Overview
Spikeball is a high energy game that has become very popular on beaches and college campuses. The rules are similar to volleyball, but rather than hitting the ball over a net back to their opponent, players have three touches to bounce the ball off of a net back to their opponent. Your guests will definitely break a sweat and maybe even pick up a few grass stains playing this game.

Setup

• Find a flat area approximately 20’ x 20’ or larger

  • It’s more fun to play on a soft surface so you can dive for balls without getting any bumps or bruises, but hard surfaces work fine, too.

• Place the net in the center of the area

• You may need to tighten the net by pulling loops of the net further over the circular frame, but only do this in places where it’s easy to do so. If you’re straining to get the net over a hook, then it’s already tight enough.

• The ball will arrive at the appropriate inflation level. It will be softer and less inflated than you might expect. This is how the pros play. You’re welcome to add or remove air with a sports needle.

Teams
The most common way to play is 2v2. If you’re trying to get more people involved you can adapt the rules to play 3v3.

Getting Started
The players space themselves around the net before each point. Teammates should begin next to each other, but once the ball is served there are no designated sides or positions. Anyone can go anywhere.

How To Play
Remember the rules are very similar to volleyball. The main difference is that you return the ball to the other team by bouncing it off the net rather than hitting it over a net.

• Each point begins with a serve. In the diagram, if the Red Team is serving, R1 would hit the ball onto the net so that it bounces up to B1, the opposing player straight across. For beginners, we strongly encourage friendly serving rather than trying to score on the serve.

  • The service must bounce cleanly off the net. It cannot touch the rim.

  • A missed serve counts as a point for the opposing team and the ball goes to them.

• Your team can touch the ball up to 3 times to return it to the net. Think “bump, set, spike.”

  • You cannot pass to yourself. The ball is never touched by the same player two times in a row.

  • Your team is not required to use all 3 touches to return the ball.

• A point is scored when your opponent fails to return the ball to the net.

  • The ball hits the rim or the the ground.

  • The ball hits too softly on the net and either bounces multiple times or settles on the net.

• Rally scoring - A point is scored on every rally regardless of who served to start the point.

• Games are most often played to 11, 15, or 21, but you must win by 2 points.

Serving Order
Don’t get caught up on this. Again, it’s just like volleyball. Each individual serves until his/her team loses a point, and the serving order stays the same throughout the game.

• The team that wins the point gets to serve the next point.

• If R1 serves the point and the Red Team wins the point, then R1 serves again. R1 and R2 trade starting positions after each consecutive point they win (alternating which opponent he/she is serving to).

• Once the Blue Team wins a point, the serve goes to B1. B1 serves until the Blue Team loses a point. B1 and B2 trade starting positions after each consecutive point they win.

• Then when the Red Team wins a point, they’ll get the serve back and it will be R2’s turn to serve, and so on. R1 > B1 > R2 > B2 > R1…

Other Rules & Notes

• Pocket shot - A “pocket” occurs when the ball hits the area of the net very close the rim (without touching the rim) causing it to bounce in an unexpected direction. This is a legal shot, but it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish from a shot that illegally touches the rim. If you and your opponent can’t agree on the call, simply replay the point.

  • If a serve is deemed to be a pocket shot, then re-serve the point without penalty.

More Resources

• https://spikeball.com/pages/official-rules