Recovery Strategies for Beach Volleyball
Volleyball is a rather interesting sport. It’s one of those sports that is very popular at a recreational level for adults but not as much at the competitive levels. For people in their 20s to 50s, it’s America’s most popular co-ed team sport. It is primarily enjoyed in the form of outdoor beach volleyball.
But indoor volleyball is far more popular at the competitive level, from high school to the Olympics. Naturally, most research on volleyball performance is done on indoor volleyball. However, beach volleyball is one of the NCAA’s fastest-growing sports. Still, more research needs to be done specifically for this sport. Make no mistake, they are two different sports, with enough differences that indoor volleyball research shouldn’t be used to assume the same applies to beach volleyball.
As you can imagine, the list of schools that compete in beach volleyball is rather short, with the usual Pacific coast and some Florida schools dominating championship runs. But as I said, it’s growing. When Boise State and Eastern Kentucky University have NCAA beach volleyball teams, you know the sport is gaining a lot of popularity. And this means we need to conduct more research into beach volleyball and how to properly train these athletes to reduce their likelihood of injury as much as possible while maximizing performance.
What Research Shows
Like indoor volleyball, these athletes play a lot of matches in a short period of time. Beach volleyball athletes will play and/or practice 5-6, perhaps even 7 times per week. Early research has shown that playing multiple days in a row does not seem to alter overall performance significantly, but that doesn’t mean the likelihood of injury doesn’t climb. A study from the University of Louisiana-Monroe found that beach volleyball athletes seemed to recover a little bit better when there’s a rest day after a match, as opposed to having matches on back-to-back days. Specifically, agility and countermovement jump measurements were better after a rest day. Although this did not seem to alter their overall performance, that would determine winning or losing, minor detriments in performance can lead to injury later down the road.
Beach vs. Indoor Volleyball
Like many athletes, volleyball athletes need to be highly reactive and explosive. This leads to getting past defenders, blocking shots, and being open to catching balls. Beach volleyball athletes need their explosive abilities perhaps more than any other athlete, given the surface they play on. They need it to jump, dive, and spike the balls despite the ground fighting back.
We all know sand gives way when we apply force to it. It’s challenging to be explosive and fast when the ground literally fights against you. This slowed acceleration that beach volleyball players experience places added stress on the involved tendons and ligaments that help provide athleticism, particularly at the ankle. Suppose these structures are already fatigued from a match the day before. In that case, this can significantly strain them, leading to injury. Imagine taking a rubber band. Quickly pulling it back and launching it will keep it strong and elastic. But if you slowly pull back a rubber band and launch it, over time, it loses its strength faster than the other rubber band. The same logic applies to being athletic in the sand. The longer it takes to launch into the air, the greater strain on the involved tendons and ligaments. Conversely, indoor volleyball athletes can jump, dive, and change directions more quickly. That’s a better recipe for maintaining speed and agility.
My Thoughts
All this information leads me to some thoughts. First and foremost, we need more research on sand volleyball. Although indoor and beach volleyball are both volleyball, they are two different sports with two different energy demands. Thus, different recovery strategies are needed.
With the little research that’s out there, I speculate that beach volleyball athletes need to prioritize a rest day between matches or intense practices whenever possible for several reasons:
- Research shows improved physical parameters necessary for optimal performance for athletes.
- The unique playing surface can slow the firing speed of tendons and create laxity in ligaments in the long term, leading to higher injury rates.
- Beach volleyball only uses two athletes, requiring much more activity in beach volleyball compared to indoor volleyball.
- Competitive beach volleyball is primarily played by women, and an overwhelming amount of research shows that women are much more likely to sustain common ligament and tendon-related injuries than men.
Again, these are only my thoughts. There is little research specific to beach volleyball. But the sport is growing. There are nearly 1,500 NCAA beach volleyball athletes out there. They need to be protected like any other athlete. Based on what research does show, I think it’s logical that these athletes could use a day off (more so than indoor volleyball) when optional if we want to preserve their long-term athleticism.
https://www.ncsasports.org/beach-volleyball/colleges
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
MOST POPULAR
Recovery Strategies for Beach Volleyball
Volleyball is a rather interesting sport. It’s one of those sports that is very popular at a recreational level for adults but not as much at the competitive levels. For people in their 20s to 50s, it’s America’s most popular co-ed team sport. It is primarily enjoyed in the form of outdoor beach volleyball.
But indoor volleyball is far more popular at the competitive level, from high school to the Olympics. Naturally, most research on volleyball performance is done on indoor volleyball. However, beach volleyball is one of the NCAA’s fastest-growing sports. Still, more research needs to be done specifically for this sport. Make no mistake, they are two different sports, with enough differences that indoor volleyball research shouldn’t be used to assume the same applies to beach volleyball.
As you can imagine, the list of schools that compete in beach volleyball is rather short, with the usual Pacific coast and some Florida schools dominating championship runs. But as I said, it’s growing. When Boise State and Eastern Kentucky University have NCAA beach volleyball teams, you know the sport is gaining a lot of popularity. And this means we need to conduct more research into beach volleyball and how to properly train these athletes to reduce their likelihood of injury as much as possible while maximizing performance.
What Research Shows
Like indoor volleyball, these athletes play a lot of matches in a short period of time. Beach volleyball athletes will play and/or practice 5-6, perhaps even 7 times per week. Early research has shown that playing multiple days in a row does not seem to alter overall performance significantly, but that doesn’t mean the likelihood of injury doesn’t climb. A study from the University of Louisiana-Monroe found that beach volleyball athletes seemed to recover a little bit better when there’s a rest day after a match, as opposed to having matches on back-to-back days. Specifically, agility and countermovement jump measurements were better after a rest day. Although this did not seem to alter their overall performance, that would determine winning or losing, minor detriments in performance can lead to injury later down the road.
Beach vs. Indoor Volleyball
Like many athletes, volleyball athletes need to be highly reactive and explosive. This leads to getting past defenders, blocking shots, and being open to catching balls. Beach volleyball athletes need their explosive abilities perhaps more than any other athlete, given the surface they play on. They need it to jump, dive, and spike the balls despite the ground fighting back.
We all know sand gives way when we apply force to it. It’s challenging to be explosive and fast when the ground literally fights against you. This slowed acceleration that beach volleyball players experience places added stress on the involved tendons and ligaments that help provide athleticism, particularly at the ankle. Suppose these structures are already fatigued from a match the day before. In that case, this can significantly strain them, leading to injury. Imagine taking a rubber band. Quickly pulling it back and launching it will keep it strong and elastic. But if you slowly pull back a rubber band and launch it, over time, it loses its strength faster than the other rubber band. The same logic applies to being athletic in the sand. The longer it takes to launch into the air, the greater strain on the involved tendons and ligaments. Conversely, indoor volleyball athletes can jump, dive, and change directions more quickly. That’s a better recipe for maintaining speed and agility.
My Thoughts
All this information leads me to some thoughts. First and foremost, we need more research on sand volleyball. Although indoor and beach volleyball are both volleyball, they are two different sports with two different energy demands. Thus, different recovery strategies are needed.
With the little research that’s out there, I speculate that beach volleyball athletes need to prioritize a rest day between matches or intense practices whenever possible for several reasons:
- Research shows improved physical parameters necessary for optimal performance for athletes.
- The unique playing surface can slow the firing speed of tendons and create laxity in ligaments in the long term, leading to higher injury rates.
- Beach volleyball only uses two athletes, requiring much more activity in beach volleyball compared to indoor volleyball.
- Competitive beach volleyball is primarily played by women, and an overwhelming amount of research shows that women are much more likely to sustain common ligament and tendon-related injuries than men.
Again, these are only my thoughts. There is little research specific to beach volleyball. But the sport is growing. There are nearly 1,500 NCAA beach volleyball athletes out there. They need to be protected like any other athlete. Based on what research does show, I think it’s logical that these athletes could use a day off (more so than indoor volleyball) when optional if we want to preserve their long-term athleticism.
https://www.ncsasports.org/beach-volleyball/colleges