Conventionally, the court is split into 6 sectors, numbered as shown in the figure to the right. Some positions have associated nick-names, eg. '6' is sweaty-blob as the player there spends most of the time running from side to side covering large areas of court, "two and a half" is half way between two and three, and so on.

These court positions help players to comunicate positions effectively without pointing and saying 'over there', as well as providing a common language that everyone uses. Everyone knows what a four-player is.

There is a good reason why this formation is popular, which is as follows. For most right-handed players, it is easier to hit a ball coming at you from the right than from the left. (Left hander's are in the unfortunate minority, but most seem to manage extremely well.) This is why the setters are kept at 'two' (front right) and the hitters are all to the left of him.

One alturnative is to put the setter in the middle and have hitters either side, but this usualy means that the setter has to block every attack, land and turn 180 degrees to receive a ball and set it to the next hitter, all in about one second! The formation used helps to protect the setters and maximize the effectiveness of the attack. Another formation uses just one setter and five hitters on court, but this is more at the national team level and requires a certain level of experience from all players.

Note, however, that the back court also may have to change positions during a rally (known as 'switching'). This seems illogical, as they're not involved in the attack, but there is also a good reason why this is done. By moving the two setters to the same area of the court, we allow them to support each other, and to exploit one of the main rules of the game. It is illegal for a back-court player (S2, M2 and H2) to attack the ball in front of the three-metre line, but they can pass the ball to another player. What many teams do is get the back-court setter (S2) to run forward and 'set' the ball, while the front court setter (S1) is allowed to hit the ball. This allows you to attack from any position along the net, whereas before there would never be an attack from 'two'.