Defensive Positioning for Beach Volleyball

Defensive Positioning

We get a bunch of questions about defensive positioning and trust me , there’s a good chance that you are not going to like the answer very much – it might even make you mad - sorry! (but really THAT sorry!)

In the Indoor game, everyone has their area on the floor that gets slightly adjusted depending on the play - on the beach, you have to make little or very big adjustments to your positioning all the time.

Indoors you get yelled at for not being on your “spot” - on the beach your 'spot' depends on many variables –

- Wind,
- Set location,
- Strengths and weaknesses of the hitter,
- Your strengths and weaknesses as a defensive player,
- Your partners strengths and weaknesses
- What side of the court you are playing compared to the hitter

And, if you're not in the “right” position, just like in the indoor game, there’s a good chance someone is going to yell at you – most likely your partner! ;>)

The most important variable that determines your positioning is the hitting habits / tendencies of your opponent based on the location of the set – please read that again slowly, this is VERY important – and don’t rush over the location of the set part either!

This means you must pay very close attention to each and every movement your opponents make - the majority of players only have 2 to 3 ‘things’ they can consistently do with a set – so if you are focused in on what they do and when they do ‘it’, you have at least a 30 -50% chance of ‘reading’ the play and being in the best possible position to dig the ball – easier said than done!

So defensive positioning is mostly about your opponent and what’s happening on each specific play – the same set in the same location for 2 different hitters can easily mean 2 completely different defensive positions – probably not the answer that you were looking for!

BUT – this is one of the aspects of beach volleyball that makes it so much fun and such a continual challenge to play - and can motivate you to be your very best!

More on defensive positioning on another day…

All the VERY best to YOU!

Dan
Be Your Very Best!
U of Beach Volleyball

For some great FREE training videos, click here.

Beach Volleyball - Are You a Great Setter?

To keep the theme of our last training video, we ask the question - "Are You a Great Setter?"

There is way more to setting than ‘a great pair of hands’.

So, What makes a great set?

That depends on your partner’s strengths and weaknesses – it really has very little to do with the quality or location of the pass or dig.

A great passer can make an average setter look good, but a great setter can make an average passer look half way decent.

What is the best location of the set?

Once again, this really depends on your partner’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the weather and what is going on in the specific play – but in general…

If no one were to hit your set,

• The ball should land 1.5 to 2.5 feet away from the net,
• The ball should land directly in front of the passer (basically on a straight line from where the passer contacted the ball and 1.5 to 2.5 feet from the net);
• The height of the set should be a minimum of 5 – 8 feet high.
  
  All these general guidelines are just that, “general” – but they are a great place to start.
  
  What about a shank pass?
  
  I don’t care, and neither should you! – do everything you can to make the play better!
  
  With a shank pass, almost always push the ball close to the net and high – try as hard as possible to make the location of the set as close to what you would do during a free ball play.
  
  It’s tough to do this with your hands when the bad pass is in the back court or off the court, but that’s where having a great bump set is extremely valuable.
  
  To be a great setter you can never take “a play off” and whine, fuss or complain about a bad pass.
  
  To be a great setter you commit yourself to giving your partner what they would call a great set 100% of the time and you don’t make any excuses, no matter how badly the pass was shanked.
  
  To be a great setter you will focus on developing quick feet, perfect body positioning, incredible balance; as well as great touch with your hands or arms.
  
  Being very confident in consistently having your body balanced and feet facing the best possible direction is the biggest factor in making consistently great sets – (although the hands are the “sexy” part, the foundation is in positioning and balance).
  
  I’ve seen too many people develop great hands and forget about their body positioning, including people who coach setting – shame on them!
  
  Not only does poor body positioning lessen the quality of a set; a seldom looked at fact is that unless you have been playing with the same partner for years -
  
  Where you are facing very much consciously and unconsciously influences how your partner approaches the net.
  
  A great setter is someone who consistently performs all the skills and techniques no matter where the pass is, AND their partner completely trusts that they are going to get a good to great set, no matter what.
  
  If you want to become a great setter – we can definitely help you!

All the VERY best to YOU!

Dan

Be Your Very Best!

U of Beach Volleyball