Beach volleyball

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A beach volleyball game in progress.

Beach volleyball in Vancouver.

Beach volleyball is a popular sport in which two teams, positioned on either side of a net, hit a ball back and forth over the net, usually using the hands or arms. Beach volleyball evolved from indoor volleyball, and the two sports remain very similar. The most important differences between them are that rather than being played on indoor hard courts, beach volleyball is played on sand courts, and instead of teams of six, beach volleyball teams consist of only two players. There are many minor differences as well, including:

• Each half of the court measures 8 by 8 meters, not 9 by 9 as in indoor volleyball.
• Overhand finger passes are called very tightly when receiving or attacking. Unless executed very cleanly and square to the shoulders, they are ruled illegal. The exception is receiving a hard smash.
• The standard for double hits when using overhand finger passes and hand sets is much stricter than in indoor volleyball.
• The block always counts as the first contact.
• Open-hand dinks, where a player uses his or her finger tips to redirect the ball into the opponent's court, are illegal.
• It is legal to cross under the net as long as doing so does not interfere with the opponents' attempt to play the ball.
• Players are not required to rotate positions; they must alternate service, but there are no 'rotation errors'.
• Most players, either by choice or by requirement of the rules, play the game barefoot.
• The ball is softer (lower internal pressure) and very slightly bigger than an indoor volleyball.

Complete rules for both games can be downloaded from the FIVB pages.

[edit] History

Beach volleyball in sand

Beach volleyball started in Santa Monica, California in the 1920s. A decade later, beach volleyball began to appear in Europe. By the 1940s, doubles tournaments were being played on the beaches of Santa Monica for trophies. In the 1960s, an attempt to start a professional volleyball league was made in Santa Monica. It failed, but a professional tournament was held in France for 30,000 French Francs. The first Manhattan Beach Open (Southern California) was held in 1960. It is considered the "Wimbledon of Beach Volleyball" -- the most prestigious tournament in the world. Karch Kiraly -- the greatest pro beach volleyball player of all time -- said, "You talk to any player and if they were told they could only win one tournament in their whole career, everybody would choose it to be here in Manhattan. There's an extra fire among all the players." In the 1970s, a few professional tournaments in Santa Monica were sponsored by beer and cigarette companies.

While the history of beach volleyball is relatively lengthy, the sport (at the professional level) remained fairly obscure until the late 1990s and 2000s when beach volleyball experienced a great surge in popularity due to greater media exposure. This resulted in the development of stars such as Karch Kiraly, Sinjin Smith, Randy Stoklos, Kerri Walsh, and Misty May-Treanor, who are now well known throughout the world. Beach volleyball was an exhibition sport at the 1992 Olympics, and became a separate Olympic event in 1996.

For decades, the two nations which have dominated international beach volleyball are Brazil and the United States. Recently, Australia has emerged as a distant third superpower, and all three of these nations have a reasonably well developed national touring system which typically takes place during the summer months. Furthermore, these are the only countries which have won a gold medal in an Olympic beach volleyball event since its debut at the 1996 Games. Specifically in the case of the more popular Women's event, each country has won once each, the Brazilians in 1996, the Australians in 2000, and the United States in 2004.

Other countries such as Greece, Germany, and China have developed a large and competitive following.

[edit] Hand signals

One of the facets of beach volleyball is the use of hand signals by players to indicate to their partner what sort of play they intend to make. These signals are made behind the back, to avoid the opposition seeing the signals. Most commonly the signals are given with both hands by the serving player's partner before the serve, with each hand referring to the type of block the signaler will put up against an attack from the corresponding side of the court. Occasionally, however, signals are given during a rally. Generally, an open hand means the player will not attempt a block, one finger means the player will attempt to block an opponent's spike down the line, two fingers means the player will attempt to block an opponent's spike into the angle, and a closed fist means the player will block "ball," deciding where to set the block based on the set and on the opponent's approach and arm-swing. Wiggling the fingers on one of the signalling hands indicates that the blocker wants his or her partner to serve the player on that side of the court. If the server is a stronger blocker, he or she may run up to the net to block after serving. In this case, the signals given by the server's partner tell the server what type of block to put up.

[edit] Famous players

Today Brazil is the ruling country in the FIVB, filling all of the first six positions of FIVB ranking: these include Emanuel Rego, Ricardo Santos, Marcio Araujo and others. US players typically don't compete in the FIVB, but rather play in the AVP, which holds tournaments only in the US. In North America, the biggest stars of beach volleyball are Kerri Walsh and Misty May, who are dubbed the sport's "Golden Couple". Other popular American players are Holly McPeak, Elaine Youngs, and Rachel Wacholder. International female stars include Brazilians Ana Paula Connelly, Sandra Pires, Shelda Bede, and Adriana Behar, and Australians Kerri Pottharst and Natalie Cook. The young Brazilian Carolina Solberg Salgado has won a gold medal in Under-18 and Under-21 FIVB tournaments two years in a row. In November 2005, at age 18, she became the youngest player to ever win a medal at a Senior level International Beach Volleyball event. Overall, female beach volleyball players are generally more famous than their male counterparts and have equal or sometimes larger prize money pools.

See also List of famous US beach volleyball players

[edit] Controversy

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Australian competitor Renae Maycock wearing bikini-style attire, which is common in Beach Volleyball.

Since its introduction as an Olympic sport in 1996, beach volleyball has been the target of some criticism from conservative groups as well as from the governments of certain countries, particularly Islamic nations of the Middle East and South-East Asia.

Many of these people argue that beach volleyball as it is currently played in the Olympics is too sexualized to be considered a truly respectable sport. People have pointed out that professional beach volleyball is one of the few sports where athletes are mandated to wear a uniform which does not exceed a certain size, essentially encouraging a "less is best" approach towards attire, and argue that it is simply a ploy to market the game for viewership and sponsors.

In return, some people argue that the attire common in pole vault and other track and field events at the Olympics is barely any more skin covering, and that only beach volleyball is unfairly singled out for criticism. There are also claims that the uniforms are practical for the sport, since more loose clothing would hinder playing ability and professional tournaments often take place during the high heat of summer.

The controversy of the sport hit a new high at the 2004 Olympics, when a DJ played music clips between sets while female dancers in orange bikinis performed for the crowds. This and the requirement that players, especially women, wear skimpy clothing, led to accusations that the sport was less respectful than other Olympic events, with some columnists comparing it to a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue spread rather than pure athleticism. In any case, beach volleyball at the Athens Olympics was a massive success, and some critics point out that the controversy may have even helped the sport become more popular.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Beach volleyball

• Beach Volleyball Database
• Official rules - from Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB).
• US professional beach volleyball
• American Volleyball Coaches Association