I had been struggling in beach volleyball lately. It's that weird transition from off-season to pre-season, even though we don't really have much of a real season to train for just yet. I was passing poorly, setting -- the skill I believe I do best -- inconsistent, siding out at the lowest clip in recent memory. It was frustrating. So I did what I always do when I'm struggling at something, be it writing, playing, lifting, eating, whatever: I looked through past journals to see what I was doing when I was playing better. 

What I found was that I was practicing differently than I had been. Three days a week, at least, my practice group would be limited to three people, and we'd repreprepreprep it out, for two hours. It's what I like to call a "meat and potatoes" practice: We're not doing anything fancy, just hammering out the basics, the fundamentals, over and over and over again.

We'd lead with my favorite drill of all time, the simplest one with the highest rate of return:...

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 in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, or anywhere in the South Bay!

You don’t play volleyball by just standing in place. In serve receive, that means you have to be ready to move in every direction. 

If the ball is heading towards your left side, what’s the best way to get to it? Which leg do you move first? What if it falls near the net? 

In the previous chapter, you learned about the forearm pass, how to bump a volleyball correctly and the different things you need to consider when becoming a great passer. 

In this chapter, you'll learn the basic volleyball footwork techniques: 

1. Athletic Position
2. Lateral Steps
3. Lateral Lunges
4. Move 1 Move Both
5. ...

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 in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, or anywhere in the South Bay!

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 control in beach volleyball. It's why we invent little challenges like the one below. Enjoy, get better this week, and Make Ball Control Fun Again! 

4 Quadrant Drill for ball control in beach volleyball 

How to do the drill:...

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 in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, or anywhere in the South Bay!

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 at Austin in 2019, and their arms are wide as can be, like birds of prey, until virtually the last possible moment. 

Point is: Everyone is different. It's mostly a comfort thing. However, we do have our recommendations here at Better at...

20 Practice Plans: The Ultimate Beach Volleyball Training Companion!

This is our latest and greatest product in the Better at Beach, beach volleyball training series!

Have you ever planned to do drills with your friends or team, then show up to the beach and wonder what you should be working on? This practice plan will give you a minute-by-minute printable guide and video examples of each drill. We take the guesswork out of it for you!! All you have to do is show up and focus on improving your game!

The program was created by current professional beach volleyball players Brandon Joyner and Mark Burik, who have years of combined coaching and playing experience on the AVP and FIVB and NORCECA world tours.

There are five areas of concentration: Passing, Setting, Attacking, Defense, and Gameplay. The drills progress from basic to advanced, and is great for coaches and players of ALL LEVELS!

We know you will absolutely LOVE this comprehensive training guide to help you get...

If you're interested in this drill on setting and digging, you may also be interested in our beach volleyball classes in Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and anywhere in the South Bay!

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. 

What we do have, however, is the one drill you can do every practice that will improve your digging, swinging, setting, and footwork. It's all-encompassing and, perhaps the best part, it's perfect for groups when you have a strange number of players: 5, 6, 7, doesn't...

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 in Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Hermosa Beach -- or you can some up for a video call with us too!

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 roommates, fiancees, wives or husbands, children -- living, breathing partners. They don't have to be great, or even good, for that matter, at beach volleyball (you'll see in the video). They just have to be there, and willing to...

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 fact, as this video will show you, pavement will do just fine. While practicing with two people is nice, you don't really need a partner -- who needs a partner when you have a roof? Or the ground? Or...

This is the last chapter in the Volleyball Serve Receive series. We covered positioning on the court, passing, and footwork. Here, we'll go over some special situations to help develop a deeper understanding of the game. 

Passing height is a controversial topic in the beach volleyball world. Should I pass low? Should I pass high? How high is high? How low is low? What if I have a bad setter? These are all important questions we'll answer in this bonus chapter:

1. Apex
2. 6 Feet Off the Net
3. 30 Degrees Off Inside Foot
4. Side Wind

Apex, 6 Balls Above the Antenna

First, it’s important for the pass to have an...

In Chapter Four of the Volleyball Serve Receive series, we're going to cover some advanced footwork and techniques you can use to level up your game and start winning some beach volleyball tournaments. This will be building on the foundation of the basic footwork we went over in the previous chapter. 

Let's get started. 

Here's what you'll learn in this chapter:

1. Drop Step
2. 1, 2, Kick to Kneel

DROP STEP FOR HIGH FAST BALLS

Sometimes, serves come at our chest, neck and heads -- quick!

There is no time to get behind the ball and rock forward. You are not allowed to use your fingers to set the first ball...