First things first: beach volleyball and sand volleyball are the same sport — "sand volleyball" is just what much of the country (and the NCAA, until 2015) calls it. The rules below apply to both, and where indoor volleyball does things differently, we call it out so you never end up in a heated argument at the net. "Why so angry? It's just the rules, man."

Quick answer: beach volleyball is played 2-on-2 on an 8m x 8m (per side) sand court with rally scoring — best of three sets to 21, 21 and 15, win by two. Each team gets a maximum of three touches, a block counts as the first touch, and the hand-contact rules are much stricter than indoor. Everything else — serving, net touches, line calls, side switches, court dimensions — is below.

How Many Touches Does a Team Get?

A team gets a maximum of three touches to return the ball, and you should want all three: a controlled pass, a set, and a jump-and-spike. In indoor volleyball you have a designated setter; in beach volleyball everyone is a setter, because there are only two of you. Teams that poke the ball back over on one or two touches — especially beginner teams — give up all their offense. Use all three touches every single time.

Does a Block Count as a Touch?

In beach and sand volleyball, yes: if the blocker touches the ball, that counts as the team's first touch, so the blocker or defender can pursue the ball and the third touch must go over the net. Indoor is different — a block touch does NOT count, the team still has three touches afterward, and the blocker may even play the next ball, which is the only situation where one player can legally play two touches in a row.

Can You Receive the Serve with Open Hands?

In beach volleyball, treat the answer as no. The hand-contact rules on serve receive are strict, so take every serve on your forearm platform (your bump). If the serve comes in high and fast, you can use a "tomahawk" — flip your platform upside down and receive with the karate-chop parts of your hands. Do not slap the ball overhand on your first touch. Indoor volleyball is more lenient: you can take the first ball with an overhand pass, though most serve receive is still played off the platform.

Build your platform with your fingers perpendicular, thumbs parallel, and let the ball rebound off your forearms. If you do play a ball with open palms, it has to BOUNCE off them — the moment your fingers scoop or grab, it's a fault.

What Are the Rules for Hand Setting?

A legal set rebounds like a dribbled basketball: soft in, then out, with your hands shaped like a diamond and your wrists rotating back before pushing the ball forward. You cannot set the ball over the net in beach volleyball unless you are squared up to exactly where you're sending it (accidents permitted). Hand-setting is the most argued-about rule in the sport, so we gave it a full guide of its own: what's legal and what isn't with hand setting.

What Are the Rules for Spiking?

Hit the ball with a solid contact from the center of your palm, or use a pokey (knuckles). In beach volleyball you cannot tip with open fingertips or control the attack with your fingers the way indoor players do — no windmill catches or throws, either. Start your approach far off the net (behind half court), then explode through a bow-and-arrow armswing. For footwork, timing and armswing mechanics, see our step-by-step guide: how to spike a volleyball.

Can You Play the Ball with Any Body Part?

Yes. During a rally you can legally play the ball with any part of your body, including your feet and your head. The serve is the exception — serve with one hand or arm.

What Are the Serving Rules?

You can serve from anywhere behind the end line as long as you stay between the extensions of the sidelines. Step on or over the line before contact and it's a foot fault. You may jump-serve and land inside the court, as long as contact happens before you land. The ball must stay between the antennas — they extend upward infinitely, so a serve (or any ball) that crosses directly over an antenna is out, even if it lands in.

And yes, the serve can hit the net: if it clips the tape and drops into the opponent's court, it's live and play continues. The old "let serve, redo" rule is gone from standard play, though the AVP has experimented with bringing it back on match point (the "freeze") to keep matches from ending on a net-cord ace.

How Does Scoring Work?

Everything is rally scoring now: a point is awarded at the end of every rally, whether you served or received. (Old-school side-out scoring, where only the serving team could score, survives only in a few throwback tournaments.) Beach and sand volleyball matches are best of three sets: the first two go to 21, the deciding third set goes to 15, all win-by-two. Indoor is best of five sets to 25, with a deciding fifth set to 15.

When Do Teams Switch Sides?

Because wind and sun matter outdoors, beach volleyball teams switch sides every 7 points during 21-point sets and every 5 points in a 15-point third set, plus between sets. Indoor teams only switch at the end of each set.

Who Serves, and in What Order?

Official matches start with a coin flip (rock-paper-scissors works fine at the park). The winner chooses to serve, receive, or pick a side. After that, beach volleyball alternates servers within each team: you keep serving as long as your team keeps scoring, and when the serve comes back to your team, your partner takes the next turn. Indoor teams rotate clockwise, and whoever rotates into the back-right spot (zone 1) serves next — with front-row players attacking at the net and back-row players required to jump from behind the ten-foot (three-meter) line when they attack.

Is the Ball In If It Lands on the Line?

Yes — on the line is in, for both beach and indoor. On sand, the lines move: a ball can splash sand and make the line wiggle, or the lines get kicked out of place mid-rally. The boundary is wherever the lines started the point, and after the point you're allowed to reset the lines to their original position to judge whether the ball was in or out. Check your lines before every serve.

What Counts as an Illegal Net Touch?

You cannot touch the net while making a play on the ball — blocking, spiking or setting. Do it, even accidentally, and it's the other team's point. Brushing the net while you're not involved in the play is generally fine, but don't give the ref a reason. Key point: DO NOT touch the net.

How Big Is a Sand Volleyball Court, and How High Is the Net?

A beach (sand) volleyball court is 8m x 8m per side, slightly smaller than the 9m x 9m indoor court. Net heights are the same indoors and on the sand: 7' 11 5/8" for men and 7' 4 1/8" for women.

Where Can You Actually Learn These Rules on the Court?

Reading rules is one thing — playing under them with a coach watching is how they stick. Our complete rules breakdowns, skill courses and strategy courses all live inside the Better at Beach membership, and the $1 seven-day trial gets you all of it: structured online classes, drills, live meetings and video review of YOUR play, then $49/month or $497/year if you stay. Members who improve fastest pair the membership with our three-day beach volleyball camps — think of a camp as 8-10 private lessons' worth of coaching ($599) packed into one weekend, with coaching before, during and after through the membership.

About the author: Mark Burik is a professional beach volleyball player and coach, and the founder of Better at Beach. He has coached hundreds of players at destination camps and through online training at betteratbeach.com.