Javelin Skill Levels

The How & Why Behind Our Skill Level Requirements

One of Javelin Sports’ goals is to help as many people as possible add volleyball once a week to their lives. We can only do this if we make volleyball games that are safe and fun for the majority of people in the world. Placing an emphasis on skill level is one of the ways we achieve this.

We believe that skill level is more important for volleyball than any other sport. Thus, our skill level requirements are meant to serve as a guideline to help players learn where they should be. Overall, please remember that the purpose of our skill level requirements is to ensure games are both safe and fun for all attendees.
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From the recreational to the intermediate level, our requirements are focused on getting and keeping the ball in play. Volleyball is only fun when rallies take place, so it’s important for players to really care about giving their teammates good passes and being in the right spot on the court. At the very high end of volleyball, some players are so good at offense that if all other players aren’t held to a very high standard for defense (either through passing or blocking), then rallies can never take place in a game, and in some instances the game can even be dangerous.
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At the same time, we do want our advanced level to be theoretically obtainable for the majority of players. Thus, our passing or setting requirements should be achievable for most people if they’re willing to put the time and work into it. But please remember, it is REALLY HARD to get to the advanced level and takes most players years of training and practice, both on a volleyball court and in a gym.
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Also, these are just guidelines to make it easier for hosts and players to understand where everyone should be. At the end of the day, things will be subjective and “case-by-case”. We cover some example cases in the FAQ at the bottom.
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Overall, please remember to not be too worried about the skill level that you’re playing at. Drop-in volleyball should be fun and low-stress to play in. We recommend you find a skill level that feels like that for you and play there!
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One final reminder, the higher the level you’re playing at, the harder the game will be on your body. While it can be tempting to push yourself to play at as high a level as possible, people who play at levels above intermediate tend to have short careers. Volleyball is usually a life-long sport, but if you play at a very high level, that may not be the case.

Skill Levels Explained

Beginner

Our definition of a beginner is someone with little to no volleyball experience. Reminder that every volleyball player was a beginner at some point, and there is absolutely no shame in being one. Javelin runs training sessions for players at this level to help beginners learn the sport.

Here is how we order the basic skills of volleyball by how essential they are to the sport (1 being most essential and 5 being least essential):
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1. Serving - required to get a ball in play.
2. Serve receive/passing/setting - required for rallies to take place.
3. Court positioning/awareness - required for a fast pace game to take place.
4. Blocking - helps make high level games safe and allows for rallies to take place at a high level.
5. Hitting - an important tool to score points at a high level.
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Our requirements from the beginner to intermediate level are all focused on the top 3 skills (serving, passing, setting, and court positioning/awareness). However, we see players working on and practicing all 5 of these skills starting at the beginner level.

Recreational

Many players join our community looking to add something, fun, social, and healthy to their lives; these games are perfect for that! While the intensity of recreational games tends to be low, 90% of players at the average Javelin game are regulars. Thus, our recreational level is already a much higher skill-level than what most people without formal volleyball training have experience with.

Minimum skill requirements to play at this level:

A general overview of the rules.
The basic ability to underhand bump or pass to a teammate.
The basic ability to overhand set or volley to a teammate.
A consistent serve.

We still see hitting and blocking at our recreational games, but these skills aren’t necessary at this level.

Reminder, our main goal is for games to be safe, so if you do want to hit or block at this level, please remember to NEVER jump over the center line during play. A player landing on the foot of another player and twisting their ankle is the most common injury in volleyball.

Also, more experienced volleyball players are allowed to attend games at this level, but it is expected that they keep the intensity of their play to a minimum so that the game isn’t unsafe.

High Recreational

High recreational games are for good volleyball players who are looking for positionless (6-6/6-0) volleyball.

To play at the high recreational level you must meet the following minimum skill level requirements:

A consistent serve.
The basic ability to overhand set or volley to a teammate.
A flat platform that you have extensive practice with to pass a volleyball.
A good understanding of most volleyball rules.
A good understanding of 6 up and/or 6 back defenses.

At the high recreational level we expect players to be practiced in passing and in their court positioning/awareness.

At this level, games start to take on “intensity” in the form of harder hits and more aggressive positioning. You should be comfortable with that if you’re coming out to a high recreational game.

Tryouts are also in effect starting in the High Recreational level. For more information on what Tryouts are, please read the FAQ below.

Intermediate

At intermediate games we expect players to have a good understanding of different volleyball systems and court positioning/awareness (especially in a 5-1 system); in addition to being well practiced in passing or setting.
Intermediate requirements include:

A consistent serve.
A flat platform that you have extensive practice with to pass a volleyball and/or a consistent set to all 3 front-row positions.
Good understanding of offense and defense in the majority of volleyball systems (6-6, 4-2, 6-2, and especially 5-1).

The majority of intermediate games on Javelin run a 5-1 system. This is intended to give players a place to practice if they want to work their way up to higher levels. While all players at an intermediate game are expected to know 5-1, if everyone on a team wants to run a different system they’re allowed to.
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One thing to note at the intermediate level is that players can start to specialize in setting instead of passing if they choose to.

High Intermediate

At high intermediate games we expect players to be able to fill at least one of the following roles at a consistent level: DS, one of the front row positions, setter. The definition of “consistent” can be subjective, but requirements for different roles may include:

DS: Average 2.5 point passes on regular overhand serves, good court positioning and awareness, should have the basic ability to play in the front row.
Outside: Average 2.1 point passes on regular overhand serves, will usually score a kill on an open net while frontcourt, good spread blocking timing and footwork.
Middle: Will usually score a kill on an open net while hitting front court; good spread and bunch blocking footwork, reading, and timing; full hand above the net while blocking.
Opposite: Will usually score a kill on an open net while hitting frontcourt, basic ability to hit from back court, good spread blocking footwork and timing.
Setter: Can consistently set all 3 front row positions with 2 and 3 tempo sets.

Advanced

At advanced games we expect players to be able to fill at least one of the following roles at a very high and very consistent level: DS, one of the front row positions, setter. The definition of “very high and very consistent” can be subjective, but requirements for different roles may include:

DS: Average 2.5 point passes on all service receptions (spin, float, hybrid, etc.), excellent court positioning and awareness, should have sound fundamentals when playing in the front row.
Outside: Average 2.1 point passes on all service receptions (spin, float, hybrid, etc.); will usually score a kill on an open net while hitting frontcourt and at least a free ball while backcourt; good spread and bunch blocking timing, reading, and footwork.
Middle: Will usually score a kill on an open net while hitting front court; excellent spread and bunch blocking footwork, reading, and timing; elbows above the net while blocking.
Opposite: Will usually score a kill on an open net while hitting frontcourt and backcourt; excellent spread and bunch blocking footwork, reading, and timing.
Setter: Can consistently set all players on a court with a variety of different tempos. Excellent court awareness.

The main takeaway from the above requirements is that players are allowed to be less skilled at the net, if they are more skilled in either passing or setting. This is intended to ensure everyone on the court can positively contribute to the game.

Additionally, a reminder that players will play in both the front and back row at Javelin games. You must have sound fundamentals in both to play at the advanced level.

Finally, the spirit of our rules are “positively contributing to your team’s success at the level you’re playing at” and “helping to facilitate safe and fun games”. If you are very good at passing, blocking, setting, and have great court positioning and awareness, but don’t quite meet the requirements at any position, most advanced players would still really want to play with you. We allow our hosts to pass very well rounded players at their own discretion.

As a general rule of thumb, you can make up for being less talented at blocking by being more talented at either passing or setting and vice versa.

SKill Level FAQ

What are the different outcomes from tryouts and what do they mean?

There are 4 outcomes from you playing at a game:
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Unrated - The host didn’t see enough of your play to make a decision.
Fail - The host doesn’t think you meet the minimum requirements to play at this level. You can try again in 2 months.
Hold - The host thinks you may meet the requirements, but isn’t quite sure, you can continue playing at this level but that may be subject to change.
Pass - The host is sure that you comfortably meet the minimum requirements, you are passed at this level for the foreseeable future.

Am I actually getting graded on my play?

We don’t record player stats on our games. Our stat requirements are to help set expectations for players and hosts to know roughly what everyone should be capable of.

What if I’m used to playing with a different setter which causes my passes to be the incorrect height or my approach to be off?

‍We ask our hosts to assume “regular volleyball conditions” when grading players. There will always be a learning and communication period when new players are playing together. Most players usually take the first game of a session as a warm-up game. Overall, drop-in games will usually be messier than a practiced team playing together.

What if I end up getting off-rolled at a game while I’m in tryouts?

We ask our hosts to be sure of a player before they either pass or fail them. However, if you’re playing out of position while in tryouts and are concerned about getting failed, please let your host know as it will make it easier for them to grade your play.

After I pass will I still be getting graded?

We hold players to a very high standard to pass them at a level. This helps ensure that after they pass, we are very confident in them playing at the level they’re at and they shouldn’t need to get graded again outside of extreme circumstances.

A reminder that drop-in volleyball should be a stress free environment and we encourage players to play at the level that they find easy and fun to play at. If you’re stressed out about failing at the level you’re at, that is usually a good indication that you should be playing a level lower.

Are men and women held to the same standard?

At the high intermediate and advanced level, an important part of the game is anticipating how a play will carry out. Thus, we think it’s important that everyone on the court is able to do what players would expect them to do. As a result, taller players (usually men) will be held to a higher standard for blocking and hitting. However, a reminder that at the high intermediate and advanced level, all players on the court should be able to contribute to their team’s success through either passing, setting, or blocking.

Most of your requirements are around coed games on men’s/coed nets. Are you thinking of hosting woman only events and what would your requirements be for them?

‍We occasionally run women only events, but unfortunately at the time of writing this (March 2024), we don’t feel we have the capacity to consistently run them. We do plan on doing more specialized events in the future (women’s, men’s, low net, different age rages, beach, 4s, etc.), and will come up with requirements as we feel out the different levels. However, our focus as a company for our drop in runs will generally be on indoor coed 6s.

Do players split front row and back row duties?

It’s up to players on the court to decide what they’re ok with. In some cases at Javelin runs, teams will run with a set middle and libero who stay front or back court the whole game. However, usually players will play both front and back row during games.

How do you deal with the case of a middle who can’t play back row, but is really good at the net?

We believe it’s best for our games if all players can pass a ball; however, if a player can’t pass, but hits a ball so hard that they may injure someone at a lower level, we allow hosts to pass them at the current level they’re playing at.

If I am a DS does that mean I won’t get set when I’m front row?

Sometimes games can get competitive and setters will be relying on their best hitters to win a game, but given the spirit of drop in volleyball, we encourage our players to be inclusive of everyone on the court and generally find they are.

Also, a reminder that great passers tend to be a setter’s favorite player!

What if I want to play with someone or bring a team with a bunch of different skill levels?

‍We leave it up to our game hosts to decide what they want to allow at their runs. If you’re unsure, you can message the host to ask. Reminder that the point of our rules is to ensure that games are safe and fun for all players.

Javelin's Volleyball Skill Levels