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. 

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 Madison and Riley McKibbin in a practice match. 

It might not be a real beach volleyball match. It might not have any high stakes involved. It might just be practice. 

But it's beach volleyball, y'all. 

...

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...

Guess what everyone? The beaches are open! I repeat: The beaches are open! Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Huntington Beach, Redondo Beach -- yep, all open. You can put up a volleyball net anywhere you want. Good news, however: For this beach volleyball drill, you don't need a net. You don't even need two full teams, though it certainly wouldn't hurt. 

All you need to become a better setter in beach volleyball is a ball, an open mind ready to learn, and a partner. The more the merrier, of course, but for now, two will do just fine -- and you're not even breaking any old Covid-19 rules if you keep it to within the people in your household. Everyone wins. 

If you'd like to become an expert setter in beach volleyball faster, consider enrolling in our setting course. And if you'd like the strength to be able to set as well as possible, consider trying out our 60-day strength and conditioning program!

Here is a Basic Setting Drill for all you coaches and players....

If you're interested in this blog on beach volleyball serve receive and passing, you may want to take a look at our passing and serve receive course! And, now that the beaches are open again, we'd 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]

One of the trickier elements of serve receive is the timing of your platform: When do you put your hands together to form your platform? Every player has his or her own technique. Watch a video of John Mayer, an AVP champion and former MVP and now the head coach at LMU, and he puts his hands together before the serve. Watch Kim Hildreth and Sarah Schermerhorn, AVP finalists...

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, 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]

Defense is desire. You've heard that phrase, right? If not, do yourself a favor and watch this clip from Remember the Titans, because if you weren't ready to play defense before, well, you will be now. 

Defense in beach volleyball is similar to defense in many other sports: It's all...

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, 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]

Arguably two of the most important skills and elements of defense in beach volleyball are ball control, and speed or agility. At Better at Beach, we garner our practices to improve both at the same time. 

Yes, getting in the gym is essential -- which is also why we designed this 60-day...

Beach volleyball partners can argue a lot, but I'd like to save you a fight and teach you how to set and where the best players in the world prefer to get set. This video does look at some great players with big verticals and quick arms which means they can hit sets hard and down from far away. 

Most volleyball players try to overcome their lack of accuracy in their spikes by hitting hard. If you're a shorter player or you don't have a massive vertical jump, it can be frustrating to hit balls that aren't on top of the net because you never get the feeling of hitting down. 

In the video below, we show you examples where there is a big physical blocker at the net, which means tight sets will be gobbled up....

 If you're interested in this blog on serving in beach volleyball, you may be interested in our serving course, which 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]

The serve in beach volleyball is akin to a pitch in baseball or putting in golf: It's used more often than any other skill. It begins every point. Sometimes it can even end every point, too. We'll get to how to ace your opponents in other blogs, videos, and write-ups. For now, we want to discuss a critical, but oddly not often discussed, element of serving in beach...

If you're interested in this blog on beach volleyball serve receive and passing, you may want to take a look at our passing and serve receive course! And, now that the beaches are open again, we'd 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]

Ball control, we admit, can be on the boring side when it comes to beach volleyball drills. It isn't going to draw the attention of a big swing or bounce, doesn't lead to any direct kills, and won't be found anywhere on social media. But it's the foundation upon which a beach volleyball player's success, and skill set, is built. 

And, yes, there are fun ways to practice ball...