Many of the High Line staff members have played doubles, and several are playing at very high levels.
Proven by a study, TRAINING 6 days a week with outdoor or beach volleyball for 4 months is the equivalent training of playing 4 years of club volleyball. The study indicates this is WITHOUT COACHING.
Random play has been noted in EVERY sport to increase ability, give players flexibility to try new things and increases competitive awareness. It also gives a new, fun way to play a sport that is already a fun sport for our young players.
Don't be discouraged. If you go to a tournament and play womens BB/B you may feel you have far more talent than your opponents when it comes to volleyball ball 'skills'. 90% of the time, this will be true. However, as you will note, there is more to playing the game of doubles, than hitting hard and playing good 'digging' defense. Things like roll shots, diving plays, tough serving coupled with what a lot of new or beginning doubles player call 'cheesy' play is the way the game is played. Putting the ball IN your opponents court or forcing an error is the way to play.
Many local tournaments still play 'old' school which might confuse and frustrate young players.
The significant differences:
-No overhand receipt of a serve
-Setting is called a whole new 'beach' level. This means if the ball is spinning (the higher the level, the less spin that is tolerated) it is considered a double contact or lift. The ball must come out 'clean' with little or no spin if using an overhand setting motion.
-Setting over the net is not legal unless your shoulders are square (facing or back directly to) the flight of the ball. Any other action is considered a lift.
-Non-hard driven balls typically have to be played with an underhand passing technique or at minimum, a non-open hand technique. At higher levels, they can be received with open hands, but are judged as an OPEN level set (this cannot be spinning EVEN a little).
-No let serves
-No rally scoring. You must serve to earn a point.
-There is no under the net violation unless interfering with the other team
-The poles are typically considered the 'antannae' for purposes of in and out.
-Momentary 'lifts' and double contacts are ok on hard driven balls as long as it is a continous motion.
As you can see there are a lot of variations that todays young players are not familiar with. It may be intimidating to enroll for a tournament with all these differences. However, there have been several High Line club and other area club players that have stuck with it, to not only come out and dominate, but come out and dominate EVERY tournament. Those players are now TREMENDOUS indoor players because of the experience gained by playing doubles.
So do take the challenge. Try an outdoor SEASON. Trying one tournament will certainly make you aware, but learning to counter the 'cheesy' play (as you will call it) is an art and must be learned like anything else, through experience.
Good luck and we hope to see you on the courts.
See the sites to the left for all doubles tournaments we know about in the area.