From beach to indoor volleyball

What stays the same

Your passing, setting, hitting, serving and reading of the game all carry over. Beach players are usually excellent all-rounders: you read hitters well, you dig anything, and you are used to making decisions on your own. Indoor coaches love that. The net heights are the same (2.43 m for men, 2.24 m for women in senior play), and so is rally scoring.

The court and the team

The indoor court is bigger, but it is shared by six players, so each of you covers a much smaller area. The ball is also heavier and harder, and it travels faster indoors with no wind.

Positions: you have one job

On the beach you do everything. Indoors you are usually a specialist:

• Setter: takes the second ball every rally.
• Outside hitter: passes and attacks from the left. Often the easiest fit for beach players, because it needs passing and all-round attacking.
• Middle blocker: blocks and hits quick sets.
• Opposite: attacks from the right, blocks the other team’s best hitter.
• Libero: back-row passer and defender in a different shirt. Strong beach defenders often make good liberos.

Read the positions guide for more.

Rotation and the overlap rule

This is the biggest change. On the beach you only have to serve in the right order. Indoors:

• The six players have a fixed order for the whole set. Each time your team wins back the serve, everyone moves one place clockwise, and the player moving into zone 1 serves. See how rotation works.
• At the moment of the serve, the receiving team’s players must stand in that order relative to their neighbours: front to back and side to side. Otherwise it is a positional fault. See the overlap rule.
• After the serve is hit, everyone switches to their specialty spot.
• If you are in the back row at the serve, you may not block, and you may only attack a ball above the net if you take off from behind the attack line, 3 m from the net.

The libero

The libero comes on for a back-row player, usually a middle blocker, without using a substitution. Under FIVB rules the libero may not serve, block or attack above the net. See the libero guide.

Rule differences that catch beach players

Tipping. Indoors you may tip with your fingertips, open hand. On the beach, an open-hand tip is a fault, so you learned to use your knuckles (“cobra”) or a roll shot. Indoors, use whichever works.

The block is not a touch. On the beach a block counts as one of your three contacts. Indoors it does not (rule 14): after a block, your team still has three touches, and the blocker may also make the next one.

Setting. Beach referees are strict about spin and double contacts on hand sets, and there are extra rules on setting the ball over the net. Indoors, hand-setting is judged more leniently, and there is no rule about setting square over the net. On the team’s first contact (receiving the serve, digging), consecutive contacts are allowed indoors as long as they happen during one action. Overhand passing of the serve is common and legal.

The centre line. On the beach there is no centre line, and you may go into the opponent’s side as long as you do not interfere with them. Indoors there is a centre line under the net. You may touch the opponent’s court with your feet only if part of the foot stays in contact with, or directly above, the centre line. Touching the opponent’s court with any other part of the body above the feet is allowed only if it does not interfere with their play. Check the official rules for the details.

The net. As on the beach, touching the net between the antennae while playing the ball is a fault. In practice, indoor referees see more of it because more players are near the net.

Attacking the serve. Indoors you may not attack the opponent’s serve while it is in your front zone and entirely above the net (rule 13.3).

Communication and coaching. Indoors a coach can give instructions from the bench, call time-outs and make substitutions. On the beach you are on your own.

How to learn your role fast

1. Learn your six rotations. Ask your coach which position you play, then step through every rotation in the position explorer. Know where you stand in serve receive and where you go after the switch.
2. Learn the neighbours rule. In each rotation, know who stands in front of, behind and beside you. That is all you need to avoid an overlap. Practise in the overlap trainer.
3. Trust the system. On the beach you chase every ball. Indoors, stay in your area: a teammate is covering the rest. Running into someone else’s space leaves your own empty.
4. Talk. Six players need more calls than two: “Mine!”, “Out!”, the attack you want, who takes the tip.
5. Use your beach strengths. Reading the hitter, digging, and setting from bad positions are rare indoor skills. Bring them.
6. Test yourself with the rotation quiz before your first match.