Kerri Walsh comparing beach volleyball to playing indoor… “You touch every other ball and, if you screw up, you only have one more person to back you up. You can’t go hide in the corner.”

Misty May-Treanor on playing beach volleyball… “It takes a lot of hard work and dedication just like any pro sport. Especially for beach volleyball you don’t have to be tall or as fast as other sports. You just have to have the skills.”

Inspirational Volleyball Quotes

“Do you believe in miracles?”

- Al Michaels

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”

- Archie Griffin

“Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.”

- John Wooden

“I’ve worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down and I will not let myself down.”

- Mia Hamm

“It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.”

- Evander Holyfield

Team Volleyball Quotes

“One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.”

- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates.”

- Magic Johnson

“A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide.”

- Mickey Mantle

“Anyone can support a team that is winning – it takes no courage. But to stand behind a team to defend a team when it is down and really needs you, that takes a lot of courage.”

- Bart Starr

“One finger cannot lift a pebble.”

- Hopi Saying

In playing volleyball, just like playing any other sports, you need to equip yourself with the right skills, game knowledge, techniques and strategies, apparel and shoes. Volleyball shoes are specifically cut and designed for playing indoor volleyball. They are manufactured with materials and styles that match the needs of volleyball players.

The market has a wide array of volleyball shoes to choose from. The shoes come in various sizes, brands, styles, colors and designs. There is a selection of shoes for men, women and children, and you can find them in most sport’s stores and on the Internet. Choosing the right shoes to wear is important as it can affect the way you play volleyball. You need to know that your feet will perform for you throughout the whole game and hopefully help your team win the game.

Remember, size does matter. Try on several pairs of shoes until you get the right fit. Also make sure that they are made well. Check for durability and reliability of the material used to make the shoe and remember that volley ball shoes are designed differently for men and women. If you’re buying in a shop, ask for professional advice. If your buying online, read all the material about the shoes you are interested in before purchasing them. Also, magazines about sporting goods might have tips and advice on how to fit volleyball shoes and what specific designs and styles to choose.

Keep your volleyball practices fresh and interesting by incorporating new drills that isolate specific skills or combine a number of skills by integrating them into game play. When introducing these volleyball practice drills to your team, make sure to fully explain every aspect of the drill and give each player a chance to practice the drill at half-speed first before proceeding to full speed. Not only will this serve to avoid unnecessary injury, it will also allow your players to cement the correct frameworks before implementing the learned skills.

Three Pile Pick Up

The first of these new volleyball practice drills is a simple one we call Three Pile. It’s a great drill for the beginning of a practice year as it incorporates many skills and while it can be organized around a competitive framework, it is also great for building teamwork and communication skills which are crucial when playing volleyball.

To begin the Three Pile drill, have 3 players lay down on the court in a pile on top of each other. At the sound of your whistle, throw a ball high into the air. At the same time, your players must untangle themselves as quickly as possible and stand up in time to call out the first hit. The player closest to the ball then sets it and run the play as best as possible.

To turn the game more competitive, have two piles of 3 players on either side of the net, and throw a ball to each group. If the ball is called out and missed, that player is out of the game. If the ball is successfully hit 3 times then it must be hit over the net to the other team who hit the ball back to the coach and drop to the floor in a pile. The team that achieves this first earns one point, and play continues until a predetermined score is reached.

4-on-4 Free for All

The next of the volleyball practice drills is not only a great workout but it teaches your back row players to play smart. To begin, divide your player into groups of four. Have your players set up in a diamond formation, with one back row player, two outside hitters and one front row setter that stands at center front.

The drill runs just like a regular game except that when the opposing team is hitting on the outside, the outside player rotates back to the ten-foot line in order to double block as much as possible. This drill requires for the back row player to read the opposing hitters well since they will need to be able to move quickly to hit the ball.

To up the ante for this drill, especially if you want to work on developing a kamikaze defensive strategy, have your back row player dive for every ball that is a hit. This will help to eliminate the lazy mindset that defensive players sometimes fall into with regards to other players picking up the slack.

The biggest difference between beach volleyball and regular volleyball is the setting. Obviously, beach volleyball is played on a beach. This makes for a big difference in the attire you wear while playing. Often, people who play beach volleyball play in their bathing suits, shorts, tank tops or other common beach attire. Also, in beach volleyball, players don’t wear tennis or athletic shoes, they usually were nothing on their feet. In regular volleyball, you must have shoes on while playing or the hard and probably hot pavement or court surface could hurt your feet. In beach volleyball, the court is also slightly smaller than indoor volleyball, where the court is 8 x 8 meters on each side, as opposed to the 9 x 9 meters in indoor volleyball. In addition, the beach volleyball is softer and slightly larger than an indoor volleyball. You can also cross under the net to hit a ball as long as you don’t interfere with the opponents attempt at hitting the ball. In beach volleyball, the block also always counts as the first contact of the ball. In beach volleyball, players are not actually required to rotate or change positions during play. Also, the standard for double hitting while employing overhead or overhand finger passes or hand sets is stricter than in the rules of indoor volleyball. These are the major differences between indoor and beach volleyball.

History Of Beach Volleyball

Beach volleyball was invented on the beaches of Santa Monica, California in the 1920’s. By the 1930’s, people on European beaches were also playing beach volleyball. In the 1940’s, tournament play had begun, with tournaments being held in the Southern California area for trophies and awards. In 1996, the Olympics made beach volleyball an official Olympic sport. The teams of Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes and Brazilian women Jacqueline Silva Cruz and Sandra Pires Tavares each won the inaugural gold medals for beach volleyball. While the United States remains a force in beach volleyball, Brazil and Australia also have strong teams. Currently, the most prestigious tournament in beach volleyball is the Manhattan Beach Open, also one of the original tournaments. This tournament is considered by players to be the beach volleyball equivalent of Wimbledon.