Who is "libero" in volleyball? Game actions, rules

One of the key positions in modern volleyball is libero. It is not difficult to understand who a liberal is in volleyball. This is a special athlete, performing only protective functions.

From the history

Libero - the most recent role that appeared in modern volleyball. For the first time players in this position appeared on the site in 1998, right after making changes to the rules of the World Volleyball Federation. These were truly revolutionary changes. They approved the existence of a player who performs only protective functions.

According to experts, one of the main reasons for this was the desire to enable volleyball players with low growth to find their place on the site.

Functions of libero

After all, who is a liberal in volleyball? His main tasks are to take the pitch, as well as the attacking blows of the opponent, to play on the selection of rebounds from the block and discharges. And for this purpose, a small growth is ideal.

In this game, libero has a number of limitations. They are not allowed to participate in attacks and blocs.

Pioneers were men. One of the first to play with libero tried the national volleyball team of Bulgaria and the Dutch national team.

However, this innovation, like a number of others, did not take root immediately. For example, as zealously at first did not take the increase in the score in the game to 25 points, the permission to graze the grid when filing and play with his feet.

With the advent of libero, specialization began to play an important role in modern volleyball. More clearly began to stand out by players in terms of roles - central, game players, blocking and, of course, libero.

The famous libero

The volleyball team of Russia has brought up many strong libero who have repeatedly been recognized as the best at many major international tournaments.

At the beginning of the XXI century, Yevgeni Mitkov stood guard over the volleyball defensive lines. After him, the most famous Russian libero, Alexei Verbov, came to the national team. Honored Master of Sports of Russia, he twice recognized the best Libero of the World League, became the best in his role at the World Championships, Europe, the Beijing Olympics and many other competitions.

Together with Verbov, the Russian national volleyball team now includes another liberal, Artem Ermakov. This player is a Moscow "Dynamo", master of sports of international class. He was born in Nizhnevartovsk, so he started to play for the Samotlor club. Played for the Novy Urengoy "Torch", Ufa "Neftyanik", Kazan "Zenith", Odintsovo "Iskra", the team "Belogorye". He also has a number of achievements - the champion of Europe and the winner of the World League. Repeated champion of Russia and the winner of the Cup of the country.

Another notable libero is the Brazilian Sergio Dutra Santos. He is already a two-time Olympic champion and a two-time world champion, currently playing for the national team and the SSII team from São Paulo.

What qualities should a libero have?

A liberal player in volleyball must have a number of important qualities. The most important thing is a confident game when you receive a feed. In modern volleyball, the ball, when filed, flies at a speed of about 200 kilometers per hour. In men's competitions at a high level and even faster. Therefore, it is so important to immediately clearly take the ball on the back line and start developing your own attack.

Having taken the ball, he must give the pass to the binder who is already deciding who and how to hold the decisive attack.

Players in volleyball, performing the functions of libero, must have an explosive reaction, take powerful attacks and attack blows, move quickly on the back line, confidently take the ball with both hands in the fall at the site itself.

The Libero must read the game well. Therefore, in this position, as a rule, an experienced volleyball player plays, the young can not cope with such a task infrequently. In modern volleyball, the success of defense depends on the correct location on the court of each player and first of all libero, who must first take a flying projectile.

In addition to an excellent game in defense, he must be able to play well in the pass. After a little take the ball, you still need to accurately give it to the binder, who will launch an attack.

It is also important for him to be able to start the attack himself. This is necessary in the event that the binder does not have time on the ball or has himself accepted the pitch. There is one more important point. The Libero is the informal leader of the team, in many ways, like the captain, he is responsible for the mood and positive atmosphere on the playground.

Tactics of the game

The game actions with the appearance of libero on the volleyball court have changed a lot. Taking into account the standard arrangement, the binder starts the batch from the first zone. This is done so that he could pass a pass to any of the three attackers on the first line.

The volleyball defender then changes until the central blocker is at the back edge. After filing, the libero moves to the 5th zone. This is necessary in order for the volleyball team to be able to cover the most frequent directions of attacks. In this case, libero change with the game players zones.

Special Purpose

A thorough answer to the question of who is a liberal in volleyball, give official rules. The player of this role has its own special purpose.

Any team is allowed to assign a libero to any two players. At major international competitions, which are held under the auspices of the International Volleyball Federation, two players in the main application must be volleyball defenders.

In the official records of the match, they are recorded in separate boxes, the number of the player who performs protective functions is also indicated there.

Despite the fact that such a player often acts as an informal leader, according to the rules, he does not have the opportunity to be the captain of his teams or perform any captain's functions on the site.

Outfit libero

In order to find out at the time of the match who is a liberal in volleyball, it is easy to distinguish him in a special form, which differs not only from the form of rivals, but also from the colors of his own team.

Such players wear a uniform that in color should clearly contrast with the colors of the main players of the team. At the same time, it is allowed that it was a different model, but it should be numbered the same way as with the partners.

At major international competitions, a prerequisite is that libero have their own number.

Action libero on the site

On the court, a volleyball defender has the right to perform certain functions. The player, focused on protection, is allowed to exit instead of any partner located on the back line. In this case, the athlete himself can appear on the court only as a player of the back line. He is strictly prohibited from attacking from anywhere in the field. There is only one exception: if, at the moment when the ball gets libero, it is below the top edge of the net, then after the volleyball defender strikes the projectile can legally get to half the opponent and the point will be counted.

The Libero is prohibited from casting, blocking an attacking blow of an opponent's volleyball player or attempting a block.

The Libero enters the playground freely - this is not considered a standard substitute. On the site, he can go out as many times as he likes. The only condition is that between the substitution the completed ball must be played. In the event of an injury, instead of a libero, only the player who appears before the game can appear in the game.

Such appearances on the site are called substitutions, so as not to confuse them with replacements, the number of which is limited. It can only happen when the ball is out of the game and there was not yet a whistle allowing the execution of the pitch. At the start of the party, the libero enters the game after the second referee checked the starting line-up and approved it.

If the player has violated the rules of entering the court, then for the first time the judge is limited to an oral remark, without interrupting the game. The following similar episodes should end with stopping the meeting and fines for the offenders.

In cases where the libero is injured, any player can be appointed as a coach.