99% Invisible is always a thoughtprovoking podcast on how design affects the world around us – but this episode is particularly important. We take design for granted, and only notice when it doesn’t work explicitly. But in all the subtle ways, design decisions are a product of the culture the designers live in.
There’s a great guy here in town who volunteers his time in a local church gym to host free indoor volleyball sessions. He sets up three nets, welcomes people, negotiates disputes, and tries to get people to play equitably. All for free. Now that it’s the holiday season, and schedules are a bit more free, […]
The website Beachvolleyballspace covered the recent FIVB Gstaad Major with an article celebrating the winners, the currently top ranked Canadian team of Paredes and Pavan claiming the gold. The article title (Canadian women dominate Gstaad Major – Japan challenges top teams) makes special mention of the fifth place Japanese team of Murakami and Ishii. Why? […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]