Waterpolo Drills 1h4i2c

OFFENSIVE DRILLS WRAP AROUND DRILL Players are in one line in the middle of the pool 8 meters from the goal. The 2meter man should also be in position along with players at the 1 & 5 positions. Players will the ball 'wet' to the hole set and then drive to either side. As one player is driving towards the goal post on one side, the player already on that side wraps around behind the driver and is ready to receive a from set and shoot. The hole set decides whether to the ball to the driver or to it out to the player on the low wing who has wrapped around. es to the drivers should be timing es right on their hand when driving to their off-side and wet es in front of their strong hand when driving to their strong side. The wrap around is used as an offensive tool as well as a defensive tool to move their defender away from the incoming drive. After you are the driver you become the low wing and then you rotate out and get back in line. This drill can also be done with a trailer/defense following the driver. THREE ON TWO There are 3 lines, one in the middle, and one outside each post. The line on the right starts with the balls. There are two defenders, one on either post. At the sound of the whistle the first player in each line swims towards the goal and they the ball around until one of them gets off a shot. The key is to get the defense to commit to two of the open players and then get the ball to the third one so he can score. The person who shoots or messes up and the two defenders get back in line and the other two offensive players become defense for the next 3 in line.

THE SWIM MOVE This move much resembles the swim move done by defensive linemen in football. This move is used to gain offensive position and "inside water" for a driver or sprinter. First, the offensive driver must decide which side to go, against the defender (right or left). For example, the driver decides to go right. The driver will place his/her right hand on the defenseman's left hip, near the waist area and the small of the back. The driver then pulls him/her-self toward that side of the defender while beginning the freestyle stroke with the left arm, and continuing to swim through and driving toward the goal. This move will set the driver up for a wet shot or a timing shot from the hole-man or a field player.

QUICK RELEASE SHOOTING DRILL Players are in an umbrella shape around the goal at all six positions. Players start by making a good wet into set. The 2-meter man then kicks the ball out to another player who is ready to shoot. If they get a good and can catch and shoot, they should. If it is a bad or they are unable to handle the ball, then they should the ball back into set. If you shoot and make it you stay in. If you shoot and miss you are rotated out to shag balls. You can also add a to another player before every shot or even allow the hole set to shoot. ONE ON NOBODY'S Team is divided in half and separated into opposite corners diagonal to each other. Player swim towards the goal, one from each end at the same time and take shots on goal with no defense except the goalie. When the person in front has reached half tank the next player starts swimming towards the goal also. Faking is very important in taking the goalie out of the game in this drill. You can add defense to make it more difficult or put a time limit such as 15 seconds on each player to swim down and shoot the ball.

FAST BREAK WITH DEFENSE There are 3 lines very close to one another in the middle of the pool at half tank. The line in the middle has the balls. On the first whistle man in the middle drives hard and fast to the goal with the ball. Approx. 2 seconds later the whistle blows again and the first people in each of the side lines become defenders chasing down the man with the ball. As skill level progresses, the time between the whistles should be shorter and shorter. The three lines can also be formed to the right or left of the goal so drives can come from an angle.

DEFENSE DRILLS RELEASE DEFENSE Set up a normal offense in front of the cage. There is one player who will move from position to position guarding the release for the ball and trying not to let the outside player get a from set and then shoot. The ball starts in 2 meters, and the defense start at the 1 position. The player at 1 tries to get a from set and then shoot the ball while being guarded. The defense then moves to the player at 2 and does the same thing. The defensive player must guard all five positions before he is rotated out. PRESSURE ING Players should pair up and form groups of four. Each set of two should be 4-6 meters apart. One player is offense, one is defense. The offensive player tries to the ball to the other pair, while the defensive player puts a lot of pressure on him. The defensive player should play good defense and try not to foul. Once the ball is ed, the other pair does the same. Alternate between defending and ing and concentrate on throwing offensive es to open heights and angles. FRONTING There is one player at every position. The ball starts at the one and there is one defender fronting the hole. The ball is ed from one player to the next slowly. As the ball is moving, the defensive player tries to maintain a front of 2 meters. The 2 meter man is trying to get set. Once the ball gets down to the 5 position, the direction is reversed and the ball heads back towards the 1 position. The defender tries to maintain a front while the ball is moving in the opposite direction. After a player has been a defender he rotates out into the 5 position, and the player at 1 becomes the new defender. The hole set should remain in during one entire cycle to help gain endurance.

ING TWO METER ING Players are 4-6 yards apart arranged in a circle. Players pick up the ball underneath, get up big out of the water and make a good wet to the next player as they would to a 2-meter set. Ball should land in the water appx 1 foot from the receiving player. This player then picks up the ball and does the same thing. Keep shoulders out of the water and get up big when making the . Use several ing drills for only a few minutes each to keep the players' skills sharp and this will help to keep practice moving quickly. Avoid dead time- players lose concentration and it's a waste of everyone's time. BASIC ING- WARM UP Start with players 2-3 yards apart ing the ball with just a flick of the wrist. Alternate back and forth using both hands (: only one hand on the ball at a time!). Gradually players will move farther apart and start using more arm strength in their ing. Try to keep using both hands as long as skill level allows. Make sure that shoulders are above the water at all times. For more experienced players both hands may be kept above the water while ing. Eventually players will be warmed up enough to be 6-8 meters apart and just with their strong hand. A simple warm-up drill, basic ing should be used at the beginning of practice. Players should alternate throwing and catching with both hands, avoiding riding a dominant side. CATCH, SWIM, Players will receive a dry , place the ball back in the water and swim a couple of strokes. After they stop swimming they will pick the ball up underneath, get up big, and make a good dry to the next player. Depending on skill, this can be done with either hand and in any direction. After receiving a , emphasize a quick burst of movement, then pull up and . ing drills are simple and quick. Tell your team to concentrate and execute them correctly. This way you can quickly move through several drills and accomplish more in a limited practice time. FAKE AND While ing with their strong hand players will fake the ball before ing it off. Fakes can range from 2-3 pumps to 5-6 pumps. Encourage players to mix up their fakes between fast, slow, few, many etc. While faking, the ball should remain high in a shooting position behind the player's head and shoulders should be high out of the water.

Players may initially feel silly doing repeated fakes without real pressure. If need be, coaches can assign a defense instructed to loosely defend against the ers. MAN IN THE MIDDLE ING Players form a circle with one man in the middle. The middle player es the ball out and then receives it back from the same player. He then turns to the next player and does the same. Every time the ball is ed to an outside player, they it back into the middle player. The middle player should be alternating both hands and should keep their shoulders out of the water at all times. As soon as one rotation is complete, a new player takes the middle position and the former middleman moves out into the outside circle. A coaches whistle can signal a direction change or the middle player can simply alternate to which receiver he/she throws to. PAIR ING WITH MOVEMENT Players face each 2-3 meters apart. Alternate hands while ing back and forth and moving sideways down the length of the pool. Players can also move forward and backward up and down the pool while ing. Make sure to assign an even number of laps so players work both sides or forward and backwards evenly. This drill can be made more difficult by using weighted balls.

POP-UP AND TAP-DOWN ING Players should be 2-3 yards apart. The first player es the ball very, very high to the second player. Instead of catching the ball, the player lunges up and taps it back down as a wet back to their partner. This is repeated 10 times and then the er becomes the lunger. It is important to the ball as high as possible but within range, so the lunger can reach it. Also, alternate which side the ball is ed to. Players should envision battling a defender for a loose ball and controlling that ball to a teammate PRECISION ING Players start out 2-3 yards apart. Their goal is to the ball 10 times without dropping it while alternating hands. They then move back 3 yards each and again the ball 10 times alternating hands if possible. Once they complete 10 in a row with out dropping it they each move another 3 yards apart. 10 es with strong hand are completed before again moving another 6 yards apart. This distance may be hard to complete without dropping the ball, so after 10 es players move back in closer and repeat the drill, this time while getting closer and closer until they are at their original position 2-3 yards apart.

Introducing competition to this drill can involve most everyone's attention. Any time the ball touches the water, a team of two ers is eliminated from the competition. As the distance between the two ers increases, more and more players will struggle to complete their es. May be more applicable to the younger age groups. OUTSIDE ING AND FAKING Players are lined up 2-3 yards apart in a straight line. The ball is ed between the three players, sometimes all the way across to the far player, sometimes just to the middle player. Middle player must rotate quickly to keep track of the ball and to catch and to the end players. After 1 minute positions should be rotated so everyone gets a turn in the middle. Middle person should be alternating hands if skill level permits. es should be alternated in both their destination and their height ( wet vs. dry) RELEASE ING FOR A SHOT Start with two lines way outside of the posts at half tank. One line has the balls. The player with the ball drives straight down towards the goal and ends up at the 2 meter line. A few moments after the ball line leaves, the player in the shooter line begins swimming toward the goal, ending up anywhere in the width of the goal about 6 meters away. The player with the ball gets up and makes a good to the player in front of the goal, who catches and shoots. Then both players get back in opposite lines. Halfway through the drill, the balls should be moved to the other line to allow cross-face catching and shooting. CATCH AND SHOOT Players split up into two lines, one on each goal post, 6 meters from the goal. The first player does two or three fakes and then es the ball to the player in the front of the other line. This player catches and shoots quickly. After you the ball, you stay in line and receive a that you will catch and shoot. After you shoot you go to the end of the OTHER line. Make sure the goalies are respecting the faking players before moving to block the real shot. Players should look to shoot quickly to upper corners and cross-cage. Shooters should not catch and think. Their shots should be reactive.

CONDITIONING FLAG DRILL The drill begins with all of your players lined up in 3-4 lines (enough to give the players room to swim) at around the middle of the pool. There are three (3) gestures that the players have to respond to. They are the hand direction (point your arm in the direction that your players will swim), and arms up in the air (this signifies the players to do vertical egg-beater kick). The drill starts with the coach blowing the whistle and doing one of the three hand gestures. The players are to respond by doing what is shown by the coach (swim in that direction or eggbeater kick). After some time, or not much time at all, blow another whistle showing another hand gesture (or the same one, to keep your players paying attention to the ref) All swimming should be done as heads-up freestyle, and vertical egg-beater kicks should be done with arms fully out of the water. The more direction changes, the harder the drill becomes. After the time of the drill is over, get your players to reset in their original positions, allow about 15-30 seconds, and begin the drill again. A set of 5 will be more than enough. The goals of this drill is to get the players aware of the referee and his whistle, to make the transition game faster on both offense and defense, as well as a general conditioning drill. "5-MINUTE DRILL" The five-minute drill gets a little tough at times, because it is vertical kicking for 5 straight minutes. Beginning players not acclimated to the eggbeater kick will learn to hate this drill. A pace clock is a good thing to use, if there is a player coach involved with the team. If it is just a deck coach, then a stopwatch, or second hand, works fine. Align your team in about 3 or 4 rows; making sure that the bottom is untouchable for everyone. Vertical kicking for this drill is just that, KICKING. No hands are to be used for this drill. There are two positions that the hands/arms will be in. The first is at water level. Hands out of the water, with the water level at the wrists. The second is full extension of the arms- keeping the whole arm out of the water while kicking. The second position is much more difficult for the player to be in. The drill begins with the player in the first position (hands out of the water), for 5 seconds. Then, the player must hold the second position (arms out of the water) for 5 seconds. Do this for one minute. For the next minute, start at first position for 10 seconds, and then second position for 10 seconds. You may begin to hear a little bit of grunting and straining.

The third minute starts with 15 seconds of first position, and 15 seconds of position. The fourth minute starts with 15 seconds at first position, 30 seconds at second position, and then another 15 seconds at first position. The fifth and final minute is 60 seconds of arms completely out of the water in second position. There are many clichés that will fit this last minute. As a coach, I leave it up to you to come up with your own. NOTE: There is no resting in between each of the minutes of the "5-Minute Drill." These 5 minutes are to be done consecutively, with no break. The hands in the first position should be break enough. “LEAP FROGS” This training drill is one of my many partner drill. The team should pair up, with their partner of somewhat equal size. The two partners line up front to back. The person to the back puts his hands on his partners shoulders and lifts himself up and over the top of his partners head, and dives into the water, thus becoming the person in front. The person in front’s goal is to egg-beater as hard as he can to try and keep his head above water. This drill can be done for a time period or a certain number of laps (coach’s choice). Coach should encourage is players to try and keep their heads above water. You should be very careful with this drill. The emphasis in this drill is the development of a strong egg-beater kick. Good for all players. OVER - UNDER This conditioning drill is swum as 2 lengths of the pool. The first length is swum freestyle (either heads-up or normal, coach’s choice). The second length is swum underwater. There should be no rest in between freestyle and the underwater swim. This drill will increase stamina and lung oxygen capacity (especially when playing the 2-meter position). The goal for the players is to be able to complete the underwater length without taking a breath. This drill could be mixed into the training portion of the workout, or even done at the end of the practice. A set of 5 to 10 is recommended. May be intertwined within a set of 50’s. SPRINTS Perform sprints with various specifications. Sprints are an excellent form of water polo conditioning -Head up -Head down (regular freestlye) -80-100%

-3 strokes on your stomach, three on your back… -Stop and go(start, swim 4 strokes, stop, reset and start again) -Sprint halfway, do 3 lunges, sprint the rest of the way Use various combinations of these sprinting techniques to keep the conditioning interesting. These drills are often used to finish practice and should be adjusted for age and strength levels. DARWINS This drill, "Darwins", are a conditioning drill. The name of the drill comes from the the scientist of ol', Charles Darwin who is famous for his "Survival of the Fittest." It involves no equipment, other than the players, and a pool. Here's how it works. Take your entire team and line them up no the two meter line with all players positioned between the goal posts and facing the opposite end of the pool. On the whistle, it's a sprint to the other end. What makes it survival of the fittest? As we all know, there is a lot of grabbing pulling and overall grappling that goes into the game of water polo, and many of the times, it's underwater. Many water polo players are not prepared for the physical aspects of the game as far as this is concerned. With "Darwins" you, the coach, allow grappling, dragging, pulling, and whatever for the players. By doing so, you are separating straight out swimming for water polo swimming. The players do whatever they can, which includes pulling, grabbing, and grappling to be sure that they are the first to get to the other end of the pool. If the players are not getting the idea of the drill, the coach can order the players to grab a limb (any limb) of another player before the sprint starts. The first two or three swimmers to the other side are rewarded for being taken out of the drill, but that is at the coach's discretion. This drill promotes toughness in the player. Not every penalty is going to get called, so it familiarizes the players with the type of physical activity that is involved in the game. It also helps the players realize these certain grapples and they learn how to break free of them. In all of my years coaching, I have always done this drill and I have yet to have a player injured. Furthermore, all of the players seem to like it. (who doesn't like horsing around?) It also helps the coach evalutate who his toughest players are. Not necessarily the "muggers" but how the "tough players" handle the muggers and are able to escape the grapples. It is also the coach's responsibility to recognize that this drill doesn't get out of hand. This drill should always be done under the coach's supervision.