The Screen Serve

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The Screen Serve – a reminder of what it is

It appears that more teams are falling foul of the illegal screen serve this year, not sure why this is but ultimately this fault is the responsibility of the server, who must pay attention to the teams stack or line up on court.

FIVB rule 13.5 states that the serve can not pass over two or more players of the serving team, this is considered a screen, which is hiding the flight of the ball from the opposition (particularly on a low flighted ball) and is shown to the right.

Coaching Note: The serving zone i.e. the baseline is nine metres wide, if you are using a team stack, make sure your server uses another part of the baseline.

Collective Screen
FIVB rule 13.5 also states that a screen can also be created by an individual player. This can happen when a team lines up with a player in the deep six position, and the server goes and stand on the baseline right behind the deep six player, thereby creating what is generally known as a backcourt screen.

Coaching Note: If you wish to use this line up, the player in deep six must bend over or crouch down, to allow a clear view of the server by the opposition.

Backcourt Screen
In Beach Volleyball, FIVB rule16.6 stats that a team mate of the serving team must not prevent either opponents from seeing the server or the path of the ball.

If this is the case, either opponent can request the offending player to move sideways to take up a different position. The referee only gets involved if the offending player refuses to move.

Beach Screen
A copy of all of these rules are available via the documents menu on the EDVA web site.