Hi Steve…….How have you been?……There have been some questions during WB recently that have come up that I don’t see readily addressed in the rules I see online. Here they are:

1.A clear definition of “attacking the serve” Obviously a block or spike over the net of a serve is attacking but in some cases a fast serve that just clears the net and comes off the wall near the net and the defenseman puts a closed hand over his head to return the ball but well under the plane of the net and the ball comes back about as fast as it was served. To me any return where the ball is clearly under the plane of the net when contact is made is not attacking the serve but how do you interpret that?

2.How close to the net do you have to be to be a clean block…..I see the word “close” in the rules but not a clear definition how close you have to be…….and during the course of a game you get blocks not so close to the net ….to me any block that is made on a hard driven ball that is made above (not over) the net should be acceptable regardless of how far off the net you are…..otherwise if you try and put a measurement on close you have to be there is too much room for debate or you need a line show how close you need to be.

3.My understanding is that if a ball is hit off my back wall it cannot touch either sidewall before touching the other team (2 wall hit). To me it would make the game more challenging and give the player hitting off the back wall more options if that was allowed. I understand not allowing the 2 sidewall hit as that would give the player spiking the ball an unfair advantage but there is no such advantage when hitting off the back wall…..Just a thought….and a sidebar on the 2 wall hit if the ball hits the 1st wall and then contacts the net before reaching the 2nd wall is that a 2 wall hit also?

Thanks Steve!