Water Polo Conditioning Drills For College

There are a variety of water polo conditioning drills for college teams you can use to help your players gain the competitive edge. These five drills will get you ready for the water and working better together as a team. Utilize all or some of the drills to fit the areas your players need the most work.

1. Shoulder Wrestle Pair off the players and place the pairs randomly in the deep end of the pool. Have players place face each other and place their hands on each other's shoulders with arms straight. When the partners shout "ready" to each other, they both work to submerge each other. Once one partner is dunked, the match is over. Use a best two out of three approach. Consider pairing off winners as an elimination contest to make it fun. 
2. Follow the Ball Stand on the deck with a ball and all players in the water facing you. They need to be spread throughout the pool. The players must follow the ball by using swimming movements. Keep moving the ball at random, including reaching it up high to indicate a block. 
3. Piggy Back Let players pair off and randomly place themselves around the pool. Each pair needs to choose one player as the support partner. The support partner "piggy backs" the other player for one to five minutes. If you need to vary this drill, the support partner can place their hands on the other player's hips and keep continuous pressure on.
4. Cross Tank In Players need to be divided into three groups. Groups one and three need to be on one side of the pool and group two on the other. Group one enters the water and goes into a strong scissor or frog kick. They need to continue this across the pool exiting with a vertical push. Group two crosses the pool using the same moves. Group three crosses the pool using the same moves. 
5. Egg Beater All players line up at one end of the pool. Have players place their hands on their head and cross the pool using an egg beater movements. This is done as an alternating frog kick. Run this drill going forward, backward and sideways.

Use these work water polo conditioning drills into your practice and routine to build endurance. Remember to transition players and drills randomly for each practice to continue building your players' reaction times.