When lying on the beach doing nothing seems a bore, and you can’t be bothered to build sand castles, a game of beach volleyball could be just the ticket.

You can have as many people on a team as you want. Players use their arms and hands to hit the ball over the net with a maximum of three touches to get it over. Points are scored by hitting the ball onto the ground of the opposing team.

Beach volleyball courts are small – 16 metres by eight – so there’s not all that much running around.

Beach volleyball can be very exciting and draws quite a crowd. It’s popular in places with wide beaches (California and Australia for example, though Brazil tends to dominate the sport), but it is played in countries without coastlines (in Switzerland, for instance, there are special courts).

Until 2008 there is the Urban Beach Tour in the UK, where British players and guest international stars play on specially created beaches in city centres and hold training sessions for beginners. This is helping the game to become one of the most popular summer sports in the world.

For more information see www.volleyballengland.org. Dates for the Urban Beach Tour are at www.urbanbeachtour.co.uk.

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