REALVOLLEYBALL.com
Frequently Asked Questions

Examples of Our Volleyballs Leather Indoor Volleyballs Tachikara SV5W Gold Molten IV58L-N Official Ball of the NCAA Composite Indoor Volleyballs Tachikara SV5WSC Mikasa VQ2000 Leather Outdoor Volleyballs Spalding King of the Beach 62779 Wilson Gold AVP Composite Outdoor Volleyballs Wilson AVP Official Game Ball Mikasa VLS200 Beach Champ Official Outdoor Ball of the Olympics

Indoor vs. Outdoor Volleyballs
The first major consideration is whether the volleyball is an indoor volleyball or an outdoor volleyball. Indoor volleyballs are molded whereas outdoor volleyballs are stitched. The seams between the panels on the volleyball will look different and are produced differently.

Indoor Volleyballs: On indoor volleyballs, the panels are glued to an inner lining so the seams look smooth on the volleyball. This production method gives the volleyball more consistent playability. Indoor volleyballs weigh just a little less than outdoor volleyballs because indoor volleyballs do not need to contend with blowing wind.

Outdoor Volleyballs: On outdoor volleyballs, it is obvious that the panels are sewn because you can see the holes and the threads holding the panels together. This stitching makes the volleyball more durable. Outdoor volleyballs also weigh just a little more than indoor volleyballs to prevent the volleyball from blowing in the wind as much.

Examples of Our "Official" Volleyballs Wilson AVP Official Game Volleyball (AVP) Mikasa MVP200 Volleyball (Men's & Women's Indoor Volleyball 2008 Beijing Olympics) Mikasa VLS200 Volleyball (Men's & Women's Outdoor Volleyball 2008 Beijing Olympics) Molten IV58L-N NCAA Volleyball (NCAA Women's Volleyball Championships) Molten IV58L-3N Super Touch Volleyball (NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships) Baden VX5E Perfection Volleyball (NFHS offical stamp for high school play)

As far as we know, no indoor professional volleyball leagues exist in the USA. At the very least, none of the manufacturers that we deal with list any of their volleyballs as official products of any professional league, excluding the 2008 Olympics.

Indoor/Outdoor Professional Volleyball Leagues (Worldwide)

The official balls for professional volleyball leagues worldwide are as follows:

AVP: The Wilson AVP Official Game Ball H4305

2008 Beijing Olympics:

• Men's & Women's Indoor Volleyball: Mikasa MVP200;
• Men's & Women's Outdoor Volleyball: Mikasa VLS200

Colleges

Here is a list of official volleyballs used in American colleges:

• NCAA Women's Volleyball Championships: Molten Super Touch IV58L-N
• NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships: Molten Pro Touch V58L-3N
• NAIA: Tachikara NAIA Premium Leather Volleyball
• Junior Colleges: Tachikara NJCAA Premium Leather Volleyball

High Schools

No single volleyball is considered the "official volleyball" for high school play. The official ball for your high school will depend on your federation, league, or division. However, all official balls for high school must have the NFHS (National Federation of High Schools) stamp. The following volleyballs carry the NFHS stamp:

• Baden Perfection VX5E (White only)
• Baden Lexum Composite VX450 (White only)
• Mikasa VFC200 (White only)
• Mikasa VQ2000 (White only)
• Molten Super Touch IV58L-U
• Molten Pro Touch V58L-U
• Spalding TF5000 (White only)
• Spalding TF1500 (White only)
• Tachikara Gold SV5W (White only)
• Tachikara SV5WH
• Tachikara SV18L
• Tachikara SV5WS
• Wilson I-COR High Performance (White only)
• Wilson I-COR Power Touch (White only)

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Examples of Colored Volleyballs Tachikara SV5WSC (vintage gold) Tachikara SV5WSC (royal) Wilson AVP Official Game Ball Molten IV58L-N NCAA Tachikara SV5W GOLD (red/white/blue) Mikasa MVP200 Official Indoor Ball of the Olympics Mikasa VLS200 Beach Champ Official Outdoor Ball of the Olympics

Most league endorsements for volleyballs are paid for by the manufacturers. Organizations such as the NCAA, the AVP, and the Olympics all sign contracts with manufacturers requiring the organization to use volleyballs that the manufacturer chooses. This is simply advertising to promote the manufacturers' volleyballs. These endorsements also are used in leagues ranging from high school volleyball to club volleyball.

If you're unsure about which kind of volleyball is allowed or required, you must contact the organization that is running your league. With high schools, the CIF district usually decides. With club volleyball, your club's volleyball association decides. And with college volleyball, your division's governing body (e.g., NCAA, NJCAA etc.) decides. In small private volleyball leagues, the decision about using colored volleyballs is totally up to whoever started the league and is making the rules.

Most volleyball organizations do not notify us of their requirements. For example, high school requirements and club endorsements rarely are disclosed to us, and usually only for local organizations. However, major endorsements, such as the NCAA or the Olympics, are always indicated by the manufacturer and usually printed right on the volleyball.

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Examples of Our Volleyball Shoes Gum Rubber Soles Natural Color Gum Rubber Sole (Adidas 133313) Dyed to Match Gum Rubber Sole with Other Rubber Mixed In (Mizuno 430112) Dyed to Match Gum Rubber Sole (ADIDAS ClimaCool® Vuelo)

Soles: The sole is at the heart of what makes a volleyball shoe a volleyball shoe. Most volleyball shoes have gum rubber soles. Gum rubber is the best material for soles because volleyball shoes are made for indoor court surfaces (usually wood) and because volleyball requires a lot of starting, stopping, and quick cuts. Gum rubber provides the best traction for the volleyball shoe on the very smooth wooden court surface. Other athletic shoes, such as running shoes, do not use gum rubber because they are designed either for outdoor use or for a greater variety of surfaces. Gum rubber does not look like the rubber used on most athletic shoes. Rather than being solid in appearance, gum rubber is semi-transparent (you can almost see through it). If the soles on the volleyball shoes you just received DO NOT match your mental picture of gum rubber, it is because today's gum rubber is dyed to match the shoe. Manufacturers also mix other types of rubber with the gum rubber in the sole to improve traction and mobility.

Oddly enough, ASICS® does not use gum rubber in any of their top volleyball shoes or in any of their shoes that we carry. This seems odd because Tiger — the original name of ASICS — essentially invented the gum rubber volleyball shoe. The old Tiger Westwood used to be the only volleyball shoe; but over time ASICS changed the entire structure of volleyball shoes, and no modern shoe even resembles the Westwood. ASICS now uses what they call "NC rubber," which is very close to gum rubber in traction, but lighter. So while you lose a bit of traction in the ASICS shoe, you gain a volleyball shoe that is even more lightweight. We'll see what the manufacturers come up with for volleyball shoes in the future.

Weight: Weight is the other feature that makes a volleyball shoe a volleyball shoe. Almost all the top volleyball shoes are lightweight. Some volleyball shoes may be a bit heavier; however, these usually are the less expensive models.

What are the Chief Differences among Volleyball Shoes?
The short answers are basic design, materials, and price.

Basic Design: Volleyball shoes are like most other athletic shoes in this respect. That is, every manufacturer has its own designs for uppers, midsoles, cushioning, and support. You need to read the description of each volleyball shoe and compare the different features of each in order to decide which volleyball shoe is best for you.

Materials: Modern volleyball shoes are no longer made of leather. At one time, you could buy all leather or all synthetic leather volleyball shoes, but those days are long gone. The reason is that leather shoes, on the whole, are heavier. Consequently, leather is not the best material for volleyball shoes. Most volleyball shoes today are a combination of synthetic leather and mesh uppers. This composition provides lighter weight, more breathability, and faster drying.

Price: Price is another area where volleyball shoes resemble most other athletic shoes. More expensive volleyball shoes usually are better and they offer fancier features. Typically the higher priced volleyball shoes are lighter and offer better traction, more cushioning, and more support. However, these characteristics may not make your foot happier. Sometimes a less expensive volleyball shoe will fit your foot better and be more comfortable.

Here at realvolleyball.com we carry only the top models of each volleyball shoe from each manufacturer. So, even though a particular shoe is not the most expensive shoe on our site, it will be a very good volleyball shoe. Realvolleyball.com's website offers volleyball shoes from each manufacturer, but we do no not offer EVERY model from each manufacturer. That is because we select only those models of volleyball shoes from each manufacturer that we consider high enough quality for our customers to use when playing volleyball.

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Currently, the only mid-top volleyball shoe we carry is the Adidas Modulator, and you’ll find it on the Closeouts page. Only women's sizes remain.

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If your volleyball shoes were purchased from realvolleyball.com, they should not mark the floor. All brands of volleyball shoes that we carry have non-marking soles. If you have any problems with your volleyball shoes marking the floor, please contact us so that we can rectify the problem.

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Examples of Our Kneepads Bubble Style Kneepads ASICS ZD0009 Flat Style Kneepads Mizuno VS-1 Asics ZD0508 Asics ZD900 Adidas 952789 Junior Style Kneepads Asics ZD0509 Mizuno VS-1

Bubble style kneepads: This style used to be the only type of volleyball kneepad available and it is what most people think of as a traditional style kneepad. Basically, a bubble style kneepad has a big pad in the front of the knee, directly on your kneecap. The bubble style kneepad is rather thick (thus the name, bubble type), and it provides a lot of cushioning if you fall straight forward onto your knees. Unfortunately, this style volleyball kneepad is not as readily available as it used to be. In fact, we carry and know of only two bubble style kneepads — the Asics ZD0009 and the Tachikara TKP kneepad (shown at right). Mizuno and Adidas no longer even make a bubble style volleyball kneepad.

Flat style kneepads: Flat style volleyball kneepads were first brought out by Mizuno in the mid 1990s. This style, dubbed the MZ-J1, was quite different from all the volleyball kneepads available then, and it proved to be quite popular. Consequently, most volleyball kneepads made today are the flat style.

The MZ-J1 was so successful because it provided two features that many volleyball players liked. First, it wasn't as bulky as the bubble style, allowing volleyball players to move better. Second, the flat style MZ-J1 kneepad could wrap around the knee (which is why some people refer to flat type volleyball kneepads as "wrap around kneepads"). This wrap around style provided some padding to the sides of the knees, a feature that went over very well because in volleyball, 6 people are stuck in a small square, increasing the chances of running into their teammates. (Although some players may rarely fall on the ground, depending on their position, they still run into their teammates.) Also, when players fall down, they don't always fall perfectly straight forward, making a case for padding along the sides of the knee.

The downside of flat style volleyball kneepads is that they have less padding directly in front of the knee, which is why some players prefer the bubble style. So when these players do fall directly straight ahead onto their kneecaps, they do not get as much cushioning with a flat style kneepad as they would with the bubble style.

Differences among Kneepad Styles
Some differences also exist between volleyball kneepads within the same style. That's why, for example, Asics makes 7 different styles. These differences include type of padding used, sleeve length, padding thickness, and how much the volleyball kneepad wraps around the knee.

Asics, Mizuno and Adidas also make junior volleyball kneepads, which are the same as the standard models but with a smaller diameter sleeve.

As you can see, which features are best for you really depends upon your personal preference for comfort, protection, and ease of movement in a volleyball kneepad.

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Examples of Outdoor Volleyhball Systems Ultimate Systems Ultimate JCPNR202 Park and Sun Spectrum 2000

Here at realvolleyball.com, we carry two brands of portable outdoor volleyball systems: Ultimate Systems and Park and Sun. As their name implies, Ultimate Systems is into hardcore volleyball. They strive to make their top outdoor volleyball systems as close to an indoor volleyball system as possible. For example, they make the volleyball net as tight as possible for play off the net. Plus, everything in the Ultimate Systems volleyball system is heavy duty so it can take a lot of abuse. Ultimate Systems do tend to be heavier to carry around and more complicated to set up than some other outdoor volleyball systems. As you'd expect, the lower-priced Ultimate Systems units start to lose playability and durability, which may or may not be right for you.

We also carry outdoor volleyball systems from Park and Sun. This company makes nice volleyball systems, though they are not as heavy duty as the top Ultimate Systems volleyball systems. Park and Sun's volleyball systems are, however, easier to set up than Ultimate Systems units.

The suspension setup for the net represents the major difference between Ultimate Systems and Park and Sun's outdoor volleyball systems. Park and Sun's poles go directly into the binding of the volleyball net. By contrast, Ultimate Systems units do not connect the net and the poles directly; instead, they feature a suspension setup connecting the volleyball net to the pole using either ropes or straps. This suspension setup enables you to adjust the tension on the volleyball net more than you can with the Park and Sun outdoor volleyball systems. Park and Sun's volleyball systems may not provide as good playability as those from Ultimate Systems, but they do play well and are easy to set up.

Portable outdoor volleyball systems can be complicated and involve tradeoffs; so if you have any other questions, please give us a call.

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Yes, we carry volleyball nets. However, we do not show them on our website because ordering the correct volleyball net can be quite complicated. The right volleyball net for you will depend on a several factors, including: the kind (brand) of volleyball uprights you will use with this net; whether you want rope or steel cables in the net; and whether you want a wooden dowel in the ends of the volleyball net. We also can have custom volleyball nets made for you. Please call us if you need a volleyball net.

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The short court dimensions are 8 meters by 8 meters for each side of the volleyball court or 16 meters by 8 meters for the entire volleyball court. The standard dimensions for a volleyball court are 30 feet by 30 feet for each side or 60 feet by 30 feet. A meter is about 39 inches long, so this reduces the size of each side of the volleyball court from 30 feet by 30 feet to about 26 feet by 26 feet.

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We carry all sorts of volleyball uniforms, but we do not silk screen them ourselves. However, we can have silk screening done for you. We use the biggest and best silk screener in Los Angeles. This company screens uniforms from the NCAA, to the NFL, to the Harlem Globetrotters. Our screener also does embroidery and tackle twill. Some silk screeners may be faster and less expensive, but our silk screener produces results that will make your volleyball team very happy with their uniforms. Silk-screening volleyball uniforms takes about two weeks.

Because screening can become complicated, we do not include information about it on the website. Please give us a call if you want any volleyball uniforms, T shirts, sweatshirts, or bags screened. You may email us also, but a call usually is a more efficient way to avoid the back and forth flying emails that typically result when we try to figure out exactly what you want done.

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High school volleyball season usually starts at the beginning of September; college volleyball season starts roughly a couple of weeks before that.

The major suppliers of volleyball uniforms usually bring out their new uniform styles in May, so you probably will want to wait at least until then to order, so you can see which new volleyball uniform styles will be available for the Fall season. If you order before May, the new volleyball uniform styles will not be available yet, and most of the suppliers' inventory from the last year's styles will be very low.

We will update our website with the new volleyball uniform styles as soon as they become available. If you've visited our women's volleyball uniforms or men's volleyball uniforms page before, please be sure to refresh your page so that you see the most current volleyball uniforms available.

If you place your orders in May, June, or July, you should be in very good shape to receive your uniforms before the start of the Fall volleyball season. If you need screening for your uniforms, please note that screening takes at least 2 weeks, in addition to normal shipping time.

Any orders for new uniforms placed after August 1st should have plenty of time to be completed before Fall volleyball season starts. However, as we get farther into August, we start to run into two problems:

1. Our screener will become more backed up.

2. The manufacturers start to run out of stock of the most popular styles, colors, and sizes of volleyball uniforms. We stock many uniforms here, but we cannot stock every single color and style. And the manufactures never make enough of the most popular uniforms for the whole country, no matter how many they make.

Please don't think that we can't supply your team uniforms if you order after August 1st! August and September are the two busiest months of the year and that is when we deliver the majority of the teams volleyball uniforms. Availability of volleyball uniforms depends most on the current fashion trends, along with the supply from the manufacturer of the uniforms in the fashion and color that you want. Some manufacturers are more organized than others.

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Currently the website applies the discounted price only if you order 12 or more items in the exact same style, color, and size. In the future, we hope to make the website apply the correct price discount for each style regardless of color or size. We know about this limitation, so when orders come through with 12 — or other discounted quantities — of the same style in any combination of color and size, we apply the discount when we ship your order. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to add this feature to the website in the future. In the meantime, rest assured that we will apply your discounts properly when we ship your order.

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Shipping charges on realvolleyball.com's website are estimates only. Actual freight charges for your order will depend on what you order and where you ship it.

If you order over-sized items such as ball carts or portable outdoor systems the freight probably will be higher.

If we are shipping to Hawaii or Alaska you should definitely contact us for accurate freight charges. Our estimated shipping charges usually are fairly accurate. Sometimes, however, they differ significantly from the estimate. In this case, we will call to get approval to ship your order. If you have any questions, please call or email us and we will provide you with an accurate shipping cost.

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Like the shipping costs, the tax rates given on our website are estimates only. When we process your order, we will charge you the correct tax rate for your county. Currently, there is no sales tax if you live outside California. Some states are hoping to charge out-of-state sales tax in the future, and we will try to inform you about any changes that affect your order.

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The 12+ discounted price refers to the number of pairs of volleyball shoes you ordered, not their size. You would need to order 12 pairs of these volleyball shoes (in any combination of sizes) to get the 12+ discounted price.

Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to update the website automatically every time we run out of a volleyball product. We do apologize for this inconvenience and will update our website as often as we can to minimize the problem.