Beach Volleyball

Beach Volleyball Basics

Beach Volleyball Game Plan and Scouting Charts

Serving: Serve with a purpose: Mindless serving is a waste of time

      1. Short serve
        1. Most hitters lose the ability to hit line when they don’t have a full approach, meaning that they will hit crosscourt
        2. Short serves can force the hitter too far under the ball where they lose the ability to see the defense
        3. Serve short to better hitter:  limited approach makes her hits more predictable
        4. Can be used to tire a team out:  use after winning a long rally as they are likely tired–you are tired room but you won the rally, so you have more energy from the point
        5. Caution: This can be an easy “option” (over on two ball) hit for the opponent if overused
      2. Serving Deep
        1. Makes opponent track the ball
        2. Use if opponent has a hard time passing balls close to the net
        3. Might set up hitter to swing from farther off the net, thus limiting their hitting options
      3. Straight line-to-line serve
        1. Keeps the set wide, which makes it easier to keep the ball in front of you on defense (perimeter D)
        2. Blocker can easily take line away, making a more predictable dig for the backcourt defender
        3. If blocker is serving, it allows for the shortest distance for the blocker to run
        4. Often times it is the ball hit directly at you that is the hardest to line up on SR. (This theory is also true for outfielders in baseball.)
      4. Serving middle
        1. Use if opponent is not communicating well
        2. Use as a “one-off” after targeting one player–hope is that the other player won’t be ready to move to pass
      5. Serving location and tips
        1. Move around, serve from middle, and each corner to mix it up
        2. If what you are doing is working, don’t change it
        3. Pick on one player until the prove they can beat you again and again.
        4. Serve the tougher server–anything you can do to take a player away from only thinking about their strength is a benefit to you
  • Serve Receive
      1. Passing rules
        1. Ankles bent→ knees in front of toes → hips low → shoulders forward in front of knees → keep head still, at same level when moving
        2. Angle of incident = angle of reflection
          1. …on a normal surface
          2. Make sure passing platform is flat
          3. Cushion or add pace to ball based on its speed
            1. Softer serves stay on your arms longer, so surface and angles are key, even on the easy stuff
            2. Hard serves: set the angle for to go high middle-middle
        3. Focus on servers arm and hand (angle rule applies to them too)
          1. Fast arm
          2. Slow arm
          3. Hand angled palm to sky= short
          4. Spin
            1. Lots of topspin means the ball will fall short
              1. Balls close to the line will catch the line
              2. Make sure you get under the ball
            2. Floats won’t drop as much
              1. Floats will knuckle, so be light on your feet
              2. Be sure to watch the ball all the way in to your platform
        4. Troubleshooting serve streaks
          1. Option, over on two–pass tighter and make this call before the serve
          2. Switch sides
          3. Shift the targeted player closer to the sideline
          4. Shift to stack both of you on the right side of the court, or left side of the court
          5. Bunch middle to open sidelines
          6. Spread to sideline to open middle
          7. I formation if they are picking on one player.
            1. Stack in middle of court
            2. Break late so server can’t pick on player
          8. *Remember: you have to contacts to get the ball close to the net.  Passes don’t have to be tight as ground can be made up on the set.
        5. Error off the net–pass high middle-middle for most room for error
        6. Over on one–this is more of an “oops” that gets a point sometimes; if we have to resort to this, we will be practicing passing all week, at least
  • Blocking:
    1. Designated blocker needs to be up at the net every time the ball is on the opponent’s side
      1. Benefits of having a blocker up there:
      2. Protect against over passes and cheap stuff off the net
      3. Blocker stays up at net until the SET LOCATION is determined.
      4. Blocker will either stay to block or pull off
    2. Pulling from the block:
      1. Footwork: turn feet→ open hips→ crossover→ square up, hands up, shoulders forward–>stopped on contact of hit
      2. Wider sets (by the antenna) eliminate the line hit,  so DROP CUT (cut shot is actually easier to hit the wider the set is outside the antennae)
      3. Inside set: DROP line
      4. Middle set: DROP to line closest line (right) or opponents preferred short shot
        1. Move late
        2. Take away most area by still being able to get to  their number 1 shot
      5. Right side sets: Drop to angle or cut.
        1. It is much easier for a righty to hit a cut shot from the right side
        2. Defender can read parallel shoulder to the net and hand to jump on line shots
    3. Back defender reaction to pull
      1. ALWAYS SEE THE HITTER AND SQUARE UP WITH THE HITTER
      2. Wide sets: stay centered, and think CUT and ANGLE ONLY (the deep angle corner need to be covered)
      3. Inside set (L):
        1. Move up
        2. Shade to angle
        3. Have a jump on short and cut
      4. Middle set: hold your break until your blocker has released.
        1. Leave the line behind your dropping blocker open
        2. Shift up to get a step on the short cut
        3. Still be able to cover your middle back though
      5. Right side: **don’t be surprised by sharp and and cut shots
        1. shift up and be ready to cover line and short
        2. you have everything in front of you and to your left–get a good jump
      6. Other defender reactions
        1. Don’t forget about fakes and jukes
        2. When in doubt, just take away opponent’s #1 shot / highest percentage shot
        3. Don’t camp, anticipate
          1. ALWAYS Anticipate hitter’s go-to / #1 shot
          2. Be light enough to also react to other things
        4. NEVER cover the same space as your blocker, even when they are pulling
    4. Other Reads
      1. ALWAYS TRUST YOUR READ and GO
        1. If you are wrong you learn
        2. If you are right, you win
      2. Deep set= deeper hit
        1. or if short, easier to read; arm speed, hand angle, arc, etc
        2. Most likely, will hit to where they are facing
      3. Tight set= short hit (whether poked or pounded)
        1. give up deep on tight ball
        2. deep balls on tight sets won’t have much power, which means you can run them down even if playing for shorter balls
      4. Wide set= no line available to hit (D- shift up and wide; blocker drop wide to cut)
      5. Middle set= will hit where facing
        1. anticipate opponents best / #1 go-to shot and be able to run it down *but don’t camp there
        2. Can read, run down secondary shots (like hits back across their body) easily
        3. Trust your reads, but  don’t move too early or too far

 

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