New volleyball official

[ilyazhito]

In basketball, the sequence is different. That is one thing that new volleyball officials from a basketball background need to remember. Basketball officials are supposed to signal that a foul or violation happened first (because that signal also serves to stop the game clock), and then explain the violation/foul by providing a signal, and finally giving the consequence of the violation/foul (free throws, a designated spot throw-in with the direction, or free throws followed by possession, with the designated spot). Because volleyball is not played under time constraints (the scoreboard clock only counts down the time in intermissions, the pre-game warmup period, and timeouts), volleyball officials do not have the responsibility to stop the clock before indicating the fault and consequences (awarding a point, or a replay, in some situations). This is why the sequence in volleyball is reversed compared to basketball (whistle, with no accompanying signal, to tell the players that play is stopped, awarding the point (this determines who serves, now that volleyball uses rally scoring), and then explaining the reason for the award by signalling the fault).

The reason for demonstrative signals in basketball is because the action takes place quickly, and can be missed if one is not paying careful attention. The signals are a way for the official to explain and "sell" the call at the same time. In volleyball, the action is fast-paced, but most faults are obvious (ball hit the floor, ball went out of bounds, server stepped on the line, serve hit the net, etc.), so officials do not need to be as demonstrative in volleyball as they do in basketball.