Beach Volleyball started on the beaches of Hawaii and California about the same time as modern surfing began to emerge in the early years of the 20th century, and has developed into an international team sport (as well as official Olympic sport since 1996) played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net, although recreational games are often played by more players as they were in the early formative days of the sport. A game of beach volleyball is still a lot like indoor volleyball as the primary objective of both is to send the ball over the net and ground it on the opponent’s side of the court while preventing the same effort by opponents. However, differences between the two volleyball sports (e.g., 2 player teams, no substitutions, and no coaching in beach volleyball) affect game tactics, player technique, culture and style.
The ball is put in play with a ‘serve’ hit over the net to the receiving team by a player from behind the court back line. Each team is allowed up to three touches on the ball to return it back over the net to the opponents. The ‘rally’ continues until the ball is grounded on the playing court, goes outside the court boundary lines, or is not returned correctly over the net. The team winning a rally scores a point and serves to start the next rally. The four players serve in the same sequence throughout a match, changing the server each time a rally is won by the receiving team. See Official International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Beach Volleyball Rules (2017-20) → here
WATCH On2In2™
Yes! —It’s the start of the 2018 beach volleyball season, and if you missed the 2018 FIVB Huntington Beach Open (May 2-6) season opener at Huntington Beach ‘Surf City’, California, there’s still time to watch video recordings of the best athletes and Olympians from across the globe compete at this “one-of-a-kind” event. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from the video posts located on the media player below. You can view results → Here
While always a great event, the Huntington Beach Open was even bigger and better in 2018 as the FIVB and AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals) joined forces to create a unique tournament with double-elimination and an open qualification for all countries. Look for USA’s Jake Gibb and double Olympic medalist April Ross (Meet April and watch her train and play in the video above), Brazilian 2015 world champions and Rio 2016 Olympic medalists Agatha Bednarczuk and Bruno Schmidt, Italy’s Rio 2016 Olympic silver medalist Paolo Nicolai, Canada’s current FIVB World Ranking leader Sarah Pavan, and many more.
Programming Note: The AVP Pro Beach Volleyball ( aka ‘AVP’) recently announced that live streaming match coverage of AVP Tour beach volleyball tournaments will no longer be available for free as it has signed a three year, global deal with Amazon Prime Video. Bad news for On2In2™ beach volleyball fans, but it was fun while it lasted and ok should you be an Amazon Prime member. Find more information → Here
We’d love to hear from you! If you’d like to comment on this article, join the conversation, or share your inspiration, and you have not yet registered as an On2In2™ playmaker, please sign up via the ‘Engage page’. Don’t worry, it’s pretty quick and easy (unless you’re a robot).
Feature photo of AVP 2017 beach volleyball event is courtesy of Flickr user, Ralph Arvesen, CC BY-NC 2.0
