I was having this discussion once about buying chicken. My friend was of the opinion that there are just superior sources of birds, and that one should judge a restaurant already by knowing where they buy their chicken. My position was that it was a poor measure of the skill of chef – after all, […]
The convention of most teams in beach quads format is the “diamond” formation when receiving serve – the players orient themselves with three players staggered in a V formation, and the setter at the apex nearest the net. Diamond formation The idea here is that the ball is passed close to the net where the […]
“I need to talk more.” “Talk!” “We need to talk.” Verbal loquaciousness is almost universally valued on the beach volleyball court. Coaches punish juniors for being too quiet on the court. Players proudly declare how verbal they are in a game. In the event of a miscommunication, the blame is almost always squarely put on […]
In an earlier posting on detecting the signs of pseudoscience, I quoted an article which mentions unfalsifiability as a property. This is actually a pretty good early test for understanding if something is science-based, and attends to a common misunderstanding about the scientific process. Whenever the phrase “scientifically proven” is used, your critical thinking alarm […]
On the Facebook group Volleyball Coaches and Trainers (VCT), a coach shared a rule with regards to juniors beach volleyball tournaments held in the Chicago area – an optional one, in which any team, at any time, can request that no hand setting be used for the remainder of that particular match. It’s a bit […]
In a recent discussion with BJ Leroy of USA Volleyball, I encountered a paper by Bailey et al (2018) published in the open access journal Frontiers in Psychology, titled “The Prevalence of Pseudoscientific Ideas and Neuromyths Among Sports Coaches“. Since the journal is open access, the paper is readily available to download and read. The […]
When people picture beach volleyball culture, they usually just think about just the game. People don’t seem to have to think about how the ball, or the net, or the court itself got there. Like the illusion of cooking shows on TV, these things didn’t actually magically appear – specially in public parks and areas, […]
Although a great deal of the instruction describes beach volleyball primarily as a doubles game, many, if not most, people are exposed to it in the 4v4 format. These articles focus on tips and discussions that improve the quads game. Conventionally, the quads game is treated as a novice version of the sport, with many […]
On a hot Texas summer day for regular pick up beach volleyball, I was asked to fill in on a doubles team by someone seeking a break. My soon to be partner for this game seemed agreeable until we got onto the court, where he made his distaste for sharing the court with me clear […]
I hear a number of common phrases during volleyball play which I discourage athletes from using. This is why. “Call me off” This phrase is most commonly uttered when a player realizes that she had gotten in the way of her teammate who was likely to be in a better position to play the ball. […]