Volleyball uniforms
August 11, 2008 11:38 PM   Subscribe

A question about Volleyball (real, not that Beach crap) uniforms.

So I was watching USA vs Cuba and the American #6 had a predominantly blue uniform while the rest of the team were wearing predominantly white. Cuba also had at least one player with a markedly different colour scheme. Can someone explain? Thanks.
posted by Neiltupper to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (10 answers total)
 
Best answer: I believe this is called the Libero player, whose role is defensive and, according to the rules on the above-linked site, must wear a "contrasting color" jersey designating himself.
posted by fireoyster at 11:55 PM on August 11, 2008


Response by poster: Thanks for the answer and it's speed!
posted by Neiltupper at 12:06 AM on August 12, 2008


A followup question. What is the point of the Libero? Why can't a specialized defensive player just be part of the normal team?
posted by salmacis at 3:06 AM on August 12, 2008


And a (somewhat) related question...

In a men's match I saw a night or two ago (Germany v Poland?) a few of the players had blue stickers on their biceps which extended past the inside of their elbows. I was wondering whether they were meant to enhance performance or decrease the risk of injury. Or just to look dorky? ;-)
posted by puffmoike at 6:02 AM on August 12, 2008


What was the motivation for adding the libero to the game in the first place? Generally rules in long-standing sports aren't tinkered with for no reason.
posted by smackfu at 8:20 AM on August 12, 2008


What was the motivation for adding the libero to the game in the first place? Generally rules in long-standing sports aren't tinkered with for no reason.

In the last ten or so years since I started following the sport, they switched to rally scoring, changed the number of points to win a set, added (and tweaked) the libero, added the ability to play the ball from below the waist, changed where you could serve from, allowed you to hit the net with a serve, and stopped calling double-hits on a first hit. Surely no fully-developed sport has seen its rules change as much as volleyball.
posted by recoveringsophist at 10:21 AM on August 12, 2008


Thanks for the expertise and opinion! These explanations are very helpful; it's just frustrating when you're playing casually (say, at a picnic or whatnot) to not have a standard, mostly unchanging set of 'rules' to appeal to.
posted by recoveringsophist at 11:12 AM on August 12, 2008


Out of curiosity, what is it that you have against beach volleyball? It'd stick out like a sore thumb if you said, "I have a question about doubles tennis (real, not that singles crap)." Beach volleyball is 2v2 and on sand, but essentially the same sport and quite legit.
posted by explosion at 12:18 PM on August 12, 2008


explosion: I think that was in reference to the previous beach volleyball / bikini questions.
posted by mbrubeck at 1:34 PM on August 12, 2008


Response by poster: it's its
posted by Neiltupper at 1:21 PM on August 19, 2008


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