Beach Volleyball

A day at the beach should be accompanied by friends and games to play with your friends.  Of course, the types of games you may decide to play can depend on the type of beach you are at. Some beaches have very fine sand, some have small stones and hard shells mixed in the sand, and some can be narrow or wide. One of the most popular and well-known beach games is beach volleyball.

Beach volleyball has the same rules as indoor volleyball. The game of beach volleyball originated in Southern California and was designed to give surfers an activity to do when the surf was down and is now widely played around the world. There are two teams separated by a high net and its objective is to score points by landing the ball on the sand of the other team’s court. Competitive beach volleyball is played with two players but recreational teams can have up to six players. The differences between beach volleyball and indoor volleyball include surface area, team size, and court size. Clearly, the main difference between the two games is the playing surface. Beach volleyball is played on a sand floor and indoor volleyball is played on a hard surface area. The team size for indoor volleyball is six players per team whereas in beach volleyball there is usually two players per team. Another difference between beach volleyball and indoor volleyball is court size. Indoor volleyball has a court size of nine by eighteen meters while beach volleyball courts measure eight by sixteen meters. Another difference between the two is uniforms. Beach volleyball uniforms were standardized in 1999. The required uniform for women is the swimsuit, given the option between a one-piece and a two-piece bikini, most women have chosen the bikini. The chosen uniform for men is shorts and a tank-top. In some conservative cultures however, the swimsuit is just too revealing to be worn as a uniform and the rules have been adjusted and replaced the uniforms with less revealing shorts and tank-tops instead of bikinis.

There is a certain type of lifestyle and culture associated with beach volleyball. With this sport having originated in Southern California and Hawaii, the beach volleyball culture is similar to the surf culture. The types of people who play beach volleyball tend to be the beach-bum, hippie types, with their tanned skin and Jerry Garcia’s “I will get by” attitude. The type of clothing they tend to wear includes swimsuits, board shorts, and tank-tops with sandals or bare feet.

Beach volleyball can be a fun sport to play one-on-one with your best friend, or with a group of people with up to six players on each team. So next time you go to the beach, reserve a nice spot next to a beach volleyball net and have some fun!