VOLLEYBALL TERMINOLOGY

A sport that is played with 5 players on either side of the net, the sport is very fast paced and requires a lot of skill. The objective is to successfully ensure that the ball reaches the court of the opponent, using at the most three touches of the ball. The same person isn’t allowed to touch the ball more than once consecutively. The thing that fascinates about the sport is that although the sport is widely encouraged and extremely popular at school, it somehow doesn’t feature at the national level with the same enthusiasm. The sport is extremely engrossing when played and equally interesting when watching on the TV. Here are some of the rules and terms that will help you get familiar with the game.

ROTATION

It is the movement or the changing of the player positions through the serving position around the court and it is usually done when there is a side out.

STUFF

When the ball is deflected back in to the attacking opponent’s court or floor by means of a block, a slang term for block is used which is called Stuff.

YELLOW CARD

The Official issues a warning to the players or the coach by means of the yellow card. If the card is received twice by any player or coach, it would result in them being disqualified. However, a card doen not result in loss of a serve or a point.

RED CARD

When an official wants to punish a player or coach for a severe offense he issues a red card. The red card is shown by the official with or without prior warning (by means of a yellow card). The consequences of a red card may be that the player is disqualified, or the team has a loss of point or a loss of serve.

JUNGLE BALL

Usually when people who don’t have any knowledge how to play a volleyball game, they are referred to as playing a “Jungle Ball”. Another term that is commonly used is for this is “Picnic Volleyball”.

MORE ABOUT THE THE LIGHTNING BOLT

Born in Sherwood Content, a small town in Trelawny-Jamaica, Usain St. Leo Bolt has stayed true to his last name. For a person who earlier in his career had little interest in Track and Field, it seems ironic that he is holder of the two fastest running events on earth. In his school days, he was more interested in Cricket until his coach spotted his speed and athleticism and suggested that he would do better in Track & Field events. It is also known that had Bolt not been introduced into the world of athletics he would have gone on to become a fast bowler. An ardent supporter of Waqar Younis, It would have indeed been interesting to see him bowl the way he runs. His interest in cricket doesn’t stop there, as he is also a big fan of Mathew Hayden, Sachin Tendulkar and West Indies opener Chris Gayle. Bolt also has an eye for Football and has let known that Manchester United is his favorite team. Some of his personal records are given below

100m - 9.58s WR

200m - 19.19s WR

400m - 45.28s

4 x 100m - 37.10s WR

YOUTH PLAYER POACHING

Signing youth players from clubs all over the world is a very sensitive issue that has had equal number of people voicing their opinions for it and against it. Recently Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has come out in support of clubs signing youth players stating that these youth players who have the potential to make it big need to be given the correct platform for them to establish themselves in the football world. And the only way that these players are going to get the correct platform is by playing for these big clubs at the very highest level. In contrast to this the clubs such as Le Harve, Lens have all stated their disapproval of this. They feel that there should be age limit which has to be reached before they can move to clubs. Although I agree that these clubs are being robbed of the talent that they have produced, it would be unfair for these clubs to hold back a promising player from showcasing his talent on a higher level. I believe that the best possible solution for this is for the club which is interested in the player to provide the club which has produced such a talent with a suitable compensation package. I don’t see any other way in which both the clubs can be benefited. Banning clubs from signing young talents isn’t the solution to improve the game of football.

AN INSIGHT INTO TENNIS

A sport that has picked up in India in recent years, Tennis is indeed a very accelerating and entertaining sport to watch. I’ve been a fan of this “easy on the eye” sport for quite long and I keep encouraging people to watch Tennis and it is indeed difficult to convince people in this Cricket crazy nation. In all honesty the sport isn’t that complicated. The motive is to outplay the opponent on the other side of the net, and there is a certain play area where the ball is allowed to bounce, beyond which it is out of bounds. Here are some simple terms that you should get accustomed to make your understanding of the game better.

LET:

During the service, if the ball clips the net tape and falls in the appropriate service box then it is referred to as Let and the server is allowed to take his service again. If however the ball clips the net tape and falls outside then the serve is a fault and the server is not allowed to take his serve again and has move on to his 2^nd serve or the next point depending on whether the serve is a 1^st serve or a 2^nd serve.

SECOND FLIGHT

The motion of the ball in the air after it has bounced.

LOVE

In the tennis language the most common term used is “love” which refers to nothing. Some people attribute its origin to the word “l’oeuf” from the French language. While some people say that it comes from the opinion that to do something for love is like to do something for nothing. But both explanations aren’t proven and verified.

OVERRULE

The chair umpire has the power and the choice to change a decision that is given by any of the line judges.

PLACE-UP

The tossing of the ball before the player serves.

BAGEL

The process of winning or losing the set to love is referred to as a Bagel. Ex: 6-0