Okay, so the other day I was watching some beach volleyball with my buddy, and we got into this debate about how long the games actually are. I mean, it’s not like football with a set clock, right? So, I decided to do some digging and figure it out for myself. Here’s what went down:
First, Get the Basic Rules
First things first, I needed to refresh my memory on the basic rules. Most matches are best-of-three sets. Okay, easy enough.
- The first two sets go to 21 points.
- If they split the first two sets, then it is a tie-breaker, that goes to 15 points.
- All the sets, have to win by two points.
Then, My Experiment Started
I grabbed my phone and started timing a few games I found online. I picked a mix of men’s and women’s matches, just to see if there was any difference. And, you know, to be thorough and stuff.
The Actual Timing Process
I used the stopwatch app on my phone – nothing fancy. Every time a point was scored, every timeout, every little break in the action, I would stop and note the time. It got a little tedious, but I was determined to get to the bottom of this!
Analyzing My Collected Data
After watching and timing a bunch of games. Here’s a breakdown of what I observed:
- Most of the sets: they took about 20-25 minutes each.
- Close sets: the sets that went to extra points, those dragged on a bit longer, sometimes closer to 30 minutes.
- The third set: Those tie-breaker sets, since they only go to 15, they were usually quicker, around 15-20 minutes.
So I have my answer! A typical best-of-three beach volleyball match usually takes anywhere from 45 minutes to a little over an hour. Of course, if you get a really close match with lots of extra points, it could stretch out longer. It really depends.
