COLLEGIATE SAND VOLLEYBALL
STRENGTH BY THE SEA: Training players to improve their vertical leap in the sand is a key component of any sand volleyball conditioning program. Below: Coaching cousins Gilad Doron and Eyal Zimet are in sync when it comes to bringing passion to the game. (Photos: Jessica Lantz)
Five ways playing sand will improve your indoor game
1. Balance/Quickness — Playing on the sand forces you to work much harder for every single step on an unbalanced, shifting surface, so moving around on an indoor court becomes much easier by comparison.
2. Defense/Reading the Game — Having to defend the entire court with just two people forces players to pay closer attention to every little detail of the attacker’s approach, body posture, and arm-swing in order to determine the most probable outcomes.
3. Communication/Leadership — With just two players on the court and no subs, the players have to communicate meaningful information throughout the entire rally that fosters both leadership and bonding that translates to the indoor game very well.
4. Attacking/Court Vision — As a hitter on the sand you have to look past the initial line of defense, the blocker, on every play (while still being aware of the blocker too). This is a very desired skill in the indoor game, where it is very important for attackers to have good vision and be able to recognize the second line of defense, the diggers.
5. Vertical Jump — When you have to push against shifty sand in order to jump every time, you feel like you’re hovering on a cloud when you start jumping on an indoor court again.
— Eyal Zimet
rewarding to see our players adapt and pick up the sand game. At certain points, we’ll be watching rallies and think, “Wow, that actually looked pretty smooth,” which is a great moment for a coach when it happens.
BENEFITS FOR THE PLAYERS — LOVE AT FIRST SPIKE
Once players start playing sand, they usu- ally love it. It’s a great combination for our indoor players, because instead of just doing in- dividual training and conditioning in the spring, they get the chance to go outside and play on the sand, which won’t have as much impact on their body and will help them improve as vol- leyball players. We tell every player on our in- door team that they’re going to play sand in the spring, because that’s part of what we do. No one’s going to say, “I’m not going to come here because I don’t want to play sand.” They’re going to be excited to play more and become better players. Today’s high school players are unbelievably lucky to be coming up during this time, as they are part of a whole generation of players that are going to grow and become more well-rounded volleyball players as a result of the sand opportunities available.
JOINING THE SAND MOVEMENT — NOW’S THE TIME
There’s been huge growth in sand volley- ball at the junior level over the last three years. Many of the freshmen players now entering col- lege are coming from junior clubs with sand fa- cilities and programs. The NCAA wants to add more sand volleyball opportunities, and uni- versities are going to be putting more resources and investment into the sport with full-time
34 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
coaches and scholarships As more schools add sand programs, the competition will only get tougher. We could see the number of collegiate sand programs reaching 150 in the not-too- distant future. If there are coaches and athletic directors out there who are hesitant to start a program, this is the time to jump on board and be one of the leading universities in the sport. It’s better to be out in front of it than to wait and see what happens and ultimately join the race a couple of legs behind. Starting a sand program requires a ton of patience and you have to have a clear understanding of what you’re getting yourself into, but it’s hands-down worth it. For us, it’s a no brainer. It’s such a great sport with such a great benefi t for the players, and this is a great time to be a part of it.
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