Day 25 — Super spike sanctuary of sand, sun, sweat, and socials
Blogtober — Day 25, “Born to be alive…”
Today’s writing came to me on the way to beach volleyball yesterday afternoon.
Sun, sand, sweat, social, and super spike beach volleyball.
Swirling winds. Sweltering conditions. Super frothy teammates and opponents. Situated in tropical paradise, a with fabled tourist spot and the Great Barrier Reef only 27km from shore… visible by the naked eye from the elevated walking track “The Red and Yellow Arrow.”
For me, it’s a sanctuary.
A place I come to play, push myself, practice, and perform on the sandy courts of the beach volleyball dojo. It struck me once after I’d finished two hours of beach volleyball that I hadn’t thought about life for that period of time. Suddenly all the tasks, roles, responsibilities, obstacles and goals in my life came flooding back into my brain.
I’d been so focused on the games that no other thoughts could make their way into my consciousness. It was sweet relief.
Michael Jordan said, in one of his VHS documentaries something to the effect of, Basketball is my sanctuary. It’s where I go to meditate. Where I forget about the world and all there is is this game, the opponent, and my outcomes.
I love that so much as we all need ways to switch off. Unfortunately things like Netflix, YouTube as very passive ways of filling the cup of consciousness. One of the things I learned in fourth year Honours subjects was from Organisational Psychology with Carolyn Timms. It was about burnout.
THE best way to disengage from work stressors, is to actively engage in something else… FULLY!
Whether it be gardening, gaming, gambling (yikes!!), gratituding, greeting… this G alliteration is getting out of control!!
It’s the losing oneself in the moment, that selflessness and timelessness which I’ve written about previously.
And timelessness, it’s so easy for 2–3 hours to pass by down at the courts as I’m in the moment and as long as my cardio is holding up I don’t think about quitting any time soon. The challenge is rewarding in and of itself. Win or lose.
Breaking down each component of my sweaty, sunny, sand pit sanctuary for a bit:
1) Sweat — this is one of the keys to happiness… getting your sweat on. Regulating mood, activating the brain, firing up the muscles and flexing your heart and tendons. Regularly doing this has been a game changer for me in my life… and that includes a more passive approach like sauna. A great mimic to exercise, but without the other elements which make beach volleyball so enticing and satisfying for me.
2) Sun — getting out in the sun for Vitamin D is so crucial especially with COVID being an issue world wide. Bright sunlight helps our brains to entrain our circadian rhythm to the sun… so when the sun goes down, melatonin kicks in, we get sleepy, and have an epic night’s sleep to be ready for tomorrow. Of course we’ve gotta watch out for IV rays and skin damage, so sunscreen, good sunglasses and hats are all part and parcel of the game.
3) Sand — the softness of the sand allows for us to go hard at balls and dive as fast and as far as we can… unlike indoor volleyball which hurts like hell when you do that!! I used to, and people would marvel at it… sometimes you gotta put your body on the line for the team. Thankfully sand courts make it that much easier to do so. Further, the sand creates a dynamic uncertainty to the court as you might find yourself stepping in a hole you made the last time you dove and left a divot. Court maintenance with their personal “foot sweeper” is crucial and pros do it often.
4) Socials — ah, this is where it gets fun, challenging, and the growth occurs. It’s hard enough to volley and ball 100 times to yourself, by yourself, or throw a ball up to yourself and spike it over the net without anyone else being there. Now, you add in the complexity of two opponents, and one team mate?! Crikey!! Just like Super Spike Beach Volleyball on Nintendo… Each player has unique abilities, skills, and characteristics. Some jump super high, some have epic serves, some dive and get everything… Some lose their cool while some are stone cold killers.
For us and our Cairns Very Far North Queensland crew, it’s socially competitive. We respect each other. Support each other. As we all play with each other using a round robin formula. Four players. We play three games where each player plays with each player. If one person wins all three games, they are the king of that round. I happened to play so well yesterday that I won king for the first time in a while.
Although the last time I had a permanent partner was over a year ago…
Kyohei the Japanese wrecking machine.
A top spiker, passer, setting, and blocker, he had it all. A Qld State beach tournament was approaching and I was looking for a partner. We attended the same workshop with Australian BV coaches and decided to team up. We had set plays, option calls, and he was the main attacker and blocker, and I was the defender and setter. We won many games and even beat a duo of two of Cairns’ best beach volleyballers in a hard fought epic 21–19 victory.
I’ve missed that camradere from Kyohei, but will always cherish our year of playing together before he had to return to Japan. Known for his “lung biscuits” before and between games, and always having a banana and Carman’s muesli bar for snacking. Still to this day I also have found myself using the Kyohei power up.
This blog could turn into a Team Up article.. but I’ll save it for now.
The crux of this article is the sanctuary I find, the sweet relief I have found on the sand filled, sun soaked, swirling wind laced courts of beach volleyball.
The socials, the solid sweat, and the glorious super spikes one can master. Something I’m still working on.. and lately, with some practice with Coops, a fellow player always seeking to improve, have made some headway to embodying that Super Spike Volleyball character I used to win with on the Nintendo.
