Beach Volleyball
📚 Original educational summaries — the official source prevails.PublishedUpdated on June 24, 2026
Zen Ref
The assistant that explains the rules simply.
A point is scored on every rally: the team that wins the rally scores, whether or not it served. If the receiving team wins the rally, it scores and gains the right to serve. The serving player alternates between the two partners each time the team regains the serve.
Answers based on Score Zen summaries. The official source prevails.
Summary
Beach volleyball pits two teams of two players against each other on a sand court divided by a net. Each team has a maximum of three touches to send the ball back over the net without letting it land on its own side. It is an Olympic discipline governed internationally by the FIVB.
Objective
Land the ball in the opponents' court or force them into a fault, while preventing the ball from touching the sand on your own side.
Key rules
- •Teams of 2 players, with no substitutions and no fixed positional rotation.
- •A maximum of 3 touches per team before returning the ball.
- •A player may not touch the ball twice in a row (except right after a block).
- •The ball must be hit, never held or thrown.
- •The serve is made from behind the back line and must clear the net.
- •The block counts as one of the team's 3 touches.
Full rules
Unlock official mode, detailed scoring, sanctions, referee gestures, glossary, history and sources with Score Zen Essentiel.