Online Volleyball Blog

“Anyone serious about playing indoor, you should play outdoor.” — Sean Scott AVP player

Here’s another set of tips from my beach volleyball coach Stu Waite.

On the beach, communication is key. There are only two people on the court so there is much more ground to cover as opposed to indoor competition.

Here are some ways to communicate to convert digs and ups into points.

If you’re still standing after you pick up a dig, yell “Set me!” This way, your partner knows to set you to the net so that you can take a good approach rather than freeing the ball over and giving the other team an opportunity to score.

Yell “I’m up!” if you get a dig, have fallen down, but can get up and hit. Again, you want to take a swing as many times as possible instead of freeing the ball over.

Yell “Right here!” if you get a ball up but fall and cannot hit. Your partner should set the ball to you now. This way, you can look at the defense and place the ball. Some ask why the setter shouldn’t just send it over. The answer is because:
-the setter will be out of position and her partner will still be on the ground
-the team has more time to recover during three contacts as opposed to two
-the digger will be able to see the defense better

Lastly, if you dig a ball, fall, and can’t get up in time to get the ball over, yell “Over!” Really, though, this is a last-ditch method and should be rarely done.

A special shout-out to Justine Wong-Orantes, a phenomenal beach player. She and her partner Sara Hughes won the 12U National Beach Volleyball Title in 2007! Good luck to her for this season of beach volleyball. Justine also got her AA rating this year with Los Alamitos freshman superstar Jane Croson! Go girls!

Good luck in the upcoming beach season!!!

And remember, hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.

Kenzie Aries