BRAIN and brawn. You'll need both for the AYG beach volleyball tournament, which starts today at Siloso Beach, Sentosa.
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You'll need guile and genius - for knowing when and where to run, and for predicting the opponents' moves, as you defend a 8m x 8m area with one other team-mate.
You'll need muscle and speed - for sprinting on sand, jumping for blocks and spikes, and for doing all this under the sun.
'It's not a sport where you can afford to be a pedestrian,' said Mr Teo Chiek Shan, 29, the Singapore team coach.
Compared to an indoor volleyball court, which measures 9m x 18m, a beach volleyball court is smaller at 8m x 16m.
But an indoor volleyball team has six players. A beach volleyball team has two.
The rules are straightforward: Each match consists of three sets, and each set is won by the first team to reach 21 points, with a minimum lead of two points.
The first team to win two sets wins. If necessary, a third tiebreaker set is played.
If just thinking about this makes you want to lie down with a Pina Colada, fret not. Here's our guide to playing (and looking) like a pro.
HAND signals are used by players to indicate the kind of block they intend to make.
In this sense, it is actually the non-serving player, whose back faces the team-mate who's serving, who dictates play.
Block signals differ from team to team, but there are a few basic ones.
But first of all, a couple of things to remember.
Each hand represents one opponent.
So a player's left hand represents how he intends to block the opponent on his left, and his right hand indicates how he intends to block the opponent on his right.
A '1' represents a straight block. A '2' represents an angled block.
HAND signals are used by players to indicate the kind of block they intend to make.
In this sense, it is actually the non-serving player, whose back faces the team-mate who's serving, who dictates play.
Block signals differ from team to team, but there are a few basic ones.
But first of all, a couple of things to remember.
Each hand represents one opponent.
So a player's left hand represents how he intends to block the opponent on his left, and his right hand indicates how he intends to block the opponent on his right.
A '1' represents a straight block. A '2' represents an angled block.
Here's how it works:
IN A 1-1 combination, the player is saying: I'm going to make straight blocks for both opponents.
The left half of the diagram above shows what happens when the opponent on the left spikes.
The player will make a straight block, i.e. he will block the area directly in front of the opponent. To cover the hole, his team-mate will position himself to the right.
The right half of the diagram shows what happens when it is the opponent on the right who spikes.
As before, the player will block the area directly in front of the opponent, but this time his team-mate will have to cover the hole on the left.
IN THIS 2-2 combination, the player is saying: I'm going to make angled blocks for both opponents.
If the opponent on his left is spiking, as shown in the left half of the diagram, he will block the area diagonally to the right.
His team-mate will position himself to the left.
Now look at the right half of the diagram. Here, it's an instance where it's the opponent on the right who is spiking, and the player will block the area diagonally to the left.
His team-mate will have to move to the right.
YOU CAN also combine the signals.
In this 1-2 combination, the player is saying: I'm going to make a straight block for the opponent on the left, and an angled block for the opponent on the right.
Either way, his team-mate will have to position himself on the right.
TICKET PRICES:
Tickets for all matches from today to Saturday cost $4.
Tickets for the semi-finals and final on Sunday will cost $8.
KEY FIXTURES TODAY:
BOYS
9am: Singapore v Sri Lanka
2pm: India v China
3pm: Singapore v Japan
GIRLS
10am: Thailand v Japan
11am: Singapore v Mongolia
2pm: India v China
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