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Serving in volleyball represents a way to gain an advantage in each rally.
In 1998, the FIVB implemented the rule change in which it was prohibited to block the serve and the rally scoring point system was also adopted. During that time, many volleyball coaches around the world adopted a conservative tactics not to serve aggressively to avoid making a mistake thus conceding a point to opponents.
In that period, the Brazilian teams had the reputation of being very talented but also of being short in relation to their counterparts (Da Matta & Turner, 1998).
Tactically, Brazil implemented two bold ideas: 1. the multi-attack offense with always five players hitting from all positions. 2. The jump serve by almost 90 % of the players. Those who did not utilized the power jump serve, executed the jump floater, back then, considered easier than the power topspin.
From 2002 through 2008, noticing that the jump floater was very effective, more players adopted this serving style. Many teams that observed the success of the Brazilian teams, started to play similarly, including in the adopted of the jump floater.
During the 2012 Olympics, more teams adopted the Jump Floater, and all teams embraced the multi-offense attack with the “bick” or “pipe” (back row quick attack in all rotations). During that time, when a powerful jump topspin serve would perform, passers would adapt, back up a little and/or pass with four passers.
