Volleyball substitution tracker: app or free sub sheet (PDF)
The short answer
A volleyball substitution tracker app counts your subs per set and knows who may re-enter for whom. In Koach you tap the player coming off; the app counts up to six subs per set, warns you about an illegal re-entry and leaves libero replacements out. Prefer paper? Download the free sub sheet (PDF) below.
Whether you track subs in an app or on paper, what you really want as a coach is simple: never ask for a seventh sub, and never send a player back into the wrong spot. First you'll see what an app like Koach tracks for you. Then you'll find the free printable substitution sheet, and which option suits which coach.
Volleyball substitution tracker app: what Koach counts for you
In Koach you track substitutions on the same screen you use to score live. There is nothing extra to do: every sub you enter is counted. Prefer paper? The free sub sheet is further down.
Sub with one tap. Below the score you see your current lineup with the hint Tap a player to swap. Tap a player and the Substitution sheet opens: the player coming off at the top, the available subs with their position below. Next to the heading you see how many subs you have made this set, for example 2/6. The step-by-step version is in making a substitution during a match.
14 days free, no credit card. Add your team tonight, track your next match with it and see whether you still miss the paper sheet.
Let Koach count your subsSix and you're done. Try a seventh sub and the app tells you You have already made 6 substitutions this set. The sub does not go through. If the lineup on your screen is wrong, use Swap positions to switch two players who are already on court; fixing it that way does not count as a substitution.
Re-entries are checked. Try to bring a starter back for anyone other than their own sub, or to replace a sub with anyone other than the starter they came on for, and the app first asks Is this substitution allowed?, showing who was subbed for whom. You can then drop the sub or choose Substitute anyway: an exceptional substitution is allowed after an injury, and the app has no way of seeing that.
Libero replacements don't count. With Swap libero automatically switched on, your libero comes in for the middle blocker in the back row and goes off as soon as that player rotates to the front row or to serve. None of those replacements count toward the six, and neither does a swap between two liberos. Next to the player who went off for the libero, the Substitution sheet shows Went off for the libero · not a substitution. If someone other than the player the libero replaced comes back in for the libero, that is a regular substitution, and the app counts it as one.
Every set starts fresh. During the set break between two sets you set up the next lineup under Lineup for set 2. The screen spells it out too: as long as the lineup slip has not been handed in, a new starting lineup at the start of a set is not a substitution. The new set starts at 0/6 substitutions and 0/2 time-outs.
After the match. Because every sub is in the app, Koach shows each player's Playing time for the match in rallies played. So you can see whether your bench players really got on the court. Anything you want to remember for next time goes in the Match note, which only coaches can see.
Free printable volleyball substitution sheet (PDF)
This sub sheet for the bench is free, and you don't have to leave an email address to get it.
- Download the volleyball substitution and game sheet (PDF): two pages, A4 landscape. Page 1 is the blank sheet for one match of up to five sets, page 2 a filled-in example with instructions. On US Letter paper, choose "Fit to page" when you print.
You are free to print, copy and adapt the sheet. It is made for the coach or the assistant on the bench, not for the scorer at the scorer's table.
What's on the sheet
- At the top you fill in team, opponent, date, venue and your libero(s).
- A column group per set, up to set 5, with three columns: Starter (the shirt number of the player who starts in that position), Sub in (the substitute's number and the score) and Back (the score when the starter returns).
- One row per position, I to VI. Position I is the serving position, and for each set you mark whether you start on serve or receive. Bottom left there is a small court diagram with the six positions under the net.
- Subs: six boxes per set to cross off. Below that, two spaces for the score at your time-outs, the set score and a Notes box.
- Page 2: two filled-in sets as an example, the steps for filling it in and the rules the sheet is built on.
What makes it different from a plain list: the substitute and the starter's return sit on the same row. You see at a glance who may come back in for whom, and that is exactly where things go wrong on the bench.
How to fill it in
- Before each set: write the shirt numbers under Starter in the order of your lineup slip, positions I to VI. Circle your setter and mark whether you start on serve or receive. How to pick that starting lineup is in making a volleyball lineup.
- When a starter comes off: on that player's row, write the substitute's number and the score under Sub in, and cross off a box under Subs.
- When the starter comes back: that can only happen on that row and only for their own sub. Write the score under Back and cross off another box. That position is then closed for the rest of the set.
- Time-outs and notes: write down the score at every time-out, and under Notes what you want to say in the time-out or the set break.
Always write the score with your own team first, away games included. In the example on page 2, #7 comes off for #14 at 12-15 and returns at 20-18: two crossed-off boxes on one row, and position IV is closed for that set.
Which substitutions do you need to track?
The sheet and the app follow the FIVB rules. Four of them matter when you track subs:
- Six substitutions per team per set, plus two time-outs. The count starts over every set.
- Fixed pairs. A starter may leave the game once per set and come back once, and only to their own position. Their substitute can only be replaced by that same starter.
- Libero replacements don't count. So you don't add them to the six; the details are in the libero replacement rules.
- The exceptional substitution. If an injured player cannot be substituted legally, an exceptional substitution is allowed. It does not count as one of the six regular subs, and the injured player cannot return for the rest of the match. Write it under Notes; more in an injury during a match.
If your league or age group plays with a different limit, follow its rules: US high school and college volleyball, for example, allow more than six subs per set. The full explanation is in the substitution rules with six subs per set, and what happens when it goes wrong anyway is in the substitution error: the seventh sub and the illegal re-entry.
Sub sheet or app: where paper falls short
Paper has real advantages. It costs nothing, it has no battery, it works in every gym, and an assistant or a bench player can keep it while you watch the court. With a well-kept sheet you see an illegal re-entry coming before you ask for it.
The weak point is that the sheet does nothing on its own. It doesn't count, it doesn't warn you and it doesn't know who has already been in. At 23-23 you have to find the right row yourself, in a time-out with six players around you. And after the match the sheet sits in your bag: who played how many rallies, you either work out yourself or let go.
| What you want | Sub sheet (paper) | Koach |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | 14 days free, then €2.99 per month |
| Count subs per set | Cross off yourself | Yes, counter up to six |
| Block a seventh sub | No | Yes |
| Flag an illegal re-entry | No | Yes, it asks whether the sub is allowed |
| Keep libero replacements separate | Don't write them down | Yes, they don't count |
| Count time-outs | Write down the score | Yes, two per set |
| Playing time per player afterwards | No | Yes, in rallies played |
| Works without a device or battery | Yes | No |
Other apps that track volleyball substitutions
We make Koach, so read this as an overview from an interested party. Two other volleyball apps mention substitutions in their store listing (checked in October 2026):
- Volley Scoreboard is a free-to-download scoreboard app for iPhone and iPad with the score, time-outs, rotations and lineups with substitutions during the match. According to the App Store it is available in twenty languages. A strong pick if you mainly want a free scoreboard with substitutions.
- Volleyball Coach by Bart Lamberigts is on Google Play, with a drill library, a court editor, lineups with formation checks and substitutions. Worth a look if you want drills and lineups in one app on Android.
We have not tested whether those apps count your subs per set and check re-entries; try it in a scrimmage before you rely on it. Where Koach is different: your subs run in the same app where you build your lineup, score live and look at the numbers afterwards. The official record stays with the scorer at the scorer's table. Your sheet or your app is your own check.
Source: Volley Scoreboard on the App Store and Volleyball Coach on Google Play, checked in October 2026. Prices and features may change; check them yourself before you choose.
Who is the sheet for, and who is the app for?
The paper sheet suits you if you don't want a phone on the bench, if your league or age group plays with more than six subs per set (you adapt the sheet yourself), or as a backup for the day your battery dies.
The app suits you if you already score live, if you would rather have a counter and a warning than cross off boxes yourself, and if you want to see who played how much after the match. Coaching as a pair? With the Coach plan, two coaches work in the same team.
What Koach doesn't do: the app is not an official scoresheet and sends nothing to your league or federation. It follows the FIVB limit of six subs per set and blocks a seventh, even if your league allows more. The app counts an exceptional substitution after an injury as a regular sub, and at 6/6 it blocks that one too: write it down on paper then. And the app assumes indoor volleyball with six players on court, so not beach volleyball or mini volleyball with smaller teams.
What does a volleyball substitution tracker app cost?
The substitution and game sheet is free and stays free. You can try Koach free for 14 days, with no credit card and every feature. After that you choose Coach for €2.99 per month (one team, two coaches) or Club for €9.99 per month (unlimited teams and coaches). With a yearly plan you pay €2.49 or €8.33 per month. Players and parents use the app for free. All prices are on the pricing page; in the App Store and on Google Play you see the price in your own currency.
Fill in the Starter column before you hand in your lineup slip. Then your sheet shows exactly the same order as the scorer's, and every re-entry checks out from the first point.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free volleyball substitution tracker app?
You can try Koach free for 14 days, with every feature and no credit card. After that Coach costs €2.99 per month for one team; players and parents stay free. If you don't want to pay anything, the substitution sheet on this page is free: print it, copy it and adapt it however you like. There are also free scoreboard apps with substitutions; test for yourself whether they check re-entries.
Does a libero replacement count as a substitution?
No. Under the rules a libero replacement is not a regular substitution: it doesn't count toward the six per set and there is no limit, as long as there is a completed rally between two libero replacements. A swap between two liberos doesn't count either. That is why Koach keeps libero replacements out of the counter, and next to the player who went off for the libero it says that it is not a substitution.
What happens if I try a seventh sub in the app?
The app blocks it. Once you have made six regular subs in a set, Koach tells you that you have already made six this set, and the seventh does not go through. Libero replacements and fixing the lineup with Swap positions don't count. At six the app also blocks an exceptional substitution after an injury; write that one down yourself. In the next set the counter starts at zero again.
My league allows more substitutions. Can I still use the sheet or the app?
The sheet, yes: write the extra subs under Notes or adapt the template, which you are free to do. The app follows the FIVB limit of six subs per set and blocks a seventh. If you play in a league with more subs per set, such as US high school or college volleyball, or in a youth or rec league with free substitution, the paper sheet is the better way to track your subs for now.
Is a substitution sheet the same as the official scoresheet?
No. The scorer at the scorer's table fills in the official scoresheet, and that is what counts in a dispute. The substitution sheet is your own check on the bench: you see who may come back in for whom and how many subs you have left, and you have room for notes. Koach is not an official scoresheet either and sends nothing to your league or federation; it is your own record alongside the scorer's.
Let the app count your subs at your next match
14 days free, no credit card. After one match you know whether you still need the paper sheet.
Get started with KoachOr read first what the volleyball coaching app does.