This current epoch of quarantines and stay-at-home orders could be viewed in a number of ways for those in the beach volleyball community: Lonely. Solo. Boring. Idle. Partnerless. 

And yet, there is little need for those descriptors. Now, in fact, could be the optimal time to improve quicker on the beach, learning more about how to play beach volleyball, and to play it well, than you ever have. You don't need the sand -- in...

To watch a beach volleyball player warm up is to watch a menagerie of exercises, stretches, and odd rituals of varying use. Some of these are critical. Some are useful. Some are, well, some are just odd and could be downright harmful to any volleyball player and athlete. 

Which is why we brought in Doctor Domenic Fraboni, a doctor of physical therapy and lifestyle consultant who was kind enough to walk us through three essential stretches for beach volleyball players.

Dr. Dom is one of a number of experts we've had featured on Better at Beach, and we've compiled a 60-day course to have you jumping higher, hitting harder, and powering through the sand. 

But before we can get you jumping like Troy Field, hitting like Phil Dalhausser, and digging balls like Taylor Crabb, we need to get you properly stretched out and warmed up. 

Enter Dr. Dom. 

This video on Three Essential Stretches for Beach Volleyball features Domenic Fraboni or, @DrDomPT if...

When recalling an answer to the oft-asked question of beach volleyball serving -- "Is it better to serve with power or with accuracy? -- two images come to mind. 

The first is of Jeremy Casebeer. If you missed AVP Seattle this past year, where he won with Canadian Olympian Chaim Schalk, that's perfectly fine. It's on Amazon Prime if you'd like to re-watch. Or you can simply...

To run through the list of the all-time greats in beach volleyball is to also run through some of the fittest individuals in the sport's history.

Karch Kiraly's sand workouts pre- and post-practice are the stuff of legend. They're also what led him to a 40-plus inch vertical and a career marked by more victories than anyone in beach volleyball. 

Brazilian beach volleyball gold medalist Emanuel Rego, perhaps the best player in the country's storied history, practically floated on the sand, so agile, limber and explosive was he. Ditto for Sinjin Smith and Mike Dodd, a pair of Hall of Famers. When looking at the current generation of beach volleyball players, the top is marked by much of the same characteristics. 

Anders Mol, the FIVB Player of the Year two years in a row, is an athletic marvel. Taylor Crabb, one of the best defenders in the world, is second to none when it comes to quickness and leaping. Troy Field flew up the AVP ranks behind an astounding...

A little more than a month ago, gyms and beaches across Southern California closed, bringing the same question to the forefront of nearly every beach volleyball player's mind: What now? 

How could volleyball players of all shapes and sizes and abilities, ranging from the beginner beach volleyball player seeking his A rating to the pro beach volleyball player seeking his first AVP Sunday, stay fit? 

How could they stay tournament ready? 

The volleyball community has proven, as it always has, remarkably resilient. Garage and home gyms have popped up. Roofs and walls are the new partners. Stretching and remaining mobile, helping to prevent injury, is the new heavy squat.  

It has proven that, honestly, you don't need a loaded up trap bar to be jumping higher and hitting harder and pier-bouncing in Huntington Beach. You just need a little bit of space, and the mindset that, no matter the adversity, you're going to become the beach volleyball...

Welcome to Better at Beach, where we are dedicated to helping you become the best beach volleyball player you can be. Doesn't matter if it's A, AA, open, or professional, whether you're located in Hermosa Beach, CA or Salt Lake City, Utah., we're here to help you get fit, serve tougher, hit harder, and, in this case, breathe most effectively. 

It has perhaps reached the point of being a vogue topic, not just in beach volleyball or in sports, but in life in general. It isn't a fad diet, or a "get fit quick" workout program, rather much the contrary. It's something we do every day, every moment, awake or not, conscious or not. 

It's breathing. 

Mindfulness and meditation, as ancient a practice as it is, has quickly become one of the biggest topics in health and sports, including, if not especially, beach volleyball. The vast majority of professional and NCAA teams travel their sports psychologists who espouse, among a number of practices, breath work....

If this beach volleyball blog is of interest to you, you may also be interested in our Beginner Membership, which can be  of benefit to anyone, living anywhere. We'd love to have you take one of our beach volleyball classes, private lessons and training camps for adults and juniors in Hermosa Beach, CA and Salt Lake City, Utah. We run volleyball vacations in exotic locations around the world. We can even run beach volleyball clinics for your group, club or team in your hometown! Send an email to [email protected]

Sometimes we can't get out to play beach volleyball with our real partner -- but we still have plenty of options. We can play with the roof. The wall. The street. Those, of course, are also not our real partners, but at least they won't complain about a bad set or pass. 

Even better, however, than our ever-reliable inanimate objects and surfaces around our houses and neighborhoods, are our...

If you're interested in this blog on beach volleyball, 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 beach volleyball. It 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, private lessons and training camps for adults and juniors in Hermosa Beach, CA and Salt Lake City, Utah. We run volleyball vacations in exotic locations around the world. We can even run beach volleyball clinics for your group, club or team in your hometown! Send an email to [email protected]

There are any number of different aspects that could make a beach volleyball defender great. You could watch a dozen different teams play, and pick out a dozen different attributes from each defender that you'd like to implement in your own game -- and that's great....

If you're interested in this practice match between Riley and Madison McKibbin and Mark Burik and Curt Toppel, we think you'd love our beach volleyball classes, private lessons and training camps for adults and juniors in Hermosa Beach, CA and Salt Lake City, Utah. We run volleyball vacations in exotic locations around the world. We can even run beach volleyball clinics for your group, club or team in your hometown! Send an email to [email protected]

THE BEACHES ARE OPEN! Do something other than workout at home or in the garage or wherever your new home gym may be. 

Want to show your support and help us make more content? Buy a cool beach volleyball

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In light of that, we decided to celebrate practice -- we're talkin' about practice, y'all.  In the video below, Mark Burik and Curt Toppel are playing...

There are two drills I would consider as the bedrock of a beach volleyball practice, the foundation upon which a player’s skill-set is based: rapid fire passing – or any type of passing drill; rapid fire is simply my favorite for its expediency and volume – and Triangle Setting.

During the off-season, which was unfortunately roughly 348,190,520 days long during COVID-19, Mondays were what I called “meat and potatoes” practices: We repped out passing and setting, what I consider the two most important skills in the game over and over and over again. Dial those skills in, and the rest of your week, whether you’re playing or just training, is going to be infinitely smoother.

We’ve gone over rapid fire passing before. Now, then, we’ll turn to Triangle Setting.

Triangle Setting is the perfect beach volleyball drill. Players at every level, from beginner to world champions, will (and do!) reap immense benefits from it. It lightly works on...