We're a group of newbies who have just started playing beach volleyball in a league. We play on the regulation beach court but have 4 on a side. Any tips on what the best formation should be when serving and receiving?
Serve deep corners. Usually in 4s, the wings (left and right) will play up to get short serves. If they pull back, serve shorter. In sand, deep serves/hits are much harder to play than short serves/hits.
Line up 3 players evenly about 1/2-way between the net and the end line (maybe a little closer to the end line) It's easier to move forward than backward in the sand. This is called "lanes" where each player is responsible for all the serves in front or behind them. (don't use this method in defense tho--it's a totally different animal.)
Your 4th player (setter) will stay at the net to take the second ball.