Using your head, in the figurative sense, is a must for beach volleyballers, as they always have to be thinking of strategy and managing their thoughts throughout the game. But literally using your head to play the ball, most would admit, is not a skill that is needed to master the game. Occasionally it happens by accident, perhaps when it comes back hard off a block, or if you are on the wrong end of a six-pack, but intentionally knocking the ball around with your head is definitely rare.

Well, leave it up to Brazil, whose top two sports are soccer and volleyball (in that order), to invent a combination of the two pastimes, where using your head to play the ball over the net is very much a big part of the game! They call it foot-volley, and to those who think that playing soccer using volleyball rules (3 contacts without the ball hitting the sand) and a volleyball court (same size but the net is a bit lower), seems a bit difficult, you are absolutely right!!

I would say that soccer players would have an easier time converting to foot-volley, than would volleyball players, simply due to the experience they have using their head and feet to contact the ball. However, the knowledge of the court and the ability to move around the court efficiently would give the volleyball player some advantage too!

So next time you are down at the beach, give foot-volley a try! I guarantee you'll go head over heels for it!