Water Polo Drills

By: Evelyn De Matias

Break Studios Contributing Writer

Water polo drills are some of the toughest drills to do, but still remains as the most rewarding drills to accomplish. Since water polo drill requires more energy and skills to learn, it poses a great challenge for water polo players to maintain the energy requirement for the drill. Here are some of tips to keep you in shape while undertaking the water polo drills.

  1. Observe proper breathing. You can practice to improve your breathing not only during the actual drill session, but also when doing chores to condition your lung capacity. If you get better breathing conditioning, you will not likely pant while doing the drills.
  2. Regular swimming drills. You will need to undertake regular swim laps during the drill to improve your cardiovascular endurance. It is fun to do this with a swimming buddy and to infuse some competitive swimming drill. You can learn various swim styles to improve muscle strength in the arms and legs. By shifting from one swim style to another, a water polo player learns to become flexible. This is important in giving them the edge on using different strokes that improves their agility and flexibility in handling the ball. It also makes it difficult for the opponent to predict one’s style if they can perform different movements during the play.
  3. Practice different ball handling techniques. This water polo drill improves one’s agility in throwing and passing movement while also helping strengthen the fingers and the wrist. Use smooth ball during this drill. It is recommended to use the same ball during the practice and the actual game to develop a feel for it. 
Posted on: Feb. 20, 2011