Beach volleyball

Each team is allowed three hits of the ball before returning it to the other side of the net, and no player can hit the ball twice in a row. The ball is generally returned over the net using the hands and arms, but it is permissible for any part of the body to be used to hit the ball.

Teams can only score when they're serving and the first to 15 points, with a break of two points, is the winner. However, there are differences between beach and regular volleyball. Beach volleyball is played on soft sand, between 30 and 40 centimetres deep, and is traditionally played outdoors.

Players of beach volleyball have no set positions and are free to move around the court to attack the ball. At an elite level, beach volleyball is played by two teams of two very athletic players, but beginners can have six a side. The soft sand court surface of beach volleyball makes for spectacular play, with players able to fling themselves around and dive for the ball in order to score a point without the same risk of injury as indoors.

Beach volleyballers dress for comfort and ease of movement. Playing in bare feet is also a fabulous way to work the muscles in feet that are normally stuffed into shoes every day. It's like a pedicure and reflexology treatment in one. If the sand's hot, slip on some socks to save your soles.

The history of beach volleyball

Not long after the game of volleyball was invented in the late 1800s, beach-lovers saw the opportunity to spend even more time on the sand and shifted the sport seaside. Richie "Doc" Coles is an instructor with the Sydney Beach Volleyball School and says that what he loves about the sport is it gives him the chance to get on the sand at every opportunity.

Beach volleyball became popular in the early 1920s in California and, by the 1930s, had spread to virtually every European town with a sandy beach. In 1993 it became an official Olympic sport and is now adored by professionals and beginners worldwide.