumping, sideways movement, or deliberate grouping can create one.
The receiving team wins the rally and the right to serve.
Explore more "Explainers"
Discover additional explainers across politics, science, business, technology, and other fields. Each explainer breaks down a complex idea into clear, everyday language—helping you better understand how major concepts, systems, and debates shape the world around us.