Beach Volleyball Techniques and Tactics (Part 2)
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The Attack
The booming spike, like the slam-dunk in basketball, is an impressive ending to a successful sequence of skills. However, a beach volleyball player must have more than just a great spike to be successful at the net. A beach volleyball player who spikes every set will eventually be blocked by a big blocker, be dug by a great digger, or make hitting errors due to fatigue from expending so much energy on every attack. The key to success as an attacker in beach volleyball is to be unpredictable or unreadable to the opposition on defense. By mixing in the occasional well-placed soft shot, beach volleyball players will keep their opponents more off balance and conserve more energy than by spiking every set. The very best beach volleyball players have both the strong spike and the accurate shot-making abilities.
Both the technical description and the skill progression for the attack in beach volleyball are the same as the spike in indoor volleyball. The additional component of beach volleyball attacking is the mastery of the three different types of soft shots (the roll shot, the poke, and the cobra) and the four different shot locations (short line, short angle, deep line, and deep cross-court).
The Approach
As with all movements in the sand, beach attackers must be “light on their feet” to avoid sinking in the sand when approaching to attack. This is the major difference between the approach on the sand and the approach indoors.
The Spike
The spike is the cornerstone on which all successful beach attackers build their offensive strategies. Opponents must be convinced that a strong spike is a distinct possibility. The real threat of a hard spike will cause the blocker to jump and the defender to dig-in making the opponents more susceptible to soft shots from the attacker.
With a reduced jump in the sand it is crucial that an attacker in beach volleyball have a good arm extension (straight arm) and a high contact point when executing a spike.
Types of Soft Shots
The key to executing a successful soft shot is for the attacker to conceal their intentions until the last possible moment. This is accomplished by approaching and jumping with the same explosive mechanics as a spike but changing to a soft shot at the last minute.
- The Roll-Shot
By far the most common method of accomplishing a soft shot in beach volleyball is the “roll shot”. A “roll shot” is a soft topspin (or side-spin) shot executed with the palm of the hand causing the ball to spin or roll. The roll shot is a soft topspin shot performed with an open hand. This shot is the easiest to control and the most deceptive of the three beach soft shots. - The Poke
The “poke” (or “knuckler”) is achieved by contacting the ball with the knuckles. When executing a poke the second knuckle is turned over, as opposed to using a fist (first knuckle turned over). While this shot is very valuable when the set is tight to the net it is harder to control than the roll shot. - The Cobra
The “cobra” shot is performed using fully extended fingers to contact the ball on the top of the fingertips. While the cobra is the most difficult beach shot to perform it does allow the attacker the highest possible contact point. This high contact point is helpful when trying to get a tight set overtop of the blocker.
The Serve
The serve is the only skill in beach (and indoor) volleyball where a player has complete control of the skill. It is not affected by the previous actions of either teammates or opponents.
Types of Serves
There are five different types of serves that used in beach volleyball: the underhand serve, the standing float serve, the standing spin serve, the spike serve and the jump float.
- The Underhand Serve : The underhand serve is the easiest serve to learn and execute correctly. With its simple mechanics and its high probability for success, the underhand serve is best suited for younger athletes or beginners in the sport of beach volleyball. Elite players use an underhand serve to execute a skyball – a high serve launched vertically arriving in the opponents’ court with a high downward velocity.
- The Standing Float Serve : The standing float serve uses the overhand serve technique commonly seen in the indoor game with the objective being to cause the serve to have little or no spin. A serve with no spin will appear to “float” and move erratically, similar to a knuckleball pitch in baseball, due to wind currents. The floating action is created by crisply contacting the middle of the ball with the heel of the serving hand.
- The Standing Spin Serve : The standing spin serve is a topspin serve performed with the same arm action as a spike (Figure 11.6). The ball is contacted with the whole hand on the back of the ball and the wrist snaps over the top of the ball. This serve has a similar trajectory to a spike serve but is easier to execute because the toss is lower and the body not airborne. For these reasons, the standing spin serve is very useful in extreme wind conditions.
- The Spike Serve : The spike serve is by far the most common serve used by elite beach volleyball players (Figure 11.7 and 11.8). The higher speed and flatter trajectory of a spike serve reduces the time opponents have to read and to react to the serve. This reduced reaction time combined with a slow surface (sand), trajectory-altering wind conditions, and large area responsibilities (two players for the entire court) make the spike serve extremely effective in beach volleyball.
- The Jump Float : The jump float is very similar to the spike serve except at the contact is the same as the float serve. There are two main advantages of this serve: it has a flatter trajectory than a standing float and opponents easily mistake it as a spike serve.
Serving Strategies
The following are examples of serving strategies commonly employed on the
beach:
- Serve the near the sidelines or the endline
- Serve the seam
- Serve the weaker passer
- Serve the weaker attacker
- Serve the partner of a weak setter
- Serve tall players deep
- Serve full-time blockers deep
- Serve short players short
- Serve directly into the wind – both topspin and float serves
- Serve a high serve with the wind (“bad side”)
- Serve the partner of a player who must set into a crosswind
- Serve a player whose spiking arm is opposite to the direction of a crosswind
- Serve a high serve when opponents face the sun
