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

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 volleyball: Where to serve and why/

There are a few basic points that most beach volleyball players understand. Most will serve at the weaker of the two players -- or the one getting set by the lesser setter of the two -- because, simply, it's easier...

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...

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...

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 read this recap here: Jeremy Casebeer ace, Jeremy Casebeer ace, Jeremy Casebeer ace. In the semifinals, where Casebeer and Schalk were playing Casey Patterson and Chase Budinger, Casebeer served his way to an 8-0 start. 

Eight nothing! In the...

Yes, the days of sideout beach volleyball, where you can only score when you're the serving team, are mostly over (except during the AVP main draws when the freeze is on). But that doesn't mean that defense in beach volleyball is any less important. The old sporting adage, 'defense wins championships' is as true as it has ever been. There's a reason that Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, the No. 1 team on the AVP Tour, are also the No. 1 hardest team to score on, just as there's a reason that the top team in the world, Norway's Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, are also the toughest team to score on in the world. 

...

It doesn't come in particularly fast. It isn't likely to make many, or any, Instagram highlights. It certainly isn't going to draw huge crowds at your beach volleyball tournament. But one of the most effective weapons in the game of beach volleyball is a float serve. 

If you ask 100 professional beach volleyball players if they'd rather pass a float serve or a top-spin jump serve, most -- especially if it's on a windy day -- would vote for the top-spin serve, any day of the week. Nobody likes passing float serves. 

A float serve is a bit of a misnomer. It doesn't so much float as it does dance. A properly hit float...

Can you tell me what you think is the most important position in baseball? For most, I'd expect the answer to be pitcher. History would say you're correct. So why is it so obvious that pitching is the most critical element of building a baseball team, but serving in beach volleyball is so routinely ignored? Or, if not ignored, not prioritized? 

Serving is no different than pitching. It's the only closed loop skill in the game, meaning you have control from start to finish. You control where you serve from, what kind of serve you're hitting, where you want to hit, what kind of toss you want to use. 

It's also...

You don't always need a full team to practice against in beach volleyball. Sometimes, as is the case with this drill for serving and defense in volleyball, you only need a ball, and one other partner. 

Below, we describe the serve, dig, set, retreat transition drill. 

Serve, Dig, Set, Retreat, Transition Drill

This drill is excellent for just you and a partner, or you and a coach. 

In order to play defense, the server needs to serve to a specific spot. That way, we can start getting into a game rhythm with only two people on the court. This not only helps with the efficiency of...

One of the most formidable aspects of AVP pro, and Better at Beach CEO Mark Burik, beach volleyball skill sets is his serve. He has so many different types of serves it's a little difficult to count: jump serve, standing float, jump float, jump serve with side spin, jump serve with no spin. It's difficult for any player, at any level, to be comfortable passing, especially since he makes virtually every one look the same. 

As such, he's one of the best coaches and mentors in beach volleyball when it comes to serving. It's why players of all levels come to him for video or in-person analysis to help them with...