Coach Donny Hui just interviewed beach volleyball pro Mark Burik on YouTube show, THE DIG.  Mark is a professional beach volleyball player (AVP and FIVB World Tours), an athletic performance trainer, entrepreneur, and beach volleyball coach, as founder of VolleyCamp Hermosa and Better at Beach.com.

“Learn about Mark’s story of going from a serious baseball player, to picking up volleyball in college on a club team, to walking onto a Division 1 program, to becoming a professional volleyball player,” Coach Donny says. “Mark provides insights into his thought processes and work ethic that will inspire you to achieve your own goals!  Feel free to share this video with your friends to inspire them as well.”

Take it to the next level: Learn about our 7-day beach volleyball training camps.

We also have awesome online training tools and eBooks to elevate your game into greatness.

Transcript of The Dig #6 – Coach Donny’s...

There are, essentially, three major shots and swings in beach volleyball. There's the hard swing angle, which is essentially everyone's default swing in beach volleyball. Then there's the high line, which is typically option No. 2 after the hard swing to the angle. 

Then there's the cut shot. 

The cut shot is at once a lower percentage shot than a high line -- there's less room to make it a great shot -- and also one of the tougher shots to dig for the same reason. There isn't much room for the defender to dig it well. It's a skilled shot...

When you love beach volleyball and you’re overdue for a vacation by the sea, might as well combine the two and make dreams come true. The best destinations deliver thrilling beach volleyball action and soul-satisfying scenery, which is one of the hallmarks of a great vacation. So where to go?

Beach volleyball can obviously be played anywhere you can find sand and a net. In the 2012 Olympic Games held in London, approximately 4,000 tons of sand were trucked into a 15,000-seat stadium for the beach volleyball event. But there’s nothing quite like a beach volleyball destination with a stunning ocean view.

If you’re going to take vacation time to play beach volleyball, might as well travel where the action is at its best and the scenery is most beautiful. With these goals in mind, we’ve rounded up the Top 10 Beach Volleyball Destinations throughout the world. Each of these destinations offers the best beach volleyball you can find on the planet, amid...

You don't always need a full team to practice against in beach volleyball. Sometimes, as is the case with this drill for serving and defense in volleyball, you only need a ball, and one other partner. 

Below, we describe the serve, dig, set, retreat transition drill. 

Serve, Dig, Set, Retreat, Transition Drill

This drill is excellent for just you and a partner, or you and a coach. 

In order to play defense, the server needs to serve to a specific spot. That way, we can start getting into a game rhythm with only two people on the court. This not only helps with the efficiency of...

Hand setting in volleyball can be a challenge until you’ve mastered proper technique.

We clock a lot of hours every month coaching beach volleyball and it turns out there are 7 common mistakes players make again and again in their hand sets. Overcoming these 7 deadly sins on the court can make the difference between crushing it in a match or getting crushed. 

To help, we’ve put together this video demonstrating the 7 deadly sins of volleyball hand setting, but more importantly, proper technique that puts you in charge of the volleyball – and ultimately the court. So don’t be the player with “dainty lady” hands, or a slapper. A balloon catcher, or ol’ “crab hands.”

Be sure to check out our other beach volleyball training videos for coaching tips from pro volleyball players. Lots of good stuff to learn and review. You’ll find great volleyball drills and clear, entertaining explanations on how to do everything...

Defense in beach volleyball can get a little weird sometimes. If you were to ask someone the fundamentals of how to play defense, they'd respond, almost immediately, with: use both hands. 

"If you can use one, you can use both," is the old adage from coaches. 

While they have a point -- if you can use two hands, we do recommend you to use both, as it will result in cleaner, more accurate digs -- there are also situations where you can't use both arms or hands. If you're on the run, chasing down a high line shot, sometimes you can...

Our friend Leo Keegan over at Beach Volleyball Update sent us his latest writeup of the beach volleyball Olympic updates and qualification standings for men. We are pleased to share this with you below.

With 6 months of Olympic qualifying remaining on the calendar, let's examine the Top 4 international men's teams. For reference the current Olympic ranking is as follows:

Anders Mol and Christian Sorum

The current Olympic ranking is led by superstars -- Norway's Anders Mol and Christian Sorum. These youngsters (Mol is 22 years old and Sorum is 24) are the team to beat. Mols/Sorum won 50% (7 of the 14 FIVB) events they played together in 2019.

In the highest pressure, biggest events, Mols/Sorum finished first twice (Gstaad and Vienna) and third twice (World Championships and World Tour Finals).

Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy

Russians Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy are second on the list. This team is also young; Oleg 23 is years old and...

Our friend Leo Keegan over at Beach Volleyball Update sent us his latest writeup of the FIVB and beach volleyball Olympic updates and qualification standings for women, which we are pleased to share with you below.

The USA women are doing very well on the FIVB. In the Olympic qualification standings (shown below) there are 4 USA teams in the Top 10 of which 2 will qualify. Alix Klineman and April Ross hold the top slot by a large margin. However, the second slot is a tight race among three teams: Sarah Sponcil / Kelly Claes, Kerri Walsh-Jennings / Brooke Sweat and Kelley Larsen / Emily Stockman. The race has never been so competitive!

One of the reasons is the addition of Beach Volleyball as an NCAA sport. Check out this article, with an AVP focus, by Wayne Holly with a lot of statistics supporting this argument: (passed on from Ricky Pszenny): NCAA to PRO.

Now let's take a look at the top competition that the USA teams face in the beach volleyball Olympics. The top four...

If you're interested in this blog on serving and how to play defense in beach volleyball, you may be interested in our serving course, which, of course, is the first line of defense in, ahem, defense. It'll will have you serving more accurately, with more power, in just a few weeks! We'd also love to have you drop by one -- or more -- of our beach volleyball classes in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, or anywhere in the South Bay!

The high line shot is the most common offensive shot in beach volleyball. It's the equivalent to a fast ball in baseball, or an elbow jumper in basketball: If you're going to play beach volleyball, you need to have a high line shot. 

Even Phil Dalhausser -- gigantic, physical, bouncing Phil Dalhausser -- hits high line shots. 

So guess what is also a critical skill in beach volleyball? Knowing how to dig the high line shot. It's imperative to chase down a few high lines every match. It throws off the offensive player on...