How to play beach volleyball

Volleyball is played by 2 teams of 4 to 6 players on a court divided by a high net. The object of the game is to send the ball over the net, stopping the opposing team returning the ball by hitting it to the ground of their court.

What you need to play

• 1 x beach or beach volleyball court
• 1 x net
• 1 x ball
• 2 x teams

Step 1. Find some players

Firstly, find your teams. You can play beach volleyball with a minimum of 4 players, but to make it more competitive and loads more fun find up to 12 for 6 on each team.

Step 2. Get in position 

Once you’ve found enough friends to play with, it’s time to get in position. Line up in 1 to 3 rows depending on how many players you have. The first row needs to be close to the net and the back row close to the boundary of the court.

Step 3: Serving

Flip a coin to decide which team goes first; the player in the back right corner will serve the ball. To give everyone a chance to serve , you can rotate players round so everyone gets a go in the different positions allowing everyone a chance of serving.

Serve the ball from behind the line at the back of the court. If you serve in front of the line it may not count as a point if it gets over the net.

Step 4. The game

Once the ball is sent over the net the opposing team can hit the ball a maximum of 3 times before sending it back over. The ball can never touch the ground.

Smashing the ball down to the ground of your opponent’s court with the bottom of your palm is called a “spike”.

Step 5. Scoring

A point is awarded each time a player of the opposing team lets the ball fall to the ground, sends it out of play or fails to return the ball after 3 touches. If the team that won the points served they continue to serve if the winning side didn’t serve they now win the right to do so.