Have you ever tried to change a technique in your beach volleyball game, but found it really difficult, and time-consuming? Maybe it took you months before it was actually something that worked in games without you needing to think about it, or maybe you just gave up and still to this day do things with your old technique that people and coaches critique over and over?
Almost every time I coach, I meet people who have really struggled with this in the past, and one of my specialties in coaching is to make this a non-struggle. A few months ago, after having observed some players who had a hard time changing their technique for several different reasons, my brain started categorizing and making a list over all the reasons why people struggle with this. I realized there are many many reasons, but they basically all fall under 3 bigger categories.. which I’ll share here.
I believe that because people, in general, do not understand these 3 main reasons, is why it seems like the idea in the “worldwide beach volleyball community” is that technique changes are really hard, time-consuming (takes months or years) and probably not worth it. The fact that my reality is almost the opposite - technique changes are quite fun, interesting and take about 2-3 weeks if you know what you are doing, is actually one of the main reasons I started the Learn Beach Volleyball Fast-project - I want to end the struggle for people.
Soon I will be sharing all the tricks and tips I have for making technique change a breeze (based on a combination of motor learning research, sports psychology, brain science and lessons from world famous coachesas well as my own addons I have learned throughout the years!) in my first Learn Beach Volleyball Fast-course, but you can view this as lesson 1, or a taste of what’ll be in the course if you want.
So here are what I believe are the main 3 reasons for why adults (things might be slightly different for kids) are unable or struggle unnecessary amounts to change their beach volleyball technique/form, some people will have one of these problems, some several. However, even just having one of these problems in place can completely block you from being able to change your technique successfully.
Lack of initial breakthrough.
When the player cannot to a sufficient degree understand/grasp/experience the technique change idea in the first place. Often when one changes a technique, there should be a very clear “Aha!”-moment when it “clicks” for the athlete. The new movement just makes sense in often many ways at the same time - both that the coach (if there is one) agrees that this is what we are looking for, it feels better/more efficient than the old movement, outcome results (where the ball goes for example) might get immediately better, and that one can intellectually understand how this movement is better (the intellectual part is not as important for some athletes, depending a bit on personality/philosophy.)
Unless you can do your new technique once and really realize that you are doing it, chances are very high that you won’t be able to learn to do that technique consistently in games. “What you can do once, you can learn to do again, and what you can do several times you can make your new normal.” can be a very hope-giving quote, but sometimes it seems like athletes think they will be able to go all the way through the process even if they skip the first step and just have a vague idea of what they are going for.Finishing the technique change process.
The second reason that keeps players from being able to change technique/form is not bringing their “Aha!”-moments all the way from a drill setting to a game setting. Just because you learn your new arm swing in a controlled drill or even on a live set, doesn’t automatically mean your body will produce that same arm swing in a highly stressed environment scramble ball at match point in season finals - which is exactly when you need that arm swing the most.
You will need to do a “transfer job” from being able to do your new technique in a controlled drill setting, to a more and more chaotic situation. The more “stuff” that happens around you, the more difficult it is for yourself to remind yourself about the technique change. You need to first be able to in general be able to do your new technique in a full-on gamelike setting, and after that get so many reps of it that it becomes automatic. This is a process that takes a bit of time, many people say it takes months or years, I say it takes 2-3 weeks if you know what you are doing and do it carefully. No matter if it takes weeks or years, it is a process that has to be respected, and if it is not, your technique change won’t work.
Side note: This whole fact that people struggle to bring new techniques from drills into full-on games has made some coaches believe that drills are nearly worthless - and that all new techniques should be learned directly in a game-setting instead. Because then it is directly learned in the right environment and no “transfer process” to be respected is needed.I agree with this to a big degree - all changes that are possible and efficient to do in-game situations should be learned in those situations, because you do in fact avoid the time it takes to later transfer from a drill to a game.
However, since I believe there are technique changes that are so complex/difficult/subtle that they actually at times require several hours of 1-on-1 work with a coach to even reach the initial “Aha-moment”, which was the first requirement for a technique change (examples can be changes in power generation for spiking, learning to have “smooth hands” for hand setting, etc), these changes become a logistical impossibility to make happen in a gamelike situation. First of all, the coach cannot give enough feedback to get the player to understand the change during a game - pausing the game for 20 minutes of technique experimentation is not so fun for the other players. Even if the other players would have the patience of a saint and be fine with the coach and the athlete having a 20 minute 1-on-1 in the middle of the game, usually there is too much variance and randomness in the gamelike setting anyway for the athlete to get sufficient quality reps to be able to reach their “Aha!-moment”.
Therefore, in theory, always practicing gamelike is in one way a nice idea, but in reality, you limit yourself to only being able to make the easiest of changes happen that way, which means you limit yourself to only certain types of technique changes by always staying gamelike. If there are ways to overcome this problem I am more than happy to be proved wrong, it would be any coaches’ wet dream - however, I have so far never seen anyone able to make this happen. If you are someone who disagrees with me on this and are consistently able to teach adult athletes for example how to hit very hard or how to have smooth hands without ever breaking things down into drills, please contact me at alex@learnbeachvolleyballfast.com - I will compensate you!When the technique change/idea the athlete is working towards, is “semi-true”.
This last reason for unsuccessful technique changes is slightly different in nature than the two first ones. Basically, there are many many ways to explain beach volleyball form. Let’s as an example take what some people call “spacing” between your torso and your platform when receiving serves. I have heard this “form idea” being communicated in many many ways, some of them being: create space between torso and arms, take the ball early, shrug your shoulders, make sure you have space to “take off heat” from the serve, stay low, etc. Chances are you have once been on a court passing balls and trying to remind yourself of one or several of those explanations.
However, time to understand what I mean with “semi-true” here - two questions:
1. Is this spacing something that we should focus on making to happen, or is this spacing a natural side effect of something else we might be doing? For example, could we have a body posture that makes it a natural side effect to have this spacing most of the time? Is there a root cause or something else (which should be the real goal) that leads to this space happening as well, rather than the spacing itself being the goal?
2. Do pro’s have this spacing every time they pass a ball successfully?
I’d want to argue that there are things you can do with your body posture that when implemented, automatically will make you have spacing between your torso and arms while passing. It feels really natural and works very well. But it is also very possible to not use this body posture, force your arms to be away from your body (to “create space”), become stiff, unnatural.. and shank balls… Which is exactly what happens to most people that are trying to force themselves to have this spacing without understanding the body posture.
In other words, if A makes B happen automatically, but not the other way, we should be working on A, not on B. Problem is, most of the beach volleyball information worldwide focuses on B, because it is usually easier to see and describe, so, therefore, a lot of coaches are usually talking about B - which might not be false, but also not the best way to teach that skill.. so it becomes a “semi truth”.
Let’s also quickly mention the part about if pros always have this spacing when passing a ball successfully - they don’t. Therefore even saying that this spacing should always be there is “semi-true”. However, many athletes practice with their minds set on that they should always maintain this spacing when in reality it is not possible, and because of this, they become stiff and frustrated.. and rarely better passers.
Changing your technique based on “semi-true” explanations of beach volleyball technique doesn’t necessarily hinder you from changing your technique. But it does hinder you from becoming the best you can become, so my tip would be to seek out information that is well thought through and accurate.
Unfortunately, I have found that even the biggest institutions and “beach/indoor volleyball information sources” consistently teach stuff based on inaccurate logics or even in direct opposition to how the professionals play, which was one of the biggest reasons I had to start studying the game heavily on my own. Had I not started doing that and relied only on information already out there, I’d have been stuck just like so many other players. An indicator that the information you are working with is only “semi-true” is if it doesn’t work in every situation, causes a lot of frustration, makes you feel unnatural or stiff or maybe you just have a feeling telling you that “somewhere, somehow, there’s gotta be a better answer to this!”
Have you ever had trouble in successfully changing your beach volleyball technique? Why do you think this is the case, is it one of the reasons above, or something else?
I might very well write more blogposts around more details around this topic in the future but I think this is a good overview and start. Hopefully, it has given you some new ideas and thoughts about why you might have struggled to learn this sport in the past. If you have any questions or thoughts or wishes for follow up content around this topic, feel free to comment below!
Also, if you wish to have guidance in your development as a player from someone who definitely will lead you all the way to the “Aha-moments”, guide you all the way through the whole process of the technique changes and is in a war with “semi-truths” by studying the game every day from all angles to find the most accurate answers to share with the beach volleyball world, check out my coaching page.
Another tip is to sign up for my newsletter so that you don’t miss out when I will launch my courses where I will provide full guidance through the learning process and all hacks I have found to make it as efficient as possible as well as the most accurate information I have been able to find on beach volleyball skills (all with lifetime updates if I one day find even better answers!) Trust me when I say you won’t be able to find this information anywhere else online! Subscribers will also always get the best deals for the courses.
Have fun, touch some ball and get better, because that’s what we all want! // Alex