Holly McPeak’s beach workout series – session 5

Dig, set, hit angle from left side

Four players are needed for this sideout drill. The server serves to the left-side player, who passes to the right-side player. The right-side player bumps to a player at the net, who hits the ball back at the left-sider. After digging the ball up, the left-sider approaches and hits crosscourt off a set from the right-sider. So the left-side player gets both a passing opportunity and a digging opportunity on the same play, and the setter gets 2 setting reps.

Note that Holly reminds the players to take a wide approach rather than coming straight in when hitting. This helps them face angle in a way that opens up more shot opportunities and is harder for the blocker and defender to read.

Dig, set, hit angle from right side

Same drill here as the previous one, but the players are hitting from the right instead of the left and aiming for 3 targets: line, deep middle, crosscourt corner.

Competitive drill promoting aggressive serving

This serving drill is 2 vs. 2. With one team on one side of the net and another team on the other, players take turns serving to 3 target areas: both lines and deep middle. Each time they hit the target, their team gets a point. First team to 10 is the winner.

Left-side defense: Line block, angle dig, line drop

In Holly’s previous training session (Workout 4), she had the 4 players practice right-side defense. In this session, she switches to the left side. The blockers work on taking line and also dropping off the net to dig line. The defenders dig angle.

This drill also focuses on transitioning to offense. Hitters have 4 targets to hit at: short cut, angle, deep middle and line.

Left-side defense: Angle block, line dig, angle drop

Next drill up for left-side defense is the angle block, where the blocker takes away the angle hit with a strong, penetrating left hand while the digger covers line. As Holly explains, if the blocker drops off the net into the angle, the digger has to balance the court by sliding over to the right and playing defense to the right of the blocker who has dropped.

Targets for the transitioning attackers are the same as the previous drill: short cut, angle, deep middle and line.

Sideout game: 2 consecutive points earn “real” point

In this 2 vs. 2 sideout drill, the winner is the first team to 5. But one point doesn’t earn you a point on the scoreboard. You have to side out, then play a free ball and win a second consecutive point.

One of the focuses in this drill is to be solid in the wind, bettering every ball for your partner. Holly doesn’t shy away from a friendly scold if she sees a bad habit. In this video, Gigi stabs at a ball with only her right arm and Holly immediately yells, “TWO HANDS!” The idea here is that players often get a little lazy and try to play a ball with one arm that they should play with 2. For control, 2 hands is always better.

Don’t be lazy when digging tough shots

From time to time, just about all beach volleyball players go for a one-handed dig when they should use 2 hands. This is true even at the high level of play you’ll see from Gigi Hernandez, who is one of Holly’s workout athletes and will play beach at Pepperdine during the 2016-17 school year.

Here, Holly talks about why it’s important for players to get their feet to the ball whenever possible and to use 2 arms for everything but emergency plays.

Holly's final thoughts on Workout 5

Reviewing what was accomplished in this practice, Holly emphasizes how important it is for players to get lots of training in windy conditions. Dealing with the wind is one of the things that separates high-level beach volleyball players from all the rest.

Holly also reiterates the importance of training players to serve tough with good location. That takes lots of reps, but servers can get huge benefits from making the receiving team move.