Every week someone emails us some version of the same question: "Should I book private lessons or just come to one of your camps?" It's a fair question, because on the surface a $599 camp looks like a big check to write, and a single private lesson looks harmless. So let's actually run the numbers — and talk about what each option really gets you, because I've coached both for over a decade and the answer isn't the same for everyone.

What private beach volleyball lessons actually cost

Depending on your city, a private beach volleyball lesson runs anywhere from $40 to $150 per hour. And that's before the hidden costs. In a lot of areas you're also paying court rental on top of the coaching fee, so a $90 lesson can quietly turn into $150+ once the court is booked. If you're taking one lesson a week, you're looking at $400–600+ per month, indefinitely.

Here's the part most people don't think about: one hour with a coach, once a week, is a slow drip. You get 60 minutes of focused reps, then six days to forget half of it. Private lessons are fantastic for fixing one specific thing — a broken arm swing, a serve toss that wanders — but they're an expensive way to rebuild your whole game.

What a camp costs (and what you're actually buying)

Our 3-day beach volleyball camps are $599. That's roughly what you'd spend on 8–10 private lessons' worth of coaching time — except you get it in one concentrated block: three full days of structured training, live gameplay, and coaches correcting you rep after rep after rep.

A few things I insist on at every camp, because they're the difference between a fun weekend and actual improvement:

• Small groups, guaranteed. We cap our camps at 12 campers per coach — and we aim for 10 or fewer. That's the ceiling that lets a coach actually see every rep you take.
• You train with people at your level. One of the biggest anxieties I hear before camp is "which level am I?" We group you so you're challenged, not drowned.
• Video analysis is available as an optional add-on. If you want a coach to break down your film frame by frame, you can add that to your camp. It's not baked into the base price, and I'd rather be upfront about that than surprise you.

Here's what a camp actually looks like from the inside:

The honest comparison

Choose private lessons if: you have one very specific mechanical problem, you've got a great local coach you trust, and budget isn't a concern. A skilled coach one-on-one is a scalpel — precise, but pricey per cut.

Choose a camp if: you want to level up your entire game — serving, passing, setting, attacking, defense, strategy — in one big push. Three immersive days rewires your habits in a way that weekly one-hour sessions struggle to match. You also get something privates can never give you: live gameplay against different opponents, with coaches watching and correcting in real time.

And the price math is hard to argue with. $599 for three days of coached training versus $400–600 a month for four hours of private instruction. Per coached hour, camp is a fraction of the cost.

The option nobody tells you about (because most coaches can't offer it)

Here's the real secret, though: the players who improve fastest don't pick one or the other. They train with structure year-round and use camps as accelerators.

That's exactly why we built our online training membership. You get complete skill courses, practice plans, and live coaching Q&As — the same system our camp coaches teach from — for $49/month or $497/year. You can try everything for 7 days for $1, and if it's not for you, you cancel with a click. No phone calls, no hoops.

The combination is where the magic happens: train online before camp so you show up sharp, get three days of intensive coached reps, then go home with a structured plan instead of a post-camp plateau. Coaching before, during, and after — that's the mix our most improved members use.

Want a taste of the kind of coaching that's inside? Here's a free sample:

What about video analysis?

One more thing worth knowing as you compare options: the single biggest unlock for most intermediate players is seeing their own film with a coach's eyes on it. It's one thing to be told "you're late on your approach." It's another to watch it. This is what that looks like when we do it:

You can add video analysis to a camp, and our members get access to live analysis sessions online. Either way — a real coach watching your film beats generic tips every time.

Bottom line

Private lessons: $40–150/hour, best for surgical fixes. Camps: $599 for three full days, best for transforming your whole game — with groups capped at 12 per coach (we aim for 10 or fewer) and players grouped at your level. And if you want the fastest path, pair a camp with the $1 online training trial so the improvement doesn't stop when you leave the sand.

See you on the beach.

— Mark