It is quite common to play beach volleyball close to the water. That’s why, it is important to make sure your ball won’t be damaged or anything like that if it falls in there.
But, are beach volleyballs waterproof? Yes, most beach volleyballs are waterproof, at least to some extent. Unlike the indoor volleyballs the outdoor ones are made in a way that makes them more resilient to all sorts of potential sources of damage like water.
This article explains in details what really make volleyballs resilient to all sorts of potentially external damaging factors like salt water.
Are beach volleyballs 100% waterproof?
Keep in mind that volleyball panels are not glued together but they are stitched together. The stitches have an advantage over the glue. The glue would over time weaken, eventually falling off and exposing the inner core of the volleyball, unlike the stitches that have the role of keeping the ball together.
The stitches however hold the panels in place, they are thick and there is no possibility of them weakening from outdoor exposure over time like the glue would. However, they can be weathered down over time.
The materials the ball is made out of play a significant role here too, but we will dive into that a later…
It is worth noting that beach volleyballs that are made from natural leather are not 100% waterproof. They can absorb water, while synthetic leather and synthetic material is best for a beach volleyball, but are also not 100% waterproof.
So all in all, beach volleyballs are generally waterproof. They are made for the outdoors for a sport which is played on a sandy beach court, usually near a large body of water. They need to be water resilient.
Waterproof beach volleyball (recommendation)
It is important to choose the right beach volleyball that can offer these resilient capabilities I’ve just talked about …
Indeed, this soft play volleyball (Check it Here at Amazon) is a great example, it comes in a variety of different colors …
The ball is made from composite materials which allow it to feel smooth while playing. It is an adult size ball, meaning that it is a size 5, 260 to 280 grams of weight, with a circumference of about 66 to 68 centimeters.
It has the official size and weight of a professional volleyball and it is adapted for ages of thirteen and above. The super soft synthetic leather which it is made from makes it soft and comfortable upon contact.
Used materials to make a ball waterproof.
Volleyballs consist generally out of three main components: An inner core, glue or stitches, and composite materials, synthetic leather or real, natural leather.
An indoor volleyball consists out of the inner core, which is plain rubber, glue, and leather panels, synthetic or natural, that are glued together and to the inner core in order to give the volleyball its final look.
A beach volleyball however is made out of the same materials, a rubber inner core, panels that are made out of synthetic or real leather that are stitched together tightly, making the volleyball waterproof.
So the materials that are used for beach volleyballs are as follows. A rubber core that is inflatable with air. 18 or 8 synthetic or natural leather panels that are usually machine-stitched together, encasing the rubber core.
I have mentioned earlier that beach volleyballs made from natural leather are prone to absorbing water, while those that are made from synthetic leather are water resilient to some extent.
It is best to keep natural leather volleyballs away from water and use it on the grass or indoors. The conclusion, synthetic leather has an advantage over natural leather in beach volleyball.
BTW, I think you should learn how you can use a beach volleyball indoors, in case you are also interested in indoor volleyball …
Can you play beach volleyball in the rain?
Yes you absolutely can play volleyball in the rain. Even some Professional volleyball games are played in the rain, and there is nothing unusual about that. There are however some things that make playing in the rain more difficult.
In the first place there is the court. The sand becomes more composite, it sticks together and becomes heavier and harder to move on.
In the second place there is the rain itself. All is wet, you, the ball, the sand, everything. If the rain is cold it could be even harder to play in it. Playing in the rain can get you sick afterwards if you do not wear long sleeves or at least some leggings.
Regarding the ball, rain does impact the ball as well. The ball gets slippery and harder to control. The slipperiness of the ball can cause it to sometimes fly of the designated path.
Here come the materials that we have talked about. Natural leather will absorb the rain faster than the synthetic leather would. Absorbing water can make the ball heavier and harder to play with.
A heavier ball flies more sluggish and is harder to control. Synthetic leather is best for a rainy outdoor setting like this one, which does not mean that it will not absorb any water.
This Mikasa model (Check it Here at Amazon) has proven to be the most effective ball for playing beach volleyball in the sand.
What happens if a volleyball gets wet? Any Impact on the game?
When a volleyball gets wet it absorbs water to some extent. The amount that is absorbed depends specifically on the material the ball is made of.
Natural leather volleyball absorbs more water than a synthetic leather volleyball. When the water is absorbed the volleyball becomes heavier and it becomes harder to play with it.
Nearly all moves become harder to perform when the ball is wet. First of all the ball flies more sluggish when it is wet, second it gets heavier.
A heavier ball impacts how a player will perform the serve, how the player will block, pass, receive the ball!
Basically all possible movements are impacted by a wet ball. The ball becomes harder to control and is heavier, as mentioned earlier.
This however does not mean that you cannot get something good out of a wet ball, or a rainy day. In this type of setting you could easily try to practice your ball control.
You can practice all your moves with a wet ball, and in a rainy setting, eventually getting used to it and making it possible for you to have the advantage during a rainy game of beach volleyball.
To sum it up, a wet ball can be a problem for inexperienced players, even a big hurlde. So a wet ball impacts your performance if you do not know how to deal with it, but with practice you should be able to learn how to control it and get the good out of a bad situation.
Do volleyballs absorb water?
Yes, volleyballs absorb water. Indoor volleyballs are made for a dry environment and will absorb water more quickly if they get in contact with water.
Beach volleyballs on the other hand are made more water resilient, but they do absorb water to some extent.
A beach volleyball is as we have already seen made out of panels that are stitched together and attached to the inner rubber core. The stitching is there to replace the glue that is present in indoor volleyballs.
The stitching makes the ball more resilient to water, but it still absorbs certain amounts of water, more or less, depending on the material it is made of. The material that a beach volleyball can be made out of is natural leather, that absorbs more water, and synthetic leather, that absorbs less water.
An easy way to know that volleyball absord water is when it becomes heavier due to water. For that, you can learn about how much does a beach volleyball ball weight …
How do you dry a wet volleyball?
We all know that water evaporates naturally, by itself. A wet volleyball can be hard to dry out, because the water is in its inner layers, between the panels and the rubber core.
So how do you dry a volleyball effectively? There are a few ways you could do it, but nearly all of them take time, since the water needs to get out of the ball. The water could only evaporate through the spots where it entered, the stitches.
Methods to dry out a ball are applicable to both indoor and outdoor volleyballs.
The first method of drying your ball is to put it on a spot which receives the most sunlight during the day, but do not expose the ball to direct sunlight …
The suns heat should be enough to dry out the ball. Note that the drying might take one afternoon, a day or two, all depending on the amount of water that penetrated the ball.
The second method is air drying it. Just as you would air dry a pair of arm sleeves or a pair on knee pads, you would also dry the ball…
Leave it wherever it can get enough air circulation to dry out the water out of the ball. Still this will be a slower process than the sun drying.
Final Thoughts …
If you are planning on playing beach volleyball quite regularly, even for recreational purposes, then I highly recommend you take into consideration some of the info I’ve presented above so you can pick a ball that won’t impact your game once it touches water …
Otherwise, believe me, you won’t like the feel of the ball and this might even lead to some kind of soreness after each practice, since none waterproof balls might become significantly heavier once it falls into water.
I highly encourage you to learn more about the used equipment for beach volleyball! I believe you will find that very interesting …