What Does The Libero Do When Rotation Occurs

Assuming rally scoring, a volleyball team rotates players every time they win a point, so long as they did not win the point immediately before the current point. If they continue to win points consecutively, they stay in that rotation.In teams where players specialize in their positions (defensive specialists/liberos, setters, middles, outsides, right sides), they alternate their positions again as soon as they lose a point, given they had won the point previous. Technically, they are still in the same rotation (player in right back must still be to the right of all back row players and behind the player in right front), but they are usually occupying a different location on the court, due to tactics meant to maximize each player's strengths. Most rotations are meant to make it easier for the setter to get to their base near the net in the center and set the second contact on that team's side of the net.To summarize, there are twelve rotations. Six of them (serve receive rotations) begin each time the team's serving streak ends, and the other six (serving rotations) begin each time a serving streak begins, regardless of the duration of the serving streak.

The libero can be subbed in for any player at any time but she typically is subbed in for the middles. So at the start of play, she subs in for the middle in the back row spot. She plays there until that middle rotates to the front. She is then subbed for the second middle who now rotates to the back. Because it’s the libero, this is tracked easily by the game desk, but as spectators we don’t often see the sub. The middles just run on and off the court once they are done playing front row.there is one exception here. The libero can only serve one time. So she serves for one of the middle. When it’s the other middle’s turn to serve, that middle may serve or another player may come in to serve for her. That is typically the only time you will see the libero off the court — when it’s time for the middle to serve and the libero has already served for the other middle.

Most of the time, the libero comes on for a middle blocker. This is because most of the time, the middle blockers tend to be the worst passers on the court.Here are the rules for liberos:You can only play back rowTherefore, you can only come on the court when the player you are going in for is about to go back row, when you are about to serveYou can rotate in for two different players, but you can only serve for one of themThe one you don’t rotate in for should be the one who is the more consistent server, who hits better serves, or passes better.For the one who is serving, you rotate in after you lose the point and enter serve receiveYou rotate in behind the 10-foot line, and it doesn’t count as a subAll subs are made in front of the 10-foot line and need the referee’s permissionBecause the libero switch does not count as a sub, to avoid confusion, you must switch in from behind the 10-foot line

Typical rotational faults are:Lining up out of order/serving out of order. This happens quite often with newer teams and new rotations/situations, especially with young players just learning the game, new team members unfamiliar with their positions, or a player not used to being in a particular position, or if the players are not experienced with playing certain positions and switching to them on the serve, and then switching back before the next serve, if teams are trying out new lineups that they have not practiced enough. This often occurs after a change of possession when rotating the serve. This happens so frequently that team rotation cards are commonly found in both referee’s and coaches equipment.Improper substitution. This usually happens when too many players try to sub in at once and they do not wait for the ref’s approval to enter/exit the court.Overlapping positions. This commonly occurs when players are switching positions on the serve and they are overeager and leave before the serving motion begins. Most often this occurs between the opposite and an outside, or a back row setter coming to the front. So if the setter is starting from the right-back position, both the setter’s feet cannot be closer to the net than both the feet of the player starting in the right-front position at the time of the serve.Actively blocking opponents view. During some rotations, the front row players will line up close to each other while preparing to switch to their hitting/blocking assignments at the serve. This stack of bodies may block the view of the service receiving team, but this is perfectly legal. The receiving team players should adjust their positions slightly so they can see the server and the ball. What is not legal is if the blockers then actively adjust their positions to continue to block their opponents view. This is more of a sportsmanship issue, but a team can make the referee aware of the situation, and if it persists, can result in penalties to the offending team.Any of these violations will usually result in a point being awarded to the other team and a loss of service if applicable.

Going to add to Tyler's answer a bit, just for clarity!It is true that 12 players is the maximum number of players per team. You have a set number of substitutions per each game/set (if you're playing best 2 of 3 or 3 of 5 sets per one match). The number of subs per game is different at different levels; some allow 12 and others allow 15, and I think I've seen as many as 18 (at the high school level).When a player subs in for another player, they are essentially subbing in for that position and are only allowed to be subbed in for that position. The way that it's worded in some rule books is that there should be no "change to the position" of players when substitution occurs. For example, there might be 3 people who play in a certain position. Thus, subbing them all in for each other (not all at the same time, of course) means that none of those players can be subbed for any other person on the team (except in the case of emergency). This does not apply to the libero. Main point of this is that your team is not restricted to an exact 6 to 6 mapping of starters to subs.There is now a way for Liberos to serve in the rotation, but it is true that when they enter the court, it is not counted as a substitution.

Imagine your team is composed of the best hitters in the country. Each one hits differently, but they all earn 7+ kills a game.Now imagine they play another team composed of average hitters, a good setter, and an amazing libero. The first team, let’s call them team A, can hit way better than the second, Team B, but they can’t pass team B’s serves or hits. Because of this, team B can win.You need a well-rounded team to play volleyball, which means having a successful libero.It’s easy to see why one would ask this question because often times people miss the spectacular digs and passes and only see the big swings. But if you pay attention to them, liberos are sure to astound you with their skill.

Liberos are what I and some others like to call the primary passer. As a libero, your main job is to provide good passes to your setter. It's always great to see a libero who can set, serve, hit, etc, but if you can't pass, you're not going to make it as a libero. So, if you want to be a libero, focus on passing and all aspects related to passing. You should be able to provide near perfect passes on free balls, and also be ready to dig and chase balls that someone else has shanked. I would also recommend practicing proper dives and rolls.Liberos aren't always short, but there seems to be a pattern among volleyball players that the taller players have trouble getting lower to the ground, so I guess being short helps in that respect. There's also a rule that liberos can't jump and attack a ball that is above the top of the net. So, if you're short, you still may be able to jump and attack the ball, giving you a bit more power.