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

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