Why Indoor Volleyball Players Should Train in the Sand

By Oakville Volleyball Research Staff

As a volleyball player you have a choice. You can either play beach volleyball or indoor volleyball. Your choice depends on your preferences. In fact, indoor volleyball and beach volleyball sports have many things in common. Both indoor and beach volleyball require the certain set of skills such as passing, setting, blocking, hitting, etc.

On the other hand, beach volleyball and indoor volleyball have many differences. Beach volleyball players and indoor volleyball athletes play on the courts of different sizes. There are also differences in balls, the number of players in the team, scoring systems and others.

A lot of volleyball players choose to train in the sand. It’s worth noting that it’s harder to move on the sand than on the court. However, if you train in the sand, you may find it a lot easier to do many things on the court later. Today, we’ll dig deeper into this topic and try to explain why indoor volleyball players should train in the sand as well.

So, let’s get started.

What Athletes Who Played Both Indoor and Beach Volleyball Say about Training in the Sand 

The history of volleyball knows the athletes, who have achieved success both on the court and on the beach. These athletes usually recommend indoor volleyball players to train in the sand.

Plus, many coaches think that playing in the beach needs to be a part of an indoor volleyball training program. So, let’s take a closer look at what they have to say about this type of volleyball training.

We all know that the legendary volleyball player, Karch Kiraly, won 2 Gold medals in indoor volleyball and 1 Gold medal in beach volleyball. Karch Kiraly already ended his sport career. He believes that training in the sand is helpful for indoor volleyball players. According to his point of view, training in the sand allows indoor volleyball players to work harder and improve their skills.

The US volleyball legend, John Kessel, also believes that indoor volleyball players should focus on training in the sand. He also says that this type of training makes it possible for volleyball athletes to improve their skills significantly.

The famous volleyball coach, Rich McLaughlin, also recommend indoor volleyball players to do training in the sand. He thinks that it would be great for indoor volleyball players to do this type of training during the offseason.

According to his point of view, training in the sand contributes greatly to indoor volleyball player’s skills. Rich says that playing in the beach has a profound positive impact on such volleyball skills as ball control, agility and speed. He also believes that training in the sand allows indoor volleyball athletes to improve their blocking, setting and hitting skills.

Another famous volleyball coach, John Cook, has also expressed his opinion about volleyball training in the sand. He says that it makes a lot of sense for indoor volleyball athletes to play beach volleyball and train in the sand.

John says that training in the sand delivers multiple significant benefits to indoor volleyball players. According to his point of view, training in the sand is an effective way to master volleyball skills and this type of training allows athletes to improve the game significantly.

He also thinks that playing beach volleyball is a fun way to train and develop the necessary volleyball skills. The coach adds that training in the sand also has many health benefits.

What Benefits Indoor Volleyball Players Can Get If They Choose to Train in the Hand

In fact, indoor volleyball players can benefit from training in the sand in a number of different ways. Generally speaking, playing the game of beach volleyball makes it possible for indoor volleyball athletes to become better players. Below, we’ll talk about the top benefits of playing beach volleyball game for indoor volleyball players.

– Training in the sand improves passing skills. Actually, training in the sand helps indoor volleyball players improve in a number of different ways. It’s worth noting that training in the sand has a positive impact on volleyball player’s passing skills.

– Training in the sand improves ball control. Playing in the sand can be challenging. However, if you train in the sand you’ll find it a lot easier to do many other things over time. For example, it’s much easier to control the ball if you train in the sand regularly.

– Training in the sand improves defense. A defense volleyball player has to be fast and be able to move quickly in any direction on the court when such a need arises.

Oftentimes, a defense volleyball player has to make explosive movements on the court. It’s worth noting that movements of this type require strength as well as power.

Playing on the beach is some kind of workout for an indoor volleyball player. That means that you’ll be able to increase your strength and improve your power if you train in the sand on a regular basis. As a result, you’ll be able to become a better defense volleyball player.

– Training in the sand improves attacking skills. A volleyball attacker should be able to take the correct position on the court quickly. That’s why a hitter should be able to move quickly on the court. It important to note that training in the sand helps volleyball players improve their agility and speed.

The reality is, sand creates challenges for volleyball players on the court. That’s why indoor volleyball players usually move faster on the court after playing on the beach. This helps a volleyball player take the correct position on the court quickly and hit the ball forcefully and precisely.

– Training in the sand improves volleyball player’s vertical jump. There has been a lot of talk about the importance of having a high vertical jump for a volleyball player. A volleyball player jumps many times during the game. An athlete has to jump in order to block opponent’s attacks, pass a ball to a partner or carry out an attack hit.

It goes without saying that every volleyball player should aim to jump higher. That’s the reason why every volleyball athlete should do his/her best to improve his/her vertical jump.

Training in the sand allows a volleyball player to improve his/her vertical jump. The reality is, a volleyball player has to make more efforts in order to jump high vertically.

If you train in the sand, you’ll find it a lot easier to jump vertically on indoor court. So, you’ll jump higher on the court if you train hard in the sand. And of course, this contributes greatly to volleyball player’s results.

– Training in the sand improves volleyball player’s performance. Volleyball players should constantly try their best to improve their performance on the court. That’s why it’s so important for volleyball athletes to work on such an important aspect as endurance. Volleyball players should do every single thing possible to increase their endurance.

One of the best ways to increase endurance and improve performance for indoor volleyball is to train in the sand and play beach volleyball games.

Playing on the beach is some kind of training for indoor volleyball players that allow them to improve their performance significantly. Training in the sand makes it possible for volleyball players to increase endurance and improve their skills.

Clearly, a volleyball player should work harder when training in the sand. However, once a volleyball player comes back to an indoor court he/she will be able to perform much better.

– Training in the sand is a great way to diversify indoor volleyball player’s training program. Oftentimes, volleyball players find it boring to train if they do the same things during practices again and again. In this case, it would be better to diversify a training program.

Play beach volleyball to make your indoor volleyball training program more diverse. It’s great idea to play beach volleyball for leisure purposes in order to have fun. This interesting activity will help you develop your skills and improve your performance for indoor volleyball.

Thank you so much for reading this article. Without a doubt, beach volleyball has many great benefits for indoor volleyball players. As you can see, there are many reasons why indoor volleyball players should include beach volleyball in their training program. So, play beach volleyball in order to become a better indoor volleyball player and do a fantastic job on the court. Best of luck!