Whether a beach program has 10 participants or 100, coaches need to have a plan in place to challenge the athletes who are advanced, while also keeping the players on the lower court motivated from week to week.
Here are some ways to structure your beach training sessions to maximize potential while developing talent at multiple levels:
Multiple Plans for Groups Training Simultaneously
If you have 2-3 different levels, each level train simultaneously with a similar plan that is modified to the level of each group. A lead coach will run two courts for elite/advanced with the same drills and split them by level (open and club). There does not need to be age restrictions, simply evaluate based on skill and knowledge, and players can compete to hold their spots on the top court. At times, players can get moved down to the second court for just one drill or for the entire practice. It gives those players on Court 2 a chance to see the more experienced athletes and allows the Court 1 players to pay it forward with their knowledge.
The lower court may struggle at first with the advanced drills, but they are working toward making it to the top court, and by seeing how the top court successfully runs the drills they have an example to learn from.
Another plan can be applied to the other court(s) training simultaneously for players that are new to beach and learning the basics. If there are enough for two courts, they can run simultaneously. However, if one group of 8-12 players is high school age and another group is 5-8th grade you may want to consider running them independently, as the high school age will typically progress faster and be more skilled for beach beginners.
Scoring Drills to Determine Court Placement
If you have more than two courts and similar skill level for your elite and advanced training groups, you can incorporate scoring into your drills. It’s a great way to keep players motivated and allow for court movement throughout practice. After warm-up, players are placed into pairs and assigned a court. Each drill has an objective that requires the pair to keep track of their score, whether it’s a hitting drill with a point system and targets for shots, 2 ball or 3 ball Queen of the Court, or eight minute 3 ball wash drill. All teams receive the same number of attempts and when the drill ends, the top team on each court moves up, the middle team will stay and the team with the lowest score moves down a court. This continues for the duration of practice. It allows fluidity in which players have an opportunity to be on every court, but is best utilized when there are 3 or more courts with similar level. If there is a big discrepancy in levels, you can separate into two separate groups with Group A on Courts 1-3 and Group B on Courts 4-6.
Mixing age groups to build problem solving, culture and leadership
The game of beach is about team work and controlling your side of the net. Therefore, by mixing young players with older more experienced players in practice challenges the more skilled players to cover more court or find ways to score points. ie. Running option on 2, running different tempos depending on your partner, etc. This format may require additional coaches at practice.
If you’re trying to build your culture and communication, consider mic-ing up a player or two during practice to hear what their communication sounds like. Are we saying the right things? Are we making the right calls? Are we being good teammates.
Older players are important for building and leaving a hard working, positive culture. Ask your seniors: What are you leaving for the next group of seniors or elite players? What are you teaching them? What are you taking with you to the next level? The leadership and mentoring experience that they get is huge for playing in college and playing beach in general.
20% Movement from Court to Court
If you are training on two courts, there is a good chance that among the players on the top court (Court A), 20% are of similar level to the players on Court B. If the same can be said of the top players on Court B, you can move the 20% up or down frequently. By rotating players 50-60% of the time, the players who move from Court A to Court B can challenge the players on Court B, and the players moving up to Court A have the opportunity to see better competition. In order to create an inclusive environment where everyone is training together, you can begin practice with partner ball control and require players to have a new partner each time, and integrate groups for serving and serve receive reps.
This article was a collaboration from Directors at JVA member clubs Austin Junior Beach (TX), MBSand (CA), 757 Beach (VA), Spiker Beach (CA), and Team ONE Volleyball (IL).