When a player steps over or on the line when serving, and he or she was caught by the line judge or even referee, the official would immediately point down at the offending line to indicate a player has violated the baseline. The line judges are the officials normally assigned to the side and baselines. The two lines that form each end of the volleyball court is the baseline. It is illegal to step over or on the baseline during the serve when serving in volleyball. To show exactly what happened, a small circular motion would be made by the referee to indicate that a rotation area has occurred. When you see a referee straightening his arm at a 45-degree angle towards the floor on the side of the team at fault, it means he’s awarding a point. A team will be awarded a point if its opponent stood in the wrong location at the time of making serves, or probably if a wrong person serves the ball. When the other team is serving and a point is awarded to your team, you must rotate one position in a clockwise direction.

Illegal Alignment/ Improper ServerĪs a team, you must start each rally in a specific rotation in the game of volleyball, meaning you must stand in the appropriate order on the court.

Replay: Cross arms in front of the body to signal a replay of a point.

Substitution Error: Signal by crossing the wrists to indicate a substitution error.

Time-Out: Make a “T” shape with both hands to signal a time-out.

Held Ball: Hold one hand steady while moving the other hand up and down to signal a held ball.

Center Line Fault: Swipe an open hand across the centerline to indicate a centerline fault.

Four Hits: Tap the top of the opposite forearm with the hand to signal a four-hit violation.

Antenna Fault: Signal by extending both arms and pointing to the antenna to indicate an antenna fault.

Double Contact: Hold one hand vertically above the other to show a double contact violation.

Touch (Block or Attack): Flick fingers of one hand to signal a touch off a blocker or attacker.

Ball Out: Signal with a hand moving outward to show that the ball is out of bounds.

Ball In: Point towards the floor on the side where the ball landed to indicate an in-ball.

Foot Fault: Tap the foot with the hand to indicate a foot fault during service.

Net Fault: Extend arm straight up and then swipe the hand across the net to signal a net fault.

Back-Row Attack: Signal a back-row attack with an open hand facing upward.

Rotation Error: Circular motion with one hand over the other to indicate a rotation error.

Substitution: Pointing at the player entering the game.

Side Out: Both arms extended to the side to signal a side out.

Point Awarded: One arm raised to indicate which team scored.

Here’s a detailed cheat sheet of common volleyball referee hand signals: There are over 20 official signals for various rulings and game situations. Key signals include point (1 arm raised), side out (both arms), and substitution (pointing). In volleyball, referees use hand signals to communicate decisions.

9 man volleyball hand signals