20 Niche Volleyball Terms Every Player Should Learn
Author: Thalia U.
Posted on: 5/10/26
Last updated: 5/31/26
Do You know these 20 volleyball terms? Test yourself!
If you’re one season, or 5+ seasons into your volleyball career…you’ve likely heard a few (or all) of these terms used on our volleyball courts.
Test yourself! Do you know all 20 terms… or are you still learning?!
Lets dive right in and find out!
1) Free Ball
When the ball is on one side of the net, as we know, we get 1-3 touches before we must send it back over the net. On that 1st, 2nd, or 3rd touch we as defenders are looking to see how they will send the ball back over the net to us.
With a “free ball”, our opponents chose to forearm pass the ball back over the net to us. That is the easiest ball to receive as a defender, thus giving it the “free ball” name. Coaches want you to yell “FREE BALL!” when you see an opponent about to send the ball back over the net with their forearm so the team can utilize the opportunity.
You don’t want to mess up that opportunity… because that’s a chance to do a perfect (3 ball) pass, set, and attack!
2) Chicken Wing
A chicken wing in volleyball is a silly way coaches define a one-armed pass/touch. You typically will see this with younger or developing players whose instincts aren’t trained yet when receiving a tough ball. A forearm pass is done with both of your arms together, with a flat platform forming on your forearms.
A chicken wing is when an athlete uses only one of their arms and makes contact with the ball, with the goal of keeping it in the air/in play. Most coaches will train you to never pass with one arm as results are inconsistent depending on where the ball hits your singular arm.
3) Ace
An “ace” in volleyball is related to serving, but particularly how your opponents received your serve. When an athlete goes behind the service line and serves the ball over the net, they are often being graded on how their opponents received their serve. Was it easy to receive, or did they not even get a second touch on it?
You accomplish a serving ace when you serve the ball over the net and inside court lines with your opponent getting 0-1 touches on the ball. This can look like your opponent’s attempting a pass but “shanking” it (a term we learn later on in this blog post) or the ball hitting the floor without a touch. Typically, teams even have cheers for this when a teammate gets a serving ace!
4) Setter Dump
A setter dump is one-way setters earn “kills” (a term we learn later on in this blog post) or earn a quick side-out. Setters need to often take charge of the game, and this is one way they do that.
A setter dump is when the setter is in the front-row, and instead of setting the ball to an offensive hitter they instead offensively attack/tip/push the ball to their opponent’s side of the net themselves. This can be done as a “trick” to deceive their opponents to earn a quick point, or as a necessity when a pass is tight on the net and the setter needs to keep the ball in play or out of the net.
5) Shag
This is a term your coaches are going to hope you already know since it relates to taking care of your equipment and cleaning up during or after practices.
In volleyball (at least in the United States) “shag” or “shagging” means to gather all of the loose volleyballs around the gym and put them back into the ball cart. Often times coaches will say “shag all the balls!” and the team will run to grab the balls, place them in the ball cart, and move onto the next drill or activity.
6) Joust
A joust is related to at the net defense where both sides of the net/teams are active on the ball.
A joust in volleyball is when one athlete (on side a) battles another athlete on the opponent side (side b) by both athletes jumping at the net simultaneously and pushing the ball against their opponent. In a joust both sides are competing to push the ball onto their opponents’ side.
7) Pancake
A pancake is a defensive move mainly completed by professionals, or experienced defensive athletes. A pancake in volleyball is when an athlete “lays out” on the floor, stomach down, with one arm stretched out (palm facing the floor) aiming to have the ball bounce off their hand. It got its pancake name from how flat we aim to make our hands to ensure the ball bounces off our hand high enough to keep it in play.
8) Down Ball
A down ball in volleyball is an offensive attack sent over the net without a full aggressive spike/approach. Athletes typically do down balls when they are unable to take a normal attacking swing, often sending the ball over with control to keep the rally going while still putting pressure on the opposing team.
Typically, athletes will hit a down ball when they are “out of system”, a set is too tight on the net, or if its too far off the net.
9) Shank
A “shank” has differing definitions depending on where you are in the world, but for volleyball in the United States the word “shank” relates to how an athlete passed a ball.
A shanked ball, also known as a zero-ball pass, is when an athlete attempts to pass a ball, makes contact with the ball, but the ball never gets another touch on it following that initial shanked pass. A shanked pass is a dead play, meaning the pass was so poor that the play ended, resulting in other teammates not being able to get another touch on it.
10) Kill/Attack
A “kill” or attack in volleyball relates to our offense. When an offensive hitter (or back-row hitter) over hand swings at the ball with the intent of the ball going to their opponents side of the court, we call this an attack.
When that attack hits their opponents side of the court floor (inside court lines) with zero, or only one touch, we call this a “kill”. A kill means that offensive attack earned us a point/the serving possession and also earned that athlete a “kill” in their statistics.
11) Serve Receive
Thankfully this term explains itself! Serve receive is when we are receiving a serve from our opponent. That also means our opponent currently has serving possession, and that we (on serve receive) are trying to win the service back. We want one of our athletes to be serving, so you don’t want to be in serve receive for too long!
12) Out of System
An out of system play in volleyball is when things are not ideal offensively but communicating that we are “out of system” prepares us to still finish the ball/play.
When a team yells “setter out!” we are saying that our setter touched the first ball… meaning they cannot set the second touch/ball. This means we are “out of system” since our setter cannot set up our offense as we intend. Usually this means a libero, opposite, or any other player will take that second ball and set another athlete or attack the ball themselves.
13) DOnut/Campfire
The donut (also known as campfire) is an area on the volleyball court that many offensive hitters and zone servers aim for. To find the donut spot on the court you would need to find the center of the 10-foot line and take one step backwards (towards the service line, not towards the net).
The donut spot is difficult to defend, thus explaining why servers and attackers aim to hit that spot to earn points.
14) Back set
Sometimes volleyball terms are defined in the name, and a back set is a great example of that! A back set in volleyball is when an athlete, typically the setter, over hand sets the ball with the intent of sending the ball behind them. This often is done when offensive teams have a right side/opposite hitter who hits from the right side of the court (position 2) which is behind the setters ideal setting spot.
15) Zone Serving
Zone serving relates to serving (obviously) and is typically only seen with experienced or trained volleyball athletes. Zone serving is when an athlete is able to target specific areas on the court and overhand serve the ball to that spot. In game this often looks like a coach showing a position on the court with their hand (#1-6) to the athlete serving, and that athlete then serves to that targeted spot.
16) Dolphin DIve
A dolphin dive in volleyball is another term that the name helps explain what it means! When playing defense we have many ways to ensure the ball stays off the floor, and a dolphin dive is one of those options.
A dolphin dive in volleyball is when athletes throw their bodies to the ground, much like a dolphin’s dive in the water (our arms/elbows first, then torso) and their legs go up as their torso is on the ground. The goal is to forearm pass the ball, while the dolphin dive helps the athlete get to that spot on the court quickly. Typically this means that running to that area of the court would of been close to impossible, or that the ball would have been too low to the ground to pass by the time they reached the spot on the court.
17) Double
A double in volleyball relates to setting (over hand “passing”). A double is when an athlete attempts to over-hand set the ball, but instead of a smooth release from the hands, the ball contacts the hands at two different times before releasing from their hands. It is obvious when a double happens as the ball often spins (versus a smooth set which has no spin) and makes a distinct “thunk” sound as it hits multiple parts of the hands.
You will likely see a double in volleyball more often in youth or developing teams as they are still learning the proper technique of setting.
18) Rotation Position Vs. Base Position
These two terms mean very different things, but often times athletes mix them up. In volleyball your rotation position relates to your turn to serve. The athlete in position 1 serves, but we rotate every time we earn a point… so our rotation position is constantly changing. Your rotation position can be positions 1-6 on the court.
Position 1 is the service spot, position 6 is the back-row middle, position 5 is back left, position 4 front left, position 3 front middle, and position 2 is front right.
In volleyball your base position also connects to the court positions (1-6) Your base position is built around your job on the court. Are you a setter, outside, etc.? Where it gets confusing is that you do need to know your rotation position to correctly run to your base position. If your rotation position is currently in the front row (positions 2, 3, and 4) then your base position will be in the front row. If your rotation position is currently in the backrow (positions 1, 6, and 5) then your base position will be in the back-row.
In volleyball your base position surrounds your job on the court (S/RS/OH/L/DS) and if your rotation position is currently front or back row.
A setter or opposites base position will be on the right side of the court (positions 1, and 2).
An outside hitter or OH defensive specialists’ base position will be on the left side of the court (positions 4, and 5)
A middle hitter or liberos base position will be in the middle of the court (positions 6, and 3).
19) Tip Vs. Push
A tip and a push in volleyball refer to different ways to get the ball over the net/to your opponent’s side of the court. A tip is when a front-row player, typically an attacker or the setter, uses their fingertips to place the ball over the net, with one hand. This is a great way to catch your opponent’s off guard who may be prepared for a high-speed swing going to deep corners, when a tip will likely land before the 10ft line.
A push in volleyball is when an attacker uses both of their hands to aggressively extend the ball to their opponent’s side of the court. A push often resembles a chest pass in basketball as athletes use a lot of strength to push the ball deep.
20) Slide
A slide in volleyball is an offensive play that setters run with any of the attackers (middle, right side, outside). Depending on what rotation you are in, setters often times can call a play they want to run before the start of a serve, usually when we are on serve receive.
A slide is when an offensive hitter starts the play in front of the setter (typically position 3, middle) then when the first pass has made contact with your back-row, that is when the attacker “slides” or runs behind the setter for a back set. This is a tricky play that can make your attacker have zero blockers, making a clear view for an easier “kill”.
iN coNCLUSION…
How many did you already know/get right?! Let me know in the comments down below.
If you have any other volleyball terms you want to learn, or want added in another blog post please comment them down below or email me at:
defyinggravityvolley@gmail.com
I hope to see you in another blog post!
-Coach T