# Law 3: Balls (FIVB Official Volleyball Rules)

Volleyball · Law 3: Balls · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/volleyball/laws/law-3-balls/)

What a volleyball must be: its case and bladder, colour, size, weight and pressure; why every ball in a match must be identical and which events need FIVB-approved balls; and the five-ball system with its six ball retrievers.

## 3.31 The Ball's Standards

The materials, colours, circumference, weight and inside pressure a legal volleyball must have.

### Test 1: What a match ball must be

- The ball is a flexible case of leather or synthetic leather with a bladder of rubber or similar inside. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.1)
- The ball measures between 65 and 67 centimetres round. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.1)
- A legal ball weighs from 260 to 280 grams. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.1)
- Inflation is set between 0.30 and 0.325 kg/cm², about 4.26 to 4.61 psi. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.1)
- A ball may be one even light colour or a combination of colours. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.1)
- 275 g is inside the weight range, but 68 cm is beyond the 67 cm upper limit for circumference. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.1)
- Material and colour combinations of balls for international official events should follow FIVB standards. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.1)
- Only B is within every limit: A is over 280 g, C over 67 cm round, and D above 0.325 kg/cm². (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.1)
- The limits are 260 g and 280 g, so 270 g sits between them and 290 g is above both. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.1)
- The legal range is 65 to 67 cm, so 64 cm falls below it and 69 cm above it. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.1)

## 3.32 Uniform Balls and Ball Retrieval

Why the balls of a match must match, where FIVB-approved balls are required, and how the five-ball system and its retrievers work.

### Test 1: Same balls in a match, and ball retrieval

- Every ball in a match must share the same standards: size, weight, pressure, type, colour and so on. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.2)
- Approved balls are required at FIVB, World and Official Competitions and at National or League Championships. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.2)
- National and League Championships use FIVB-approved balls unless the FIVB itself agrees to something else. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.2)
- Top-level matches run a five-ball system so that play restarts quickly. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.3)
- Five balls go with six ball retrievers. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.3)
- Four retrievers take the corners of the free zone and the other two stand behind the 1st and 2nd referees. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.3)
- Retrievers keep the game flowing by rolling a ball to the server; drying the floor is the quick moppers' job. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Definitions (Ball retrievers and quick moppers))
- The corners are covered and one retriever is behind the 2nd referee, so the missing one belongs behind the 1st referee. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.3)
- Retrievers keep a ball ready so the server has it before the 1st referee authorises the service. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.3, 12.3; Definitions)
- Two retrievers stand behind the referees and four in the corners, with five balls and six retrievers in all. (Source: FIVB OVR 2025-2028, Rule 3.3)

Sources: FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025-2028, Rule 3 (paraphrased in original wording; original questions authored from the Rules, not reproduced)

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