Differences Between Beach Volleyball and Indoor Volleyball , Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 1:42 PM, in

Beach volleyball and indoor volleyball are very different and not for the obvious reason that one is played on sand and the other on a hard court. There are 2 people in beach and 6 people per team on an indoor team. These are the 2 most obvious differences between the 2 sports, now lets look at all of the other differences.
The ball is very different for both sports. The indoor ball is heavier, smaller and more inflated which makes it harder. The outdoor volleyball is always less inflated, lighter and slightly larger. Don't grab a beach volleyball and think it feels too flat and try to put more air in it.



The games are only played to 21 when playing sand volleyball and they go to 30 when playing indoor. You play each team the best 2 out of 3 when playing sand and it's best 3 out of 5 when playing indoor.
The set can look horrible and come out of your hands spinning in indoor while at the beach you are allowed to hold it for a second longer so that it comes out clean looking with no spin.
You can set the serve indoor but you are not allowed to set the serve when playing sand volleyball.
You can never open hand tip the ball in beach volleyball but with 6 on 6 hard court volleyball you can practically throw the ball.
The block counts as one of your 3 hits when playing at the beach but indoor volleyball allows you to hit the ball 3 more times after the block.

More beach volleyball rules and beach volleyball equipment here.