Fistball is a sport of European origin, primarily played in the German-speaking nations of Austria, Germany and Switzerland, as well as in Brazil.

The earliest known written mention of the game is by Roman Emperor Gordian III and dates to the year 240.

In 1786, Johann Wolfgang Goethe mentioned fistball games between 'four noblemen from Verona and four Venetians' in his diary An Italian Journey.

In 1894, Georg Weber, along with Dr. Heinrich Schnell, drafted the first German rules that outlined a sport with competitive elements.

Fistball was first introduced to the United States in 1911 by high school teacher Christopher Carlton who had experienced it first hand on a summer vacation to Italy.

In 1921, the first women's fistball championship was held, with Hamburger Turnerschaft emerging victorious against TV Krefeld, winning 91:90.

The first IFA World Championships for men were held in Linz, Austria in 1968, with West Germany winning gold.

The first IFA World Championships for women were held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1994, with Germany winning gold.

Similar to volleyball, the three hits are ideally used to save, set and spike the ball back into the opponents half, in that order.

In some cases, set results are limited by time, and this can be common in large tournaments for organizational purposes.

The playing field is divided in half by a 5 cm wide ribbon-like red and white net.

It is held above the center line between two posts, its upper edge is located at 2 m height (men) and 1.90 m (women).

For the D-Youth (under 12), the height is 1.60 m, the C-youth (under 14 years) 1.80 m. The field also includes a run-off area, which when playing outdoors is 8 m to the rear and 6 m on the sides.

For indoor play, run-off areas are limited by the wall or stands, but are generally a minimum of 1 m to the rear and 0.5 m at the sides.

Increasingly, uniform balls are outlined and provided by the organizers to ensure equal opportunity for all teams participating at international championships.

The setter covers the front middle to be ready for short balls (e.g. drop shots) played by the opposition.

However, the setter also need to be prepared for hard attacking shots played through the middle by the opposition, and quick reflexes are required to be able to defend these.

At international levels, outdoor fistball is also played in the U-shape, mainly due to the better defenses that it can provide against fast and powerful attacking shots.

The players playing at this level are required to have significant speed and fitness in order to cover the ground for both defending and attacking hits.

In this case the setter stands behind the baseline and the two defensive players move diagonally inwards to form a V shape.

Substitutions may be anywhere at any position field, but only before that team is about to serve, during a time out, between sets, or whenever the referee has stopped play.

Force, accuracy and fluid sequence of body movements are necessary to make full effect of the service.

Players will often be required to jump or dive in order to reach the ball even before it hits the ground for the second time.

A good defender possesses great agility, speed, responsiveness, technical ability, positional sense and the courage to put in extra physical effort to make contact.

The field conditions, distance to the net and possibly the wind direction all have to be taken into account when performing the set.

The setter will often call "direct" or "indirect" prior to the set, to allow the attacker to adjust his or her approach.

The attacker uses the forward spin of a well-placed ball from a set to jump and hit it with full force into the gaps of opposing defenses.

In order to stop this occurring, the opponent must attempt to block the ball at the net, similar to volleyball.

In addition to World Championships, international continental competitions are held for teams within Europe, South America and, most recently, Asia.

Individual European and South American championships are also held for clubs, which are used as qualification for the World Cup competition.