"Better the pass, better the set." -Karchy

Part three of the summer series for prepvolleyball.com

At the most recent Tour stop in Belmar, N.J., I directed an AVP Juniors Camp for 12 local children looking to learn a little something about the beach game. We started with passing, moved on to digging, threw out a little dialogue on the “ice-cream scooper” and the “flipper,” transitioned to bump setting, further transitioned to hand setting, proceeded to spiking, incorporated shot-making, moved on to serving and polished it all off with more games than any of the kids could count. Trust me, I tested them. What was the overall consensus from the group following our two-day beach volleyball extravaganza?

1) Their feet were on absolute fire from the hot sand.

2) Every skill on the beach was way more difficult to execute than on the hard wood floor of their high school gymnasium.

Even the 17-year-old heading to Harvard in the fall had no idea what to expect come Saturday morning as she approached the giant blue tents adjacent to the boardwalk. But without a doubt, every child present cherished the opportunities laid before them to try their hand at the same sport the world’s best professionals were playing no more than 20 feet away on feature court one.

The biggest hurdle Saturday morning was adequately emphasizing the importance of all the “base” skills, such as passing and setting. Every person, no matter the age, loves to spike volleyballs, especially straight down. It’s like throwing down a dunk Shannon Brown-style, or hitting a home run in the playoffs like Manny Ramirez. The feeling associated with “bouncing pier” like Sean Rosenthal in Manhattan Beach is electric, and energizes both the athlete’s veins and their soul.

But what I tried everything in my power to drive home over the weekend to those future beach stars is that if you can’t pass, you can’t get a set. And if you can’t get a set, then you’re never going to be able to spike. It’s that simple. As Karch Kiraly once said to me in an early morning practice, “the better the pass, the better the set you’ll get from your partner.” Sounds ridiculously menial and obvious, but after further examination, it could be one of the most important volleyball lessons I ever learned. And throughout the weekend, I tried to pass it along to those dozen kids. Pun intended. 

The key to passing, and pretty much every skill on the beach, is moving your feet. Here’s a quick Post-It note reminder you can place on your fridge to examine each morning before you grab the milk for your cereal:

–Quick small steps, align your body so it’s in front of the ball with your shoulders facing the target and your knees bent, actively engage your quad muscles with every movement, point toes slightly in as if marginally pigeon-toed, get your platform out early and level, don’t swing your arms, and pass from your legs– 

Obviously this goes without saying, but passing is considerably more difficult in the sand than it is in the gym. Either way, the most important aspect of the skill, wherever it’s being performed, that’s often overlooked in pursuit of a better platform or hair tie, is the moving of one’s feet. As the wind blows the ball in directions you never thought possible, and the uneven sand beneath your toes throws your balance for a loop, the only thing you can rely on to get your partner the perfect pass is your legs and feet.

I’ll say it again: Get your body in front of the ball as fast as possible and stay low; the ball will come up. After innumerable passing reps developing touch and feel for your target, you’ll soon be passing nails like Misty May-Treanor. And when you step foot back into the gym this fall, your coach will ask you to trade in your arm swing for a full-time Libero position. When that happens, you just look that coach right back in the eye and say you want to do both.