Wide range of beach volleyball tournament and training course levels

Perhaps you have stumbled across some cryptic alphabetic character and number combinations like BB or F1/F2 and asked yourself: what the hack does that mean?

Here is all you have to know:

There is a wide range of tournaments on all levels taking place throughout a season. Unfortunately, levels definition differs across continents and countries. Two examples:

In the United States, levels are broken down to B, BB, A, AA, AAA and Open. B is usually the lowest level offered at a tournament. This is actually the beginners’ level. For players having all the basic techniques together but lack athletic capabilities to seriously hit and block, BB level is the right one. Hitting and blocking is expected at A level. If you have the entire skills set ready and you are athletic enough you will be able to play at AA level. AAA is the highest level in amateur beach volleyball tournaments. In Open tournaments the best players compete against each other. Compared to AAA, prizes in Open division also include money and therefore often attract professional beach volleyball players.

In Germany, there are leisure and fun tournaments playing different tournament modes, also including 3 vs. 3, 6 vs. 6 and even playing men and women together. More serious tournaments occur on A, B, C and D levels. While D and C tournaments are for average skilled players, B tournaments require advanced skill level. A is the most professional level that requires a team to have scored a sufficient amount of points in lower level tournaments before. The best teams participate in Cup tournaments and finally qualify for international World Series tournaments.

For the World Series the FIVB has just recently introduced a categorization from 1* to 5***** tournaments. They basically differ in tournament mode, world ranking points, quality of facilities and prize money. Find more details here:

http://www.fivb.org/viewPressRelease.asp?No=61832&Language=en#.WRma7Wjyg2x

There is sometimes a different classification when it comes to levels for beach volleyball training courses. In Germany, for example, there is an A1-3 and F1-5 logic, A standing for “Anfänger” (beginner) and “F” meaning “Fortgeschrittene” (Advanced). Courses typically focus on the following content:

A1: Acquisition of basic techniques

A2: Securing basic techniques

A3: Deepening and application of all techniques (including hitting)

F1: Basic offense (hitting) and defense techniques (block)

F2: Advanced offense (hitting, poke, cut) and defense techniques (block, fake block)

F3: Specific competitive techniques and tactics

F4: Training for ambitious amateur players

F5: Preparation for competitive tournaments

These classifications are exemplary and vary widely. For more and also country-specific information refer to the online resources.

Find the entire beach volleyball beginners’ guide here.

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