• Volleyball is played by men and women throughout much of the world.volleyball girl image by alice rawson from Fotolia.com
  
  The Federation of International Volleyball, or FIVB, sets the rules for international professional volleyball play. Its rules are the ultimate authority on play and conduct. Position of the feet can be an important issue in the rules in determining fair player positioning and judging both back row attacks and services to be fair or foul.
  
  

Barefoot Volleyball

• Section 4.4 of the rulebook regards equipment changes, including shoes. The rule indicates referees may allow players to play barefoot in absence of functional equipment. However, in world or official competitions, players must wear shoes.
  
  

Foot position

• Section 7.4.of the FIVB rules regard the way foot position is used to define proper player position. For a serve to be fair, front row players must have at least part of their feet closer to the center line than back row players. Similarly, each side player must have part of their feet closer to the sidelines than the center player. If players are in violation of these rules, a positional fault may be called, leading to the loss of the point.
  
  

Feet on Opponent's Court

• Rule 11.2.2.1 clarifies that a player's foot may cross the center line, the net, during play as long as part of the foot either remains physically over the line or in contact with it.
  
  

Service Foot Fault

• Rule 12.4.3 defines an official serve as one in which the feet are not touching the playing area of the court. However, players may jump over the line during the serve as long as their feet are not physically touching the floor inside the playing area at the time of contact with the ball. Touching any part of the court or line during a serve is a foot fault.
  
  

Back Row Attack Hits

• According to rule 13.2.2.1, for back row players making an attack hit, a back row attacker's feet must neither touch nor cross the attack line.