• Sand volleyball is an official Olympic sport with set rules and regulations.beach volleyball image by Pix by Marti from Fotolia.com
  
  Sand, or beach, volleyball is thought to have been first played in 1915 in Hawaii, 25 years after the indoor version of the game was played in Massachusetts. The first pro tour was created in the 1970s and sand volleyball became an official Olympic sport in 1996. Although spectators may assume that rules are lax and players are untrained because the game is played on the beach, sand volleyball has just as many rules and regulations as its sibling sport played inside gymnasiums.
  
  

The Court

• A sand volleyball court is 52.5 feet by 26.3 feet, divided at the halfway point by a net anchored to the ground with wooden posts. The net height differs for men's and women's teams. For men, the net stands just under eight feet tall; for women and mixed doubles, the net stands just under seven and one-half feet. Sand should be free of any holes, chipped shells, towels or other equipment, with lines clearly visible made of rope, thick tape or other material.
  
  

Players

• Competitive sand volleyball is played with two people on a team (for social play, any amount of people, usually up to six, may play). Teams consist of two men playing two men, two women playing two women or a mixed set on each side. Unlike some other sports, players can not be substituted; if someone is injured or can not continue the game, the team forfeits. One difference from traditional indoor volleyball is that the two team players may play anywhere on their side of the net; there is no fixed position at the net, in the middle or in the back.
  
  

Service

• Either team may win the point on the serve. This is called rally scoring, as compared to regular scoring where only the serving team can secure a point. Sand volleyball servers must serve from behind the court's line and may not step over the line at any point during the serve. If the ball touches the net during a serve and goes over, it is redone one time. If it touches the net again or hits the net and bounces back into the serving team's side, the serve is forfeited. The other team may block a serve (this is a frequent occurrence) by putting their arms or bodies up close to the net, but no part of their bodies may actually touch the net on either side.
  
  

Scoring

• A sand volleyball game is won when a team wins two games out of three. If each team has one win, a third game is played. If one team has won both sets, the third game is not played. Games are played to 21 points, with each score being valued at one point. In case of a tie (both teams are at 20 points), the game must be won by two points (for example, a score of 22 to 20 or 24 to 22). In case of a third game (when each team has won one set), the game is played to 15 points.