It would be easy to believe that beach volleyball and indoor volleyball are similar when in comes to volleyball rules, but in reality they are quite different. I thought that it would be a good idea to point out some of these differences in this article.-The beach volleyball court is actually much smaller than the indoor court. The end lines are not as deep so that is something to take into account. The actual outdoor court measures 8 meters by 8 meters on each side.-Unlike indoor volleyball, beach volleyball has no rotation rules. This is mainly because there are only two players on a sand team. The order of the serve does alternate between the two players though.-
A player cannot set the serve. The reason is double contacting the serve is not allowed. You can use your hands to pass the serve but your hands must be together and the ball literally bounces off of your hands as opposed to setting it.-
Beach volleyball players are not allowed to tip the ball with an open hand. Beach volleyball rules believe that open hand tipping makes it too easy to score and does not suit the game well. The alternative to this is a roll shot using an open hand.-
All sets must come out of the hands in a clean way. Indoor sets are different because you will see the ball spinning out of a setter’s hands. The beach volleyball setter also sets the ball in a completely different fashion. Beach volleyball players make it look as though they are catching the ball as they set it. This would not be allowed indoor and would likely always be called a lift.-
Indoor volleyball allows for double hits but beach volleyball does not. As previously mentioned, beach volleyball players are not permitted to double contact the ball during the serve receive, and this also applies to digging a spike. Indoor volleyball allows double contacts for whatever reason.-
A player may not set the ball over the net from the side. Basically, if you are going to set over the net you have to be square to the net, whether that is facing the net or your back is to the net. Nothing in between.-
Blocking at the net counts as one of your 3 hits. Any touch at the net counts.-
Interestingly enough, the volleyball used in indoor and beach volleyball are actually quite different. A huge difference is the pressure in the volleyball. Indoor volleyballs are generally pumped quite high. This is not the case with beach volleyballs. This is likely because beach volleyballs are not meant to be bounced on the ground. Also, beach balls are meant to be used outside and indoor volleyballs are meant to be used inside.
