What is the proper air pressure of a volleyball? The indoor setting. Indoor setting for volleyball includes a court floor. These balls are a combination of two or three different colors, or they can be completely white. There are two different styles: youth and adult. The youth volleyball ball for indoor use is 63 to 65-centimeters or 25 to 26-inches in circumference. They weigh 9.2 to 9.9 ounces, or 260-280-grams. Internal pressure of these balls are set at 4.3 psi or 0.30-kgf-per-centimeter-squared. The adult indoor volleyball ball is 65 to 67-centimeters or 25.5 to 26.5-inches in circumference. They weigh 9.2 to 9.9-ounces or 260 to 280-grams. They have a psi of 4.3 to 4.6, or 0.3 to 0.325-kgf-per-centimeter-squared. There is not a lot of different between the two when looking at the numbers, but for different play styles of the adult versus the youth, they are notable. Remember that youths have to be able to palm the ball and force it over the net. Having a slightly smaller size, with a lower psi can considerably aid them in doing this. You’ll notice that both balls are very streamlined and light-weight in characteristic. Again, this is for ease of movement of the balls during a high-energy game where timing is critical.
The beach setting. With the beach volleyball game there are a lot of outdoor elements that the ball will have to weather that aren’t there with inside gaming. The heat of the sun, the UV rays, the sand, etc. These completely change the psi requirement. Beach volleyball balls are between 66 to 68-centimeters in circumference or 26 to 27-inches. They have a general mass of 260 to 280-grams or 9.2 to 9.9-ounces. Their psi is set at 2.5 up to 3.2, or 0.175 to 0.225-kgf-per-centimeter-squared. You’ll notice that the psi is the only thing drastically different than the indoor ball. This is because of the surface that the ball is required to bounce off of. Sand is much different than court room floor; this warrants a lower psi to accommodate efficiently. The beach-intended volleyball ball is also slightly larger than indoor balls and has a rougher texture to the outer coating. This coating plays perfectly to the outdoor needs of the game.
