Beach volleyball is a big sport in Wilmington North Carolina. With two major outdoor facilities and the local beaches, there is no shortage of places to play. The best competition in the area can be found at Dig n Dive sports bar and Captain Bill’s outdoor volleyball facility. Adam Hyatt has played in numerous leagues and tournaments at both venues and is one of the area’s best players. I recently got the chance to talk with Adam about the local volleyball scene as well as his thoughts on the game in general.
Adam has been playing volleyball since 2003. He also played club volleyball while attending UNCW. He says he started to get a little more serious into doubles beach volleyball around 2008. I asked him what he thinks about beach volleyball versus playing in a gym. Adam said, “It’s really comparing apples to oranges, It’s two different sports. You have to be able to move faster in the sand than the next guy.” At 6’1 Adam has the height you need as well as the foot speed and quickness to be a good beach player. This is evident by the current 16-0 record Adam’s team currently has in a league at Captain Bill’s. His team also recently made it to the semi-finals of an EVP tournament in Hilton Head South Carolina. Katie Marquez plays in leagues at Dig n Dive and Captain Bill’s and said, “Adam is one of the area’s best players. He has a unique style and is a great teammate.”
I asked Adam to give me some insight on what he thought his strengths were in his game. He said, “I feel I’m pretty good at chasing down the cut shots. A lot of the big guys have trouble controlling the ball when they are hitting as hard as they can. I’ve been working on controlling the hard hit balls.” Adam plays some four man as well as doubles and when asked what he thought makes a good teammate he said, “It’s all about ball control.” Adam described playing with his current teammate and how important ball control and placement are to their success.
He has seen a lot of different players and styles and I asked him about some of the harder shots he has seen. He described the “sky ball” serve. This is a serve that is hit as high in the air as possible with spin. The ball gains a tremendous amount of speed as it comes down and it difficult to hit. Adam puts it this way, “The higher it’s hit the harder it is to receive it. It looks like its coming straight down but the spin makes it move in front of you towards the net.” Another favorite shot of Adam’s is the float serve. This is done by hitting the ball with no spin and it causes the ball to move almost like a knuckle ball in baseball. “When you hit the ball it kind of moves with the wind and those can be even harder to hit than a lot of jump serves,” said Adam.
Adam’s next tournament is the Volley America regional tournament coming up October the tenth in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. When asked what he thought his chances would be he said, “It’s a really big tournament with a lot of good players. It should be fun. We will see what happens.” If you want to see Adam in action, he plays in a league at Captain Bill’s and practices with pick up games at Dig n Dive.
Volley America Event in Myrtle Beach
*All photos owned and taken by Jeffrey Boulden