🏛️Official — FIVB
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Team Sports
2 players
outdoor
ball
10 essential rules
Beach volleyball is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), founded in 1947 and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. The sport operates under the FIVB Official Beach Volleyball Rules 2025–2028. While the FIVB governs both indoor and beach volleyball, the two disciplines...
The beach volleyball ball has slightly larger circumference and lower internal pressure than indoor balls for better control in windy conditions.
Circumference: 66–68 cm (26–26.8 in) — slightly larger than the indoor ball (65–67 cm); Weight: 260–280 g (9.2–9.9 oz) — slightly lighter than the indoor ball (260–280 g overlap, but beach balls tend toward the lighter end); Internal pressure: 0.175–0.225 kg/cm² (171–221 mbar; 2.49–3.20 psi)...
Width: 8.5 m (27.9 ft), spanning the full court width plus 50 cm overhang on each side; Height: Men: 2.43 m (7 ft 11.6 in). Women: 2.24 m (7 ft 4.2 in) — same heights as indoor volleyball; Mesh: 10 cm (3.9 in) square openings
Clothing: Athletes wear shorts (or bikini bottoms for women, though this is no longer mandatory) and tank tops or t-shirts. Long sleeves and long pants are permitted in all weather conditions. There is no minimum skin-exposure requirement. The previous FIVB mandate for women's bikini bottoms was ...
Playing court: 16 m x 8 m (52.5 ft x 26.2 ft), divided into two 8 m x 8 m halves by the net; No centre line: Unlike indoor, there is no marked centre line under the net; No attack line: Unlike the indoor 3 m attack line, beach volleyball has no restriction on where back-row players can attack (th...
Played on a sand court.
The sand surface is one of the defining features of beach volleyball and is carefully specified: Depth: Minimum 40 cm (15.7 in) of loose, levelled sand throughout the playing area and free zone; Quality: Fine-grained, free of stones, shells, debris, and any objects that could cause injury. Sand i...
A free zone of minimum 3 m (9.8 ft) must surround the court on all sides. For FIVB Beach Pro Tour events and the Olympics, the free zone is extended to a minimum of 5 m (16.4 ft) on each side and 6 m (19.7 ft) behind each end line.
Because beach volleyball is played outdoors, environmental conditions significantly affect play. Courts are oriented to minimise sun glare (ideally north-south alignment).
2 players per team. No substitutions allowed (exception: injury substitution if roster includes a reserve).
Call your own net touches, double contacts, and faults honestly
Beach volleyball's self-officiation culture demands players call their own fouls—net touches, double contacts, carries, and foot faults. Denying an obvious self-fault to steal a point is considered the gravest breach of sportsmanship in the game, more damaging than any competitive transgression.
Most prominent at recreational and amateur levels where no officials are present; at FIVB pro events referees watch for most violations, but players are still culturally expected to call obvious self-faults proactively.
Don't make distracting noise or sudden movement during opponent serve receive
While the opponent is receiving a serve, players on the serving team are expected to remain still and quiet. Yelling, clapping, or making sudden movements specifically timed to distract the passer is considered a serious breach of fair play, even when officials do not intervene.
Applies to on-court players; crowd behavior is separate. Sideline coaching noise is a distinct and more contested issue.
Play in your legitimate skill division — no sandbagging
Entering a tournament division well below your actual competitive level to improve chances of winning prize money or medals is widely condemned. Players known to sandbag face public criticism and social exclusion within the tight-knit beach volleyball tournament community.
Enforced largely by community reputation rather than official rule at domestic and regional circuits.
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