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You are here: Home / All The Lingo / Sports Terms That Begin With ‘S’ / Side Out

Side Out

side out

What Is The Definition Of Side Out In Volleyball?

What Is A Side Out In Volleyball? Definition & Meaning

1. This occurs in volleyball when the team who served the ball does not win the rally, therefore not winning a point and the opposing team is now allowed to serve.

In other words, a team earns the right to serve after they have scored a point, or their opponent caused an error or misplaced a hit that forfeited their right to continue serving.

What Is The Difference Between Side Out And Rally Scoring?

Side out scoring means that a volleyball team is only allowed to score when they have the serve. In side out scoring, the defensive side cannot score a point.  Rally scoring means that both the serving and receiving teams can score a point off of a serve. 

Most types of volleyball have phased out the side out scoring system because it can result in very long matches where teams just trade serves instead of scoring points. 

What Are Good Side Out Drills In Volleyball?

Practicing side out drills helps teams prepare to face strong servers on the opposing volleyball team. Side out drills work best with at least three players. Drills include passing to the setter, allowing the setter time to plan and set up positioning for the hitter, and the hitter making a strong attack at the opponent’s side of the court. 

Examples Of How Side Out In Used Commentary

1. Ross serves the ball to their opponent, who puts up a perfect set for the outside hitter who then slams the ball down for a kill. Johnson’s team has committed a side out and will now lose their opportunity to continue serving.

2. Johnson jump serves the ball to the receiving team who immediately returns the ball back over the net. The libero misplays the ball and hits it out of bounds, causing a side out and her teams opportunity to continue serving.

SportsLingo Goes The Extra-Inch With The Meaning Of Side Out

In older, previous versions of volleyball rules, the original meaning of the term side out meant that a team could only receive a point if they were the serving team. If you stopped the rally from the opposing side, then you “got the other side out” and earned the right to serve, but didn’t earn a point. However, you also prevented them from scoring. This rule was in play when games went to 15 instead of 25.

Now, the meaning has slightly changed, as a “side out” is when the receiving team wins the rally and earns the right to serve.

Sport The Term Is Used

1. Volleyball

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