The Beach Game Simplified

The beach game is all about rhythm. You must find yours and disrupt your opponent’s. There are numerous ways to accomplish this. Your job strategically is to “find a chink in their armor” and discover what disrupts their flow. Make them uncomfortable. Conversely, your skills have to be fine tuned enough to handle them doing the same to you. Little things, like where you serve, line up to block, how low you pass, and which side you’re on can be the difference in winning and conserving energy for the next match.

Offensively, ball control is king. The more consistent you are with ball placement, the more you’re partner can put you in position to be successful. The pass, set, aggressive approach, and call all come together to help you navigate the match. Do this well and the other team will be constantly frustrated. You’ll always be in control if you can side out.

Defensively, aggressive serving and relentless defense can suffocate the other team. First, get them in trouble with your serve. Then once the ball is in play, be ready to scramble and control their attacks. Can you funnel with your block? Is the defender reading the attacker? Can you set your partner well after they make a great dig? The great ones do these little things well.

Lastly, the thing that I’ve found helps the most is how you approach each point. Numerous times I found myself stewing and overly emotional about what happened on the previous play. This hurts your focus and can cause negative point streaks to occur. Instead, treat each point as it’s own island. Don’t worry about the score or who did what or how much energy you had to expel on the previous play. Each point requires it’s own micro best effort. As soon as it’s over, breathe, rest, and visualize what you want to do next. If you string together a collection of mini “best effort” points, you’re putting yourself in a great position to be successful.