Blocking In Beach Volleyball

How is 'blocking' executed in beach volleyball?

The block is very important. The blocker starts at the net, first watches the set, and then moves into position to where the set is going to be contacted by the spiker. You then take your eye off the ball, watch the spiker and what they're doing, finally you will time the block based on his jump. You don't jump when he jumps, you wait slightly afterwards. You jump up, starting with your hands here (see video). Jump up reaching over the net, and take away an area of the court. Most hitters want to spike to the angle, so the best block, most of the time is to reach up over the net, into the angle, to take that spike and block it back down onto their side of the court. A very important factor to note is that the blocker cannot block everything. They have to make a decision whether they want to block the angle or the line. And your partner in the back court will take the other side of the court so that you split up the court and you can cover more area. That's how you block.

What is exciting about blocking an opponents ball?

Blocking your opponent's spike can be very exciting, because your opponent wants to go up and drive that ball down onto your side of the court. You're stopping him from doing that by jumping up, reaching over into the area he wants to hit the ball, and stopping it from coming over. It's humiliating if you get blocked.

Are there any physical requirements for blocking?

You can be most effective at blocking if you're taller. Although, if you have a good jump, you can make up for being not quite that tall. But the objective is to get up and over the net as far as you can so that the player cannot attack the ball.

What is the strategy of a good block?

There's many strategies to blocking in a game, but what you want to do is split up the court. You want the blocker to take a certain area of the court and you want the defensive player - your partner in the back of the court - to take the other side of the court, so that you've covered the whole court on defense. The proper technique for blocking is one, starting close to the net, starting with your hands about head high, jumping up, pressing your hands up and over the net; not swinging the hands over but sliding hands over the net to take away as much area as you can from the spiker.