Alright, alright, we get it: Our first defensive quiz was too easy. The players were making it too obvious if they were hitting or shooting. Or maybe y’all are just that good at beach volleyball, reading hitters, making the right plays.

Either way: We’re upping the difficulty for our second beach volleyball defensive quiz. No longer is this quiz just a -- pretty easy -- guess on whether the opponent is attacking or shooting. Now, you have to identify not only if they’re hitting or shooting, but where they are hitting or shooting: hard cross, cut shot, or high line. 

Little tougher, huh?

That's beach volleyball. 

Tips on reading the hitter in beach volleyball

“Some things I want you to keep in mind while you’re watching this and reading what the attacker is doing on the other side is, first off: What does their approach look like? If their approach is quick and powerful, then more than likely that is going to be an attack,” AVP...

We're on the move in beach volleyball. A lot. And that's why we love it! There's only two players on the court, which leaves quite a bit of sand to cover. This is especially relevant for all of the beach volleyball defenders out there reading this, players who are constantly on the move but also constantly touching the ball. 

It begs the question: How do we accurately make digs while on the move? 

It's an excellent question. Many coaches will encourage you to be fully stopped, no matter what, whenever you're digging a volleyball. In a perfect world, this would be great. Alas, we do not live in a perfect world, and that idea is unrealistic at best, bad advice at worst. Because digging on the move isn't a bad thing. It's ok to be on the move. 

Sometimes it's even recommended!

"You don’t have to get stopped," AVP professional beach volleyball player Mark Burik said. "It’s ok to be on the move and keep your momentum going to your point of hesitation. If you do...

If you're interested in this blog on peel digging 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 also run 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]

Blockers block in beach volleyball, right? They're the big goons at the net who are supposed to stay at the net. Correct? 

Yes and no. 

In an ideal world, a blocker would never have to leave the net -- or peel, in volleyball vernacular. In the ideal world, a blocker stays at the net, and the defender covers whatever...

Here's a great focused serving and defense drill we use at VolleyCamp Hermosa practices.

This works well with 3 players or 2 players and a parent. Click on the Book Now tab to see our upcoming camps or just schedule a 1 on 1 Private Lesson at any time that works for you.

Set up an obstacle (3-4 feet tall) about 6 feet from the back line. We used garbage cans but you can use chairs, beach umbrellas, hurdles etc.

In order to start the drill, the serve must land behind the obstacle without touching it and in the court.

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Remember, where the serve lands is not as important as how it crosses the receiver. Serving over a high obstacle ensures a flight path that forces a receiver to move backwards.
The serve is worth one point and a transition kill without taping is worth one point. The team needs 21 to finish...

If you're interested in this drill on setting and digging, you may also be interested in 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]

All of us beach volleyball players are looking for that one big thing -- the one lift to get us stronger, the one way to make money so we can continue pursuing this life on the beach, the one thing that'll get us hitting harder, jumping higher, running faster. Sadly, we do not have the answer for some of those things -- you can, however, take our 60-day strength and conditioning program to get you bouncing balls and swat-blocking and running around like Taylor Crabb. 

Want to show your...

Thank you for reading! We love that you're interested in beach volleyball! We also run 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]

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...

One of the greatest plays I’ve seen in beach volleyball is also one that maybe only 50 other people were able to see live. I sat in the mostly-vacant bleachers at the FIVB’s event in Las Vegas, which was being put on and promoted by p1440.

On the court in front of me was my good bud, Tri Bourne, who was playing with Trevor Crabb for the bronze medal against Russia’s Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy. Bourne and Crabb were up 16-15 in the third set.

Earn one more point and the bronze medal was theirs. 

Bourne served a float that hit the net and trickled over, getting maybe -- maybe -- to the one foot line. Against almost any team in the world, this is certain death. Ace, game, set, match, bronze medal. Thank you, come again. But this wasn’t just any team in the world -- this was Russia, currently one of the best teams in the world of beach volleyball, one of the only pairs who can regularly contend with Norway’s Anders Mol and...

Most of my friends and beach volleyball partners are currently in Cancun, competing in an unprecedented back-to-back FIVB tournament series that will be critical in the race to the Tokyo Olympic Games. With all of them gone, it’s been tough to find full training groups. It would have been easy to take a few weeks off. Wait until things settle down.

Rest.

Rest is important, yes, but my international season begins again – it opened in Doha in February; Adam Roberts and I finished fifth – at the end of May, in Bulgaria. Now is not the time for rest. Now is the time for reps, reps, reps, getting better, improving. So I did not sit on my couch all week. Instead, I called Tim Brewster, one of my favorite training partners and a guy I took a fifth with in an FIVB in Tel Aviv, Israel, at the end of 2019.

For an hour, we went through some light reps, going over all the usual suspects: passing on both the right and the left, hitting line shots, hitting cut shots, swinging...

Peeling off the net may be one of the most underappreciated skills in beach volleyball. Yes, we all love the monster block. We all love the swat block. They look fantastic, are huge momentum plays, and are the fastest ways to score points in a beach volleyball tournament. Staying...

You guys asked, and we're going to deliver: You wanted to hear more about defense in beach volleyball, so that's what we're going to cover today. 

The video below is our match -- Mark Burik and Ian Satterfield -- vs. Sean Rosenthal and Chase Budinger at AVP San Francisco. One of the...