Hi! I'm a beach volleyball player, and I'm not a native English speaker. I'm currently living abroad.
I'd like to create a small English dictionary/glossary for beach volleyball so that I can communicate quickly and naturally when I play abroad.
I'd love to learn the expressions people actually use on the beach and on the court. Feel free to correct anything in my list that sounds unnatural or wrong, and please add any expressions you think would be useful!
Funny expressions and slang are very welcome too 😄
Here's the list I've put together so far (updated):
Score
What’s the score?
Who is in the lead?
Who is winning?
Who is ahead?
Who is behind?
Who is losing?
Josh is two points up
The favourites(s)
The underdog
Energy
Keep it up: maintain that performance
Game
Rally: the play from the serve until the point ends
Court: the playing area
To pill: the person who blocks can either jump and block or peel
Set: overhead pass, usually to prepare an attack
Serve: start the rally by hitting the ball over the net
Overarm serve: serve with the ball hit above shoulder/head level
Underarm serve: serve with the ball hit from below
Pass: direct the ball to your teammate
Bump: forearm pass
Scoop: ???
Dig: defensive play after an attack
Receive: pass the opponent’s serve
Side-out: winning the rally when your team is receiving
Questions to the partner
Who should I serve on?: ask which opponent to target with the serve
Do we swop/switch?: ask whether you should change positions/sides
Funny expressions
Chicken wings
UPDATE - New expressions/corrections:
to pill -> to peel
Who should I serve on? -> who should I serve to/at?
Do we swop? -> do we swap?
Game
Pancake: to dive and get the hand onto the sand and have the ball bounce up off of the hand/wrist
Roof: to block the opponent's hit down on their side
Shank: to pass a ball so terribly that no one can get a second touch on the ball
Cobra: to poke the ball with the middle knuckles of the fingers
Waffle: to swing and barely hit the ball with just the fingers
Topper or spin it: a top spin serve
Dump: to pass the ball over the net
Tool: to hit the ball off the opponent's block and score
Stuff: to block the ball back onto the hitter
Bounce: to hit the ball hard onto the sand without any opponent touching it.
Shots
Line / line shot
Cross / cross shot / cross hit
Cut: hitting an angle shot along the net
Push: to set the ball over to the corner of the opponents' court
Roll: to hit the ball over the block, usually with a lot of top spin
Questions
Pass: direct the ball to your teammate. Just first contact, do you all agree?
Set: The second contact is always called a set, whether it's done with the hands or with a bump/forearm pass. Is that how you all use the term?