Learn how to spike a volleyball accurately with this easy beach volleyball drill: Self-toss Target Practice

This is a great beach volleyball warm-up drill for spiking and attacking. when you're starting to get your arm loose on the court or if you want to get some spiking and accuracy reps while you're at home or away from a volleyball court.

It won't get you any game-like reps, but it's really important to be able to control the volleyball and incorporate vision.

Toss to yourself but you must make sure that you toss well above the top of the antenna. After you follow where the ball is with your eyes, you need to drop them or focus them on your partner (or a target on a wall) and then return your gaze to the ball.

When the ball that you tossed reaches its peak, your partner is going to put one hand anywhere they want. Your job is to reach to the top of your swing and try to snap the ball to their hand, hitting the target on a straight line drive as if you were throwing a...

We also run beach volleyball classes, private lessons and training camps for adults and juniors at VolleyCamp in Hermosa Beach, CA. We are in the Beach Cities between Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach. We run volleyball vacations right here in Los Angeles but we also take our players on awesome volleyball trips to exotic locations. We can even run beach volleyball clinics for your group, club or team in your hometown! Send an email to [email protected]

A sound beach volleyball training program has to cover all of the bases, but one of the most talked-about topics is how much upper body training is really necessary for a volleyball player.

I remember in 2008, I was watching the USA men's indoor volleyball team in the Olympics with my brother. I had just finished my career at George Mason University and I was a pretty typical college male jock. I was bench pressing and doing biceps curls on a regular basis and while I told myself and everyone else it was...

Beach volleyball spiking drill for parents and partners: Pass, Set, Spike, Catch

Here's a great beginner drill for volleyball that works on ball control and spiking.  I get to meet lots of volleyball parents who just want to help their kids get better but they don't know how. This basic hitting drill for volleyball is an easy way for parents, coaches and friends to help the volleyball players in their lives get some extra reps.

If you want to practice attacking on your own and do some drills at home, you can also think about drawing a big box on a wall somewhere. If you can throw a very high ball to yourself, bump it, set it and then spike it into the box, you get a point!

Basically what we're going to do is have one person, the player, use three touches. They have to pass to themselves, set to themselves, and then hit at a target or a catcher.

Parent: If you're a non volleyball player, if you can catch it, that qualifies as a good hit from the player. Just throw...

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. At levels below AVP, FIVB CBVA open beach volleyball tournaments, I understand that blockers and hitters aren't as big so you might want to set A LITTLE bit tighter than in this how to set video but remember, even without a blocker, aiming your sets tight during a...

What kind of upper body strength does a volleyball player really need?

To be honest, not a whole lot! Well, let’s put it this way: adding bulk to your upper body would be a mistake. It puts more stress on your back, knees and hips than you would like. Being strong only goes so far in beach volleyball. Strength without mass is key. But let’s dive into the nitty gritty.

How much should I workout my upper body for beach volleyball?

It would be hard to say that additional strength could be a bad thing. Additional strength without additional weight would be a fantasy for every beach volleyball player. It’s good to be strong but when we dedicate hours to it when there are more important things to cover, there’s an issue. For example, would you rather be very strong and suffer season ending shoulder injuries throughout your career or would you choose medium strength but be able to finish seasons with a healthy body?

Beach volleyball is essentially a...

Beach volleyball players are known for our strong shoulders and rightly so. These poor joints take a beating. Strength plays a small but important role in a player's ability to spike (or attack) and serve better. A big range of motion is definitely more important but if you're trying to spike volleyball with a limp spaghetti noodle, you'll never win a tournament. You have to find the perfect combination of range, speed, and strength. All of these things will add up to great spiking technique and harder hits.

Players will often train for strength too heavily, add-on bulk, and then lose the range of motion in their shoulders. I've seen this happen with baseball players and volleyball players alike. When your training routine makes you move heavy things at a very slow speed, your body gets very good at just that, slowly moving heavy things.  When you get ‘monster’  big, your muscles can also get in the way of each other. We aren't even going to harp on the...

We also run beach volleyball classes, private lessons and training camps for adults and juniors at VolleyCamp in Hermosa Beach, CA. We are in the Beach Cities between Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach. We run volleyball vacations right here in Los Angeles but we also take our players on awesome volleyball trips to exotic locations. We can even run beach volleyball clinics for your group, club or team in your hometown! Send an email to [email protected]

Beach volleyball coaches and players everywhere use the word ‘shoulder’ pretty loosely. Nine muscles are responsible for the movement of your upper arm. That movement is controlled at the shoulder joint.

If you play volleyball, chances are you’ve experienced some version of soreness or tightness in your shoulder region. If you want to last as a volleyball player and you want to learn how to hit harder, you have to learn how to strengthen and protect your shoulder joint and all of the...

We also run beach volleyball classes, private lessons and training camps for adults and juniors at VolleyCamp in Hermosa Beach, CA. We are in the Beach Cities between Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach. We run volleyball vacations right here in Los Angeles but we also take our plays on awesome volleyball trips to exotic locations. We can even run beach volleyball clinics for your group, club or team in your hometown! Send an email to [email protected]

Can a strong core increase your vertical jump for beach volleyball? Absolutely! Let me tell you why.

Do you know those wacky inflatable flailing arm guys that used car dealerships use? The plastic ones that are just big tubes of flowing air. Imagine one of those guys trying to jump.Their top side would topple and flop because nothing in the midsection is holding anything stable. If your core can’t stabilize your spine so that your upper body and lower body sync up, you cannot be powerful.

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If you're interested in this blog on mobility, which is one element to getting you jumping higher for beach volleyball, we think you'd love our 60-day strength and conditioning course to get you jumping higher, hitting harder, running faster, and developing into the beach volleyball player you've always wanted to become

Beach volleyball and indoor volleyball are both highly dynamic uni-lateral sports. That means that a lot of the actions we perform are one-sided. When you take an approach, the majority of the force is stopped and redirected by one leg. When you go up to serve or hit a volleyball, you use one side. That means you are constantly training a stretch and fire program for one side of your body.

Our bodies have to get better and more efficient at these one-sided moves but we also have to prevent imbalances from hurting us. Allow me to explain that a little further. If you are a right-handed hitter for indoor volleyball and you take an approach, your footwork should...

Thank you for reading! We love that you're interested in beach volleyball! And if you live in Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, or anywhere in Southern California, we'd love if you joined us for our beach volleyball classes and camps!

Casey Patterson is known for, among a wide variety of elements of beach volleyball, his personality. He dances. Laughs. Talks more than your typical beach volleyball player -- sometimes, as was the case this past year at AVP Seattle, in the middle of a swing, when he wondered, audibly, what in the world Troy Field was doing when he dared to peel on Patterson. 

It didn't end well for Field. 

This might not seem to be like strategy in the typical sense of the word. That strategy is the Xs and Os -- who to serve and where, what defense to run, where to attack and how. Patterson employs plenty of that as well, and he discusses as much in the video below. But strategy, getting into an opponent's head and staying...