It is spring time which usually marks the preparation for the
outdoor sand volleyball season. With the change in the weather
temperature and the sport's growing popularity, you may be among the
many indoor players that are preparing to play in beach volleyball games
and outdoor tournaments this summer.
If
you are new to the sand game, I wanted to prepare you for some of the
differences you'll face and I've explained what you may want to look out
for while transitioning between these two distinct styles of the
volleyball game. Some differences between the indoor and outdoor games
of volleyball are very slight while others are more evident.
Volleyball Skills Players Need to Have
One big difference between an indoor player and a beach player is the ability to perform all of the fundamental volleyball skills required to play in the sand or on the court. Many indoor players, especially club and college indoor players (are coached to or choose to) specialize in possessing only a few skills in order to dominate in only one or two positions on the court.
For example, a middle blocker may practice and play only the middle blocking or "their" position, which calls for them to always hit out of the middle, always block from the middle, to only pass the short serves and play the front row exclusively which means in many situations they only play in the three front row rotations and then either before or after their turn to serve they are substituted out of the game for another player who specializes in serve receive, defense and playing only the back row positions.
I would compare this to being an assembly line worker who is only assigned and paid to put one piece of a part on a car door on a car. For hours that's their only responsibility and it's the only thing they are taught and paid to do all day long.
So, imagine that for an entire club season or college season many volleyball players specialize in playing one position, hitting only a few types of sets and playing only in several designated areas of the court. This doesn't necessarily contribute to the development of an "all-around" player.
In contrast, since there are only two beach players per team in the doubles game and they both need to cover a regulation size court, each player has to possess the ability to perform all the volleyball skills well, in order to be successful at the sand game.
Both players are required to know how to serve a ball, serve receive consistently, set the ball with their hands or bump set at varying heights or even back set if the occasion calls for it, attack the ball from different places along the net, block different attackers that have all kinds of timing issues with their spike and transition off the net quickly to play defense.
There's no getting around it, beach volleyball players have to be great all-around players, proficient at performing all the skills of the volleyball game.
Volleyball Skills Players Need to Have
One big difference between an indoor player and a beach player is the ability to perform all of the fundamental volleyball skills required to play in the sand or on the court. Many indoor players, especially club and college indoor players (are coached to or choose to) specialize in possessing only a few skills in order to dominate in only one or two positions on the court.
For example, a middle blocker may practice and play only the middle blocking or "their" position, which calls for them to always hit out of the middle, always block from the middle, to only pass the short serves and play the front row exclusively which means in many situations they only play in the three front row rotations and then either before or after their turn to serve they are substituted out of the game for another player who specializes in serve receive, defense and playing only the back row positions.
I would compare this to being an assembly line worker who is only assigned and paid to put one piece of a part on a car door on a car. For hours that's their only responsibility and it's the only thing they are taught and paid to do all day long.
So, imagine that for an entire club season or college season many volleyball players specialize in playing one position, hitting only a few types of sets and playing only in several designated areas of the court. This doesn't necessarily contribute to the development of an "all-around" player.
In contrast, since there are only two beach players per team in the doubles game and they both need to cover a regulation size court, each player has to possess the ability to perform all the volleyball skills well, in order to be successful at the sand game.
Both players are required to know how to serve a ball, serve receive consistently, set the ball with their hands or bump set at varying heights or even back set if the occasion calls for it, attack the ball from different places along the net, block different attackers that have all kinds of timing issues with their spike and transition off the net quickly to play defense.
There's no getting around it, beach volleyball players have to be great all-around players, proficient at performing all the skills of the volleyball game.
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