Beach Training

First of all, it was great to see professional beach volleyball return to Australian Beaches this summer. All thanks to efforts of beach volleyball nutter (and obviously highly skilled event organiser) Arthur Klonis. The Renault Beach Volleyball was a spectacular success and probably one of the best tours Australia has seen. You can see all of the results on the Events page here.

The Danish team of Bo Soderberg and Anders Hoyer have taken honours in the final event in a close final (1-2 (18-21, 21-18, 13-15)) against the top ranked Australian team, veteran Josh Slack and Chris McHugh. Both teams are scheduled to start their World Tour season and Olympic qualification campaign in Brasilia later this month. It is interesting to note that Josh Slack is entered with Will Mercer, rather than Chris McHugh. Mercer is, to my mind, the most exciting player that we have seen on the Australian tour since Lee Zahner, so I am very much looking forward to seeing their results if the do indeed play together. The Aussie teams seem to return to the expected pairings at the next event in Poland, and Beach Training will be covering this event live (Yes, I’m going to Poland ), so you’ll be the first to know how they went!

In the women’s draw the team of Becchara Palmer and Louise Bawden won the final in an equally close three set match against Nat Cook and Tamsin Hinchley. These two teams were clearly the strongest on the circuit this year, but not by much. They were chased closely by two teams from Manly Beach, both of which made it through to the semi finals in every event this season. Alice Rohkamper and Mariafe Artacho are a great team. Both of them making up for a lack of height with incredible ball control, and the same can be said for Katie Bartoli and Sarah Battaglene. It will be very interesting to watch the results from of these teams this season, especially considering that the National (AIS) program seems to be uninterested in supporting either of these teams as serious contenders.

Chasing and digging a line shot is one of the most exciting plays in beach volleyball. This video explains one of the techniques used by professional player to make a full length dive at a ball, but still maintain balance and control as they make the dig.

The laydown is a great technique to learn and it will definitely help you to make more defensive plays.

I learnt this technique from a good friend of mine who runs coaching sessions at Manly Beach. If you are ever in Sydney, sign up for a class at beachvolleyball.com.au.

Here’s a little drill you can do in the backyard when you have a few minutes after work, or in the morning. It’s a great way to get an extra couple of hundred touches every day without traveling all the way to the beach. Doing little extra exercises like this every day leading up to the season can make a big difference when you get out on the sand.

The Northern Hemisphere is getting close to starting the 2012 season. All the pros are flat out working on their fitness, learning new shots and new plays. If you haven’t started your pre season yet, then it’s time to get moving.

Here’s a little video that my friends from beachvolleyball.com.au sent to me on Facebook. It might give you some motivation.