Two against two around a circular net. The four of you stand 90 degrees apart. One player serves the ball off the net at the opponent standing directly opposite. That team has up to three touches to put the ball back onto the net, then it is the other team's turn. Whoever wins the rally wins the point.
Everyone takes a position. Four players
around the set, 90 degrees apart. You and your partner are opposite each other, not next to
each other. That feels wrong for about ten minutes and then it feels obvious.
The serve. The server hits the ball down
onto the net so it bounces up towards the player standing directly across from them. Only
that player may take the serve. Their partner has to stay out of it.
Three touches. The receiving team gets up
to three, alternating between the two of them. Nobody may hit twice in a row. Almost
everyone ends up using all three in the same shape: receive, set, hit.
Back onto the net. The third touch has to
put the ball onto the net. Now possession flips and the other team has three touches.
Everybody moves. Once the serve is away
there are no sides, no halves and nothing to stay behind. All four of you move around the
net for the whole rally.
The rally ends when a team cannot legally return the ball, and the other
team takes the point.
"Wait, no sides at all, Jakub?" None. It is the thing volleyball players find hardest, because
their instinct is to hold a position and cover a zone. Here you go where the ball is, and
getting out of your partner's way is a real skill you have to learn.
The serve, and what makes one illegal
You get two serves, the way you do in tennis. One fault costs nothing and you serve again.
Two faults in a row and the other team takes the point.
The faults a beginner actually runs into, straight from the IRF rulebook:
The ball hits the rim or the legs directly.
The ball misses the set entirely.
The ball touches the set more than once.
The ball comes off the net above the receiver's shoulders.
Pockets. The ball hits a side third of the net and shoots off sideways, which is unreturnable and therefore not allowed.
In a garden game you can ignore most of this and call rim hits only. The shoulder rule is the
one worth keeping from day one, because without it the serve becomes a smash and nobody has
any fun.
Three touches, and the rule people always get wrong
A team is entitled to a maximum of three hits, alternating between players.
That second half is the part people miss. You cannot receive the ball and then set it for
yourself. You touch, your partner touches, you touch.
One exception in the rules that saves arguments: if both teammates touch the ball at the same
time on the first contact of a possession, that counts as one touch. After
the first touch, a simultaneous contact counts as two.
You do not have to use all three. One touch straight back onto the net is legal and is
sometimes the right answer. It is just rarely the best one.
How the score works, in short
Every rally is a point, no matter who served. Games usually run to 21, win by two. That is
all you need tonight, and the full version, including the tie at 20 and what a hard cap is,
lives on the scoring page.
Who serves first? The rulebook says a coin flip or one game of rock, paper, scissors. I have
never seen anyone in a park do either. Whoever holds the ball starts.
What you can safely ignore on day one
The full ruleset runs to twenty pages, and roughly two of them matter to you right now. The
rest exists because four people playing without a referee need a written answer for every
argument they might have.
Ignore hinders, the no hit zone, pivot feet, and everything about seeding and formats.
Keep three things: three touches alternating, the ball has to hit the net and not the rim,
and the serve stays below the receiver's shoulders.
There is no referee in this sport, not even at a world championship. Players call their own
game, and when they cannot agree the rules say replay the point. Learn that habit early and
you will fit in anywhere.
Common questions
Get four people around the net and play one game to 21. You will learn more in that game than
in anything I can write here. Then come back for the parts that annoyed you.
Quick guide: the world championship in brief
How do you play Spikeball?+
Two teams of two stand around a circular net, the four players 90 degrees apart. One player serves the ball off the net towards the opponent standing directly opposite. That receiving team has up to three touches between them to put the ball back onto the net, and then possession switches. Once the serve is away there are no sides and no boundaries, so all four players can move anywhere. The rally ends when a team fails to return the ball legally, and every rally is worth a point to whoever wins it.
How many touches does each team get?+
Up to three, and they have to alternate between the two players. The same player may not hit the ball twice in a row. In practice almost every rally uses all three touches in the same pattern: receive, set, hit.
Where do the players stand at the start of a point?+
The four players start in four positions around the set, 90 degrees apart. The receiver is the player positioned 180 degrees across from the server, and only that designated receiver may field the serve. Once the ball is in play everyone can move freely.
Are there any boundaries in roundnet?+
Not for the players. Tournament courts have an outer boundary circle 8.5 m from the net, but it defines the playing space rather than an area you must stay inside during a rally. There is no line dividing the two teams, which is the single biggest difference from volleyball or badminton.
How many serves do you get?+
Two, like in tennis. A single fault costs nothing but the serve is replayed. Two successive faults by the same server give the point to the other team.
What counts as a bad serve?+
The main ones a beginner meets: the ball hits the rim or the legs directly, the ball misses the set entirely, the ball touches the set more than once, or the ball comes off the net higher than the receiver's shoulders. There is also the pocket, where the ball hits a side third of the net and shoots sideways in an unplayable way. All of these are faults on the server.
Who serves first?+
The rules settle it with a coin flip or one game of rock, paper, scissors. In a garden game, whoever picks up the ball first.
