138 replies to this topic

[TV Anonymous]

I have two questions for those in the know:

1. In Beach Volleyball, I watched a match where the athletes on both teams wore body suits (long pants long sleeves). Yet in most other matches they just wore the bikinis. What is the difference?

2. In Volleyball, do they do away with the libero position? That extra player confused me when first introduced years ago. I did not see that player anymore.

[w_wellington]

1. In Beach Volleyball, I watched a match where the athletes on both teams wore body suits (long pants long sleeves). Yet in most other matches they just wore the bikinis. What is the difference?

Outdoor temperature.

2. In Volleyball, do they do away with the libero position? That extra player confused me when first introduced years ago. I did not see that player anymore.

Pretty sure I've seen the libero in the games I've watched -- it's the player wearing a different colored shirt from the rest of the team.

[Liane81]

Just saw the Kessy/Ross team play Argentina - not sure why they wore regular bikini bottoms but long sleeve tops when the Argentina team wore the regular bikini-style outfits. Personal preference since it would seem weather temperature might not be case here.

[BlueSkies]

New rules allow beach volleyball teams to cover up. Team USA decided to wear long-sleeved shirts when the temperatures dipped to 63 degrees, which is cold for women who grew up in Southern California.

[braggtastic]

And the sand temperature was 45 degrees. That's cold sand! The weirdest were the Australians yesterday, who wore long sleeve shirts with their bikinis on top of the shirts.

[wallybear]

Just saw the Kessy/Ross team play Argentina - not sure why they wore regular bikini bottoms but long sleeve tops

Keri & Misty wore the same in their match, as stated above, due to the cold weather.

I realize I'm probably in the minority, but I HATE that the women are forced to wear bikinis & the guys wear what I consider to be a more normal outfit for participating in this type of sport. IMO it is sexist & degrading. What if an athlete, for religious or modesty- or hell, any- reason didn't want to wear the bikini? Are they allowed to wear something else?

[BlueSkies]

Women are no longer forced to wear bikinis in beach volleyball as of this year. They can wear bikinis or shorts with a top or even a full body suit. Most of the women involved, though, have never complained in the past about the requirement, and many actually enjoy showing off their bodies. Many of them grew up in beach environments (Brazil, Australia, California), and wearing/living in a bathing suit is just part of their natural culture.

[wallybear]

I could swear I heard the announcers talking about how, because of the women being forced to wear the bikinis (except in the cold weather), there was a hub-bub about the men not having to wear Speedos? And, when due to the cold weather, Misty & Keri wore the L/S tops, the announcers again commented that they were 'allowed' to wear the cold weather outfits because the temperature had fallen below 65 degrees (I think). ??

[TV Anonymous]

w_wellington:

Pretty sure I've seen the libero in the games I've watched -- it's the player wearing a different colored shirt from the rest of the team.

Yeah, my mistake. Turned out that the libero could get in and out anytime. I thought it was a permanent position. That brings the next question. Why bother having a libero at all? He must stay on the backfield and he can not serve.

Volleyball has evolved so much since my days, I think. When I was at school and played volleyball, we played for 15 points and team must get the serve before it could score.

[Fukui San]

As I understand it, like baseball has a designated hitter the Libero is the designated defender, a specialist in digging out tough serves and spikes.

[Rickster]

Yeah, my mistake. Turned out that the libero could get in and out anytime. I thought it was a permanent position. That brings the next question. Why bother having a libero at all? He must stay on the backfield and he can not serve.

I guess it's an equal opporutnity rule to allow shorter players on the team?

I was confused about the libero too, since I thought it was a permanent postion and I definitely saw one team playing without one yesterday.

[dagny]

As a person who can actually walk under the net, I think the libero position is an AWESOME evolution of the game. I had never heard of it until I saw it in the Olympics a few times back.

[pepperclove]

Yes, the libero is a defensive specialist position who plays back row only and wears a different jersey. They also are not allowed to attack the ball above the height of the net (meaning they cannot hit even out of the back row). The rule was actually changed in an attempt to increase the number of rallies by having a star defender on the court, but ironically, many volleyball people think it has had a bigger impact on serve receive by leading to more perfect passes and therefore potentially actually reducing rallies (since at the international level teams will kill the ball on an "in system" play, i.e. a perfect pass, almost every time). A less-intended side effect has been to provide more opportunities for shorter players. The libero usually comes in for both middle blockers, so they are out for rotations when the middle blockers are serving. (At some levels of volleyball in the U.S., the libero can serve for one rotation, but I haven't seen a libero serve yet in the Olympics so I'm not sure if that rule applies at the international level.)

As far as bikinis in beach volleyball, all of the women who play at a professional level from the major countries are perfectly comfortable playing in bikinis. They are proud of their bodies, and that is the culture of the sport. On the other hand, when it is freezing like it has been for the night matches, of course they would rather wear more clothes. I agree that the bikini tops over the long-sleeve tops look ridiculous. Male players do not play in speedos (with the very rare exception at local tournaments), but they are required to wear tank tops in international play whereas most would probably play shirtless if given the choice.

[legaleagle44]

Male players do not play in speedos (with the very rare exception at local tournaments), but they are required to wear tank tops in international play whereas most would probably play shirtless if given the choice.

A rule which must be done away with at once! ;)

[Limbonaut]

Speaking as a guy I would probably feel more comfortable running around in shorts instead of tight speedos. I feel very packed in just walking even when my briefs are the correct size!

[Good Queen Jane]

What makes you think that a rule requiring men beach volleyball players to wear a Speedo has anything to do with the player's comfort or ability to play well?

[Rickster]

4 Reasons the US Team Wears Bikinis

Of course, to me the real question is why a lot of track and field female athletes are wearing something close to bikinis these days. At least in beach volleyball, it was part of the culture from the beginning.

[wallybear]

I am not interested in debating why bikinis are worn, or if it's appropriate attire. I'm asking if an athlete doesn't want to wear it due to modesty reasons (or any reason), would they be penalized? If so, why are women required to wear such revealing attire & men are completely covered up?

[TV Anonymous]

wallybear:

I am not interested in debating why bikinis are worn, or if it's appropriate attire. I'm asking if an athlete doesn't want to wear it due to modesty reasons (or any reason), would they be penalized? If so, why are women required to wear such revealing attire & men are completely covered up?

No.

Edited by TV Anonymous, Jul 30, 2012 @ 7:24 PM.

[wallybear]

Thank you very much. I'm glad they changed it; I don't believe anyone should be made to wear something they may feel uncomfortable in due to personal reasons. It would be interesting to see if it does broaden the base of countries who send teams to the games.

[yruneh]

I find that indoor volleyball provides better eye candy than beach volleyball. In part, it's because some individuals who play indoor are just hotter, but I like the short shorts and other aspects of the indoor uniforms.

There's at least one sport were the revealing nature of the outfits is reversed in terms of gender. In diving, the men wear skimpy suits whereas the women's one-piece suits cover a lot.

[legaleagle44]

In diving, the men wear skimpy suits

For which gay men everywhere will be eternally grateful!

[LaxBandit]

Bad news if you planned on watching the Brazil-United States mens volleyball match LIVE on NBC at 3:00 pm ET/CT/MT. NBC has decided to move the match to primetime - thus we will get a heavily edited version. No way they show the whole match with all that swimming and gymnastics going on tonight. I'm pissed off we have to watch this match LIVE online.

There is some good news though for volleyball fans - well if your just a fan of beach volleyball - as this change means that the showing of the Rogers-Daluhasser match has been moved from primetime to late afternoon and will be shown LIVE on NBC - 4:00 pm-5:00 pm ET/CT/MT. The other hour - 3:00 pm-4:00 pm will have rowing and kayaking-canoeing on.

Edited by LaxBandit, Aug 3, 2012 @ 2:18 PM.

[FrogsRule]

Well, NBC proved it can be done. You can give interesting background on a player without making it melodramatic. They managed to mention that Holmes was LDS, had gone to BYU, and had served his mission in London, and what returning to London meant to him, without: Telling the history of BYU, Mormonism, showing endless shots of the Wasatch Front and Provo, and giving indepth interviews with every member of the LDS ward, stake, or whatever it is in London! Wow!

[blackwing]

I know it's extremely culturally insensitive, and I am utterly aware of how horrible this is of me, but I can't stop laughing about this name.

It's even funnier if you shorten her first name to the nickname "Yo".

[dubbel zout]

The weirdest were the Australians yesterday, who wore long sleeve shirts with their bikinis on top of the shirts.

Other teams have done that; it's because the bikini tops have their names and country on them, which must be a requirement. Misty and Kerry have their names and U.S.A. on their long-sleeve shirts. They likely also have them on their bikini tops for when they don't need extra clothing.

Edited by dubbel zout, Aug 3, 2012 @ 3:09 PM.

[trojanchick99]

The US Indoor teams are on a tear. The Women look pretty much unstoppable and the Men have again brought their A game to the Olympics.

[greyhorse]

I know it's extremely culturally insensitive, and I am utterly aware of how horrible this is of me, but I can't stop laughing about this name.

Now that's pretty funny. Good thing she doesn't live in the US, otherwise she would have had some horrible teasing as a child.

Seems like in all of the beach volleyball that I've seen, the women are wearing long sleeve tops, or the weird bikini over long sleeve tops. With all the talk about the "uniforms", I guess I've paid more attention. Seems like if the women do wear the bikini tops, they are more like sports bras. Am I misremembering something? Was there ever a time where they wore actual bikinis like you'd see at the beach? Or is that just on the AVP tour?

Can anyone explain why Kerri Walsh wears a watch on her left arm? Is this a required sponsorship thing? Does she have some place to be? I would think that it could cause some mishits on bumps.

The commentators tonight kept talking about how the "deep sand" promoted a lot of long rallies. Well, I didn't see any really long rallies, but I guess if they say so, it must be true. Why is this? Deep sand means you can't jump out of the ground as high and spike the ball away?

[Direqh]

Yeah, I was wondering that too. I always figured that, if anything, deep sand would make it harder for the players to cover as much of the court and hurt their range, making it easier for a well-placed shot to end a rally quickly.

[pepperclove]

The bikini tops in international volleyball have always been more like sports bras. On the domestic tours in the U.S. and presumably in other countries like Brazil (where the suits are always skimpier, believe it or not), the players wear smaller bikini tops. The long sleeve tops and tights are purely because of the cold. I hope the later rounds will be held during the daytime so that the players won't have to deal with the cold. Having played with frozen feet myself, I felt bad for Jen Kessy during that match when she had to take a medical time-out because her feet were freezing.

As far as Kerri's watch, I personally would never play with a watch, but plenty of people do and don't seem to have a problem with it.

Yes, deep sand means you can't jump as high, so it reduces the effectiveness of power play. It can also slow down defenders, but it has a bigger effect on jumping, for both hitting and blocking. It favors more skilled, trickier players with a wide variety of shots over ones who rely more on size and athleticism (often, that means beach "lifers" gain an advantage over converts from indoor volleyball), although it can also make it hard for smaller players to jump. It does lead to more long rallies because players can't just pound the ball as effectively, and it's particularly hard to put the ball away in transition (meaning after a dig), when the set is less likely to be perfect. Believe it or not, there have been quite a few rallies in the matches that I've seen by international pro standards. These players are huge, particularly on the men's side, and the game has really become a power game over the past five to ten years.