Sunday, May 6, 2018

An Overview of the Libero Position in Volleyball


Kevin Pratte has extensive experience as a K-12 physical educator and as an athletic director at Langston Hughes Academy. Kevin Pratte has also worked as a men’s and women’s volleyball coach at the collegiate level.

One of the most unique positions in the sport of volleyball is that of the libero, so much so that liberos are required to wear jerseys of a different color than those belonging to teammates. Defensive specialists, liberos can replace any back row player during dead ball situations without the need to notify an official. Furthermore, liberos can enter and exit the game without impacting a team’s total number of available substitutions. However, liberos cannot enter or exit the game as part of a normal round of substitutions.

In fact, the libero position is subject to several restrictions. For example, a libero cannot block shots, serve, or attack the ball above the height of the net. In tournament play, any player who replaces an injured libero is required to adhere to all libero rules for the duration of the match and tournament until the original libero is healthy enough to resume play.