Physics of Volleyball Float Serve

Pete Heureux, a beach volleyball player with a degree in physics, analyzes the float serve for Volleyball Magazine. What I found most interesting was the information presented in Figure 7. Researchers had a machine deliver simulated serves, varying features of the ball itself (e.g., a honeycomb outer surface), along with contact speeds and angles, and the part of the ball struck. Serves with certain specifications consistently landed within a relatively small zone (1 X 2 meters), whereas balls served under a different set of specifications landed anywhere within an area five meters long. The latter, of course, would be more unpredictable and difficult for a receiving player to handle. Heureux also cites principles of air-flow physics (e.g., laminar flow, turbulent flow, Reynolds number, drag crisis) to explain what's going on as the served ball makes its way over the net to the receiving team's side of the court.