I love playing beach volleyball. The sport has taught me a lot about having a good attitude and work ethic, all of which I have applied in my career, hobbies, and friendships.
This past weekend, I played in a men’s doubles King of the Beach tournament. It was the toughest tournament I have ever played in because the competition level was so high (I played with pros and most of the players were at least A level or above). While I did get my ass kicked, it was SUPER fun playing in the tournament.
A lot of the life lessons I have learned and applied from playing beach volleyball came up in this tournament. I wanted to share some of them with you in hopes that you can use them for your own personal growth in different areas of your life.
5 lessons I have learned from playing beach volleyball
1. Communicate in a helpful way
Communication is so imperative in beach volleyball because there’s only 2 of you on the court. Each of you is covering a lot of ground, so telling your teammate as much information as possible (like if a ball is going in or out or telling them if there’s a blocker at the net) reduces errors and improves your ability to score points. Asking your teammate questions about how they like their set can improve teamwork chemistry.
I used to be a very quiet player. Aside from saying “my bad” or “good try” after each play, I rarely talked to my teammate during the game; however, after playing with one of my friends who talks so much during every play, she convinced me how helpful it was be communicative. So now I try to give out as much information and encouragement as I can to my teammate.
Communicating in a helpful way is important in your career and personal life. Knowing when to ask questions about something you don’t know helps you work more effectively. Knowing what, why, and how to speak up in a relationship is key to making the relationship last. If you held in all your feelings, you’d just get more stressed and could end up sending mixed signals to your partner (in this case, it happened to me in the picture above :))
2. Be kind to everybody, especially to those who are weaker than you
Most of the players (especially the pros) who I played with were all really kind to me. They encouraged me each play and gave me really good feedback on how to improve my game.
I was really worried about being dead weight for anybody I played with since I was one of the weakest player at the competition; however, I didn’t feel that way most of the time because my teammates were kind and encouraging to me. I ended up playing some of the best beach volleyball I’ve ever played in my life with these guys.
Being kind is just a good trait to have in general. It’s hard to be kind to somebody when they piss you off or can seem like a liability, but being kind to them can make a big difference to them.
3. Keep going when things get tough
When you’re down a lot of points, especially toward the end of a set, it can get incredibly difficult to keep playing. You feel like the other team has so much momentum that no matter what you do, you can’t claw your way back. It gets harder to focus because the thoughts of losing pervade your mind much more. The game definitely becomes more of a mental battle than a physical one.
When those times hit, I start to tell myself and my teammate – “just one point at a time”. By repeating this statement, I get myself to focus less on the bad and focus more on doing my best in the current game. Even if I lose, I’ll know that I did my best fighting for every one of those points.
During one of my pool games, my team was down 12-1. It was a BRUTAL beating, but I still tried to play my best. We ended going down 21-7, but I didn’t feel bad in the end because I knew I gave it my all that game.
When times are tough in life, don’t give up. It’s easier said than done. Keep going and try and put out your best work so when you look back, you won’t have any regret that you didn’t try your best.
4. Don’t forget to have fun
Being in a competition setting requires focus and seriousness; however, I’ve realized that if you forget about having fun and let that seriousness take over 100% of your mentality, you crumble way faster when you start to pile on mistakes.
When you’re having fun playing beach volleyball, your whole body feels looser and lighter. You’re also not as stressed, so you shrug off mistakes easier and can move on to the next play. You may even have a laugh about some of your silly plays.
Don’t forget to have fun in any area of your life. There’s a lot of research out there that shows having fun reduces stress and keeps you feeling young. When you were a kid, having fun made anything you were doing easier and more enjoyable.
5. Challenging yourself is the best and fastest way to grow
I ended up playing some of the best volleyball I’ve ever played at this competition because it was so challenging. I was forced to bring out the best I had in me. Although I lost a lot of games, I gained some pretty good experience and wisdom on how to improve my spiking and serving skills.
When you play with others above your skill level, you are forced to adapt to the higher play level. That process of adapting will train you to think differently, build good muscle memory, broaden you skills, and teach you about any weaknesses you have and how to improve them.
Challenging yourself can also show you how much undiscovered potential you have. When I joined the tournament, I didn’t think I could win any games , but I ended up proving myself wrong by winning 2 out of the 6. At the end of the tournament, I felt a bit more confident in my ability to play competitive volleyball at a higher level.
It’s easier said than done to challenge yourself. There’s pain involved, but the amount of learning and confidence you obtain from challenging yourself can accelerate your growth in any area of your life.
I hope you enjoyed some of these life lessons that I have learned and applied from playing beach volleyball! If there’s any other lessons that you want to share personally from playing beach volleyball, let me know in the comments below 🙂
