Norway's OS gold coach compares David Åhman's and Jonatan Hellvig's playing style with Jan Boklöv's V-style.
Sweden's national team captain goes further than that.
The level of difficulty is much, much higher than what Boklöv did, says Rasmus Jonsson.
David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig have dominated on the World Tour this season and are ranked as world number seven ahead of the OS beach volleyball at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The 22-year-old championship debutants have since their early teens been drilled in a special playing style under national team captain Rasmus Jonsson's and coach Anders Kristiansson's leadership. On the internet and social media, it is marketed as the "Swedish jump set".
The Swedes have an unpredictable tactic when receiving their opponents' serve. They often try to place their reception near the net to enable a spike already on the second ball, which goes against the traditional playing style with reception, setup, and spike.
We've been running this for seven years, and it's still no team that has managed to copy us and be as good, says Rasmus Jonsson.
Ahead of the OS, Kåre Mol, coach of the reigning Norwegian champion pair Anders Mol and Christian Sørum, has compared the playing style with Jan Boklöv, who revolutionized ski jumping with the V-style in the mid-1980s.
It's a bit Boklöv-like. They have refined a style. I don't think it will decrease in the future, he has said to NTB.
The Swedes smile when they hear about the comparison.
"Never tested what Boklöv did"
It feels really cool, of course. Then I don't know if it's as drastic a change as Boklöv. When you say that, it really shows that we've come up with something new. We'll probably get beach volleyball to change, says Hellvig.
I've never tested what Boklöv did, so I don't know. It was probably that after Boklöv, everyone switched to the V-style directly. It's not directly like that in beach volleyball, says Åhman.
"Hasn't thought of copying"
Rasmus Jonsson thinks that the similarity between his protégés and Boklöv is that both revolutionized their sport. He means, however, that Boklöv had a season where he was leading before other ski jumpers took after the V-style. Åhman/Hellvig are still the only ones in the world elite who use their style.
The level of difficulty of the "Swedish jump set" is much, much higher than what Boklöv did. There are many who want to imitate us, but can't do it, says he.
Kåre Mol agrees.
We haven't thought of copying any of the tactics. We need a counter-tactic. They've been training on this since they were 13 years old. Changing our tactic is absolutely current.
Group play (pool A)
Saturday, July 27: David Åhman/Jonatan Hellvig–Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher, Australia (15.00).
Monday, July 29: Åhman/Hellvig–Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan, Qatar (20.00).
Thursday, August 1: Åhman/Hellvig–Samuele Cottafava/Paolo Nicolai, Italy (17.00).
The two best teams in the six groups (pool A–F) advance to the round of 16, along with the two best group thirds. The remaining four group thirds qualify for the last two round of 16 spots. All matches are played at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Round of 16, August 4–5
Quarterfinals, August 6–7
Semifinals, Thursday, August 8
Final and bronze match, Saturday, August 10
