Listed below are some helpful instructions on various aspects of water polo.
Feel free to study them and if you have questions, your club team coach will be very happy to discuss.
Game Aspects Covered:
Holeman (Centre-Forward)
Your job isn't always to score the goal. You should also:
* Assist the team by earning the ejections
* Make a good controlled pass out to your hard working
drivers
Use the clock, 30 secs is a long time ya know!
The fitter you are, the better chance you will have of staying on top of
the water and you will enjoy the game a lot more.
You can never have strong enough legs!!!
Playing the "hole" is arguably the toughest position to play in the pool.
No-one can play it perfectly. Do not get disheartened if things don't go
your way. As with a lot of things in life the better you will become comes
with experience. It takes time to be good at what you want to do. If
you find you're getting called for holding or pushing off, learn from each
incident and try it slightly differently next time.
Goalie Fitness Training
- Do eggbeater straight forward across the pool, and jump up at set intervals.
- While doing eggbeater, turn 90 degrees at regular distances. These should be carried out vigorously.
- Lunge left and right across the pool while eggbeating.
- With a partner, throw the ball with two hands above your head, do not catch it, but tap it down onto the water.
- Do eggbeater under a one metre diving board, without getting your hands wet, jump up and touch the board with both hands. Repeat about ten times. Rest, then repeat three times.
- Stand about 4 metres from the rebound wall, facing it. From behind, have someone throw a ball onto the wall so that you can "save" it as it bounces back - head height is good.
- Place a box (about 30cm high by 20cm wide) on the floor and jump over it about 10 times. Rest, then repeat three times. This will give you power to jump out of the water
- Swim 50m butterfly, jump out of the pool and do some birpies (do one press up, them a jump). The number you do will depend on your fitness. As you get fitter, you will be able to do more. If you cannot swim 50m butterfly, do 25m breastroke and 25m butterfly until you build up your fitness.
Passing
There are two basic passes in waterpolo:
the "dry" pass and the "wet" pass
When passing to a field position player, a dry pass (meaning the ball
doesn't touch the water) is thrown a few inches above the head of the
catching player and to the left or right side depending on the receiver's
dominant hand. The dry pass allows for optimal speed when passing from
player to player, who do not have to pick the ball up out of the water to
throw. A fluid motion between catching and throwing is the aim. An expert
thrower's hand creates a slight back spin, making the ball easier to
catch.
The wet pass is a deliberate pass into the water. This is usually done when
making a pass into the hole set. To make a successful wet pass, the ball
lands just out of reach of the offensive player and defensive team. The
hole set can then lunge towards the ball and out of the water to make a
shot or pass. This is a very effective offensive strategy if a team has a
strong hole set.
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