b) The Screen
Depending on the type of defensive play your opponents will decide on, the screen can be an effective tool to have in your arsenal. It can be used, either as the main aid to get shots on goal, or even as a diversion to attract the attention of defending players. Your attack is set up in the traditional way and the ball is passed around. If you cannot pass the ball to the centre and there are no clear shots on goal, then the ball is passed to the central attacker on the outside. When they receive the ball they rise out of the water to fake a shot, pass the ball to the right and swim across to their left to block out the defender.
It cannot be stressed enough how important the passing and staying high in the water is during these plays. The attacking player on the right needs to know the position of every team mate and here precise passing is crucial.
Another type of attacking screen is done on the left side of the post and this time involves attackers on the left side. This time it is player on the far left who swims towards the person defending the team mate to his right and blocks them off using their back. The attacking player to the left of the central player swims to his left and at the same time that the far left player lunges forward towards the goal. Here, if done correctly, both attackers should be in front of goal with only one defender in between them. The ball has to move quickly from right to centre who can then pass it to the free player. The good thing about this type of move is that if the defender tries to touch your hand from behind it is a penalty so they are useless to help out.
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Offensive Plays
There are a number of offensive plays which will be used during any game but the most common are:-
a) The counter attack
b) Screen (sometimes referred to as the player check)
c) Man Up situations
d) The Centre Forward and Double Centre
a) The counter attack
For the counter attack to be effective, you have to start with a solid defense which in turn can be turned into attack as quickly as possible. Let us take as an example, that we are defending in an M Zone defense as explained in previous blogs. For the counter attack to be effective, you need to be alert at all times and know the right moment to start attacking. If you leave too soon you might give your opponents that extra second to score and if you leave too late, then the counter attack will not be effective as the opposing team will already be retreating too.
Once on the “break”, the defender who was on the outer right hand side opens up after a few short fast strokes to get the ball from the goalie. In the mean time, the other front four start swimming fast towards the opposing goal. Just after the half way line, the second player on the right breaks away to their right to receive the ball. By this time, the middle player would have swam up to the two meter line, while the outer two have reached the five meter line and so now, it all boils down to 2 picking the right pass to the “free” player and scoring.
These types of plays are practiced all the time during a training session. You can start with 3 on 2 then 4 on 3, 5 on 4 and finally 6 on 5, all the time using a chaser coming up from behind. A chaser is the defending player furthest back who tries to catch up with the group to close down a counter attack.
If you would like to learn more about How To Play Water Polo , just click on the link and it will take you directly to a treasure chest of information.
a) The counter attack
b) Screen (sometimes referred to as the player check)
c) Man Up situations
d) The Centre Forward and Double Centre
a) The counter attack
For the counter attack to be effective, you have to start with a solid defense which in turn can be turned into attack as quickly as possible. Let us take as an example, that we are defending in an M Zone defense as explained in previous blogs. For the counter attack to be effective, you need to be alert at all times and know the right moment to start attacking. If you leave too soon you might give your opponents that extra second to score and if you leave too late, then the counter attack will not be effective as the opposing team will already be retreating too.
Once on the “break”, the defender who was on the outer right hand side opens up after a few short fast strokes to get the ball from the goalie. In the mean time, the other front four start swimming fast towards the opposing goal. Just after the half way line, the second player on the right breaks away to their right to receive the ball. By this time, the middle player would have swam up to the two meter line, while the outer two have reached the five meter line and so now, it all boils down to 2 picking the right pass to the “free” player and scoring.
These types of plays are practiced all the time during a training session. You can start with 3 on 2 then 4 on 3, 5 on 4 and finally 6 on 5, all the time using a chaser coming up from behind. A chaser is the defending player furthest back who tries to catch up with the group to close down a counter attack.
If you would like to learn more about How To Play Water Polo , just click on the link and it will take you directly to a treasure chest of information.
Monday, 30 November 2009
Water Polo Positions - Part 4
The first system to be explained is the Triangular System whereby, when the ball is on the right, the three defenders closest to the ball form a triangle while the two furthest away from the ball cover the player closest to the post whilst trying to intercept any high passes. If the ball is passed to an outside attacking player, then the triangle moves to the other side and the same is repeated.
Attack the ball
A more difficult variation of the man down defence is when every defending player attacks the ball in a piston movement, meaning jumping in and out so every opposing player is put under pressure.
Assuming that an outside attacking player has the ball, the closest defender attacks them while the other defenders close the goal area by blocking. It is imperative that the defending players all have their arms up and block a particular area of the post. Once the ball is passed then the next player attacks the ball and so on.
The 4 on 1
One other variation of the man down is the 4 on 1 play where the defending team lines up with the normal triangular defence. The difference is that when the ball is in flight on its way to attacker, the back line presses their respective attackers while the defender moves in between the outside attackers. The advantage you can get here is that the person on the left outside part of the pitch is usually a right handed shooter so when the ball is held by the player out the left flank, should they pass to the outside player again, they will have to bring the ball back across their body to be in a position to shoot or pass and thus you can try to take the ball off them. On the other hand, if the pass goes to the player on the outside right, the defender can try to intercept the ball. The player who usually is defending the outside two players is a fast player so if a shot is taken, they can get an advantage by counter attacking very quickly.
Attack the ball
A more difficult variation of the man down defence is when every defending player attacks the ball in a piston movement, meaning jumping in and out so every opposing player is put under pressure.
Assuming that an outside attacking player has the ball, the closest defender attacks them while the other defenders close the goal area by blocking. It is imperative that the defending players all have their arms up and block a particular area of the post. Once the ball is passed then the next player attacks the ball and so on.
The 4 on 1
One other variation of the man down is the 4 on 1 play where the defending team lines up with the normal triangular defence. The difference is that when the ball is in flight on its way to attacker, the back line presses their respective attackers while the defender moves in between the outside attackers. The advantage you can get here is that the person on the left outside part of the pitch is usually a right handed shooter so when the ball is held by the player out the left flank, should they pass to the outside player again, they will have to bring the ball back across their body to be in a position to shoot or pass and thus you can try to take the ball off them. On the other hand, if the pass goes to the player on the outside right, the defender can try to intercept the ball. The player who usually is defending the outside two players is a fast player so if a shot is taken, they can get an advantage by counter attacking very quickly.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
Water Polo Positions - Part 3
The third feature on different types of defensive plays is when playing a "Man Down".
Being a man down or as sometimes referred to as a power play, is inevitable during a game. It is something that needs to be practiced and constantly perfected because as statistics show, the teams with the better man up conversion rates usually win the match. This means that if you manage to keep the conversion rate down, you will have a good chance of winning the game.
For the sake of practicality, we shall be concentrating on man down situations which only involve the exclusion of one person, even though it can be that two players are sent out at the same time. During a man down situation, you will have to defend for 20 seconds with a man less and there are a number of different plays you can use.
These vary from the Triangular Defense, Attacking the ball and the 4 on 1 play. The various options will be discussed in a later article and in more detail.
For now, all you need to know is the basic position for each defending player and that is that every defending player must be able to cover two players at a time. It might sound difficult but there is a technique to be able to perform this correctly and efficiently which will be explained later.
Being a man down or as sometimes referred to as a power play, is inevitable during a game. It is something that needs to be practiced and constantly perfected because as statistics show, the teams with the better man up conversion rates usually win the match. This means that if you manage to keep the conversion rate down, you will have a good chance of winning the game.
For the sake of practicality, we shall be concentrating on man down situations which only involve the exclusion of one person, even though it can be that two players are sent out at the same time. During a man down situation, you will have to defend for 20 seconds with a man less and there are a number of different plays you can use.
These vary from the Triangular Defense, Attacking the ball and the 4 on 1 play. The various options will be discussed in a later article and in more detail.
For now, all you need to know is the basic position for each defending player and that is that every defending player must be able to cover two players at a time. It might sound difficult but there is a technique to be able to perform this correctly and efficiently which will be explained later.
Water Polo Positions - Part 2
In part one we discussed the zone defence and how it can be an effective type of play to use during a game.
The next variation we shall discuss is the PRESS.
The press is the simplest form of water polo defending but if it is not done correctly; it can be the cause of exclusions and goals. The press, as the name implies, means that you are as close to the opposing player as possible so they cannot get the ball. If they do, you are close enough to be able to hassle them and prevent them from shooting or passing as they will be put under pressure.
The next variation we shall discuss is the PRESS.
The press is the simplest form of water polo defending but if it is not done correctly; it can be the cause of exclusions and goals. The press, as the name implies, means that you are as close to the opposing player as possible so they cannot get the ball. If they do, you are close enough to be able to hassle them and prevent them from shooting or passing as they will be put under pressure.
The press can be either a full pitch or half pitch press. With a full pitch press, you mark an opponent wherever they may be in the pool. This type of tactic is generally used towards the end of the game when you need to get the ball back as soon as possible and do not want to give your opponents any space to waste time with the ball. With the half pitch press, it means that once the opposing player crosses the half way line, the press takes effect. This is normally used when you are playing slower teams who have a tendency not to venture too high up the pitch because they would be worried about your counter attack. By retreating back into your half of the pitch, you can help out the central defender while waiting for the opposing players to swim down.
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Water Polo Positions - Part 1
Once you have mastered the basics of the game, you need to have a good understanding of the concepts and different positions used.
These can be divided into two sections, mainly, Defensive and Offensive plays. For now we shall concentrate on Defensive tactics as these too are split into sub-sections namely:-
- Zone Defense
- Press
- Man Down
- 5 on 6 Defense
When playing a zone, every player has a specific area of your end of the pitch to cover. If any opposing player ventures into your circle of responsibility, then "that" is the player you should be marking.
Zone marking can be a very effective method of defense if done correctly and if every player understands their area of responsibility. In simple terms, every defending player should remain in their "area" and never swim out or follow an opposing player. Teams usually use the zone defense, either when they have a good goalie and try to force the opposing team to shoot, the opposing team could have a dangerous centre forward or else to gain an advantage through a counter attack deploying fast swimmers.
Saturday, 13 June 2009
Water Polo - The fun part
What are some pros and cons to water polo?
Pro's
Con's
Pro's
- You save water by showering at the pool.
- You are automatically disinfected with all the chlorine found in the water
- You can blame the scratches on your body to the game
- Your tan line will be smaller than every one else's
- You can show off when going swimming with friends who are not comfortable in the water
- You body is so toned you are the envy of your friends
- You find it easier to make friends especially after seeing them naked in the showers
- Your arms become so powerful that your bowling shots start getting harder and love the sound the pins make when they are being destroyed
- Your eyes are used to seeing perfectly under water
- You can eat as much food as you like without putting on the weight
- You dont mind swimming naked as you get used to your suit being ripped
- People watching the game all know your name
Con's
- You smell of chlorine 24/7
- You hair turns to straw
- You have so many cuts and bruises people think you like getting into fights
- Your eyes become so red with the chlorine that your friends think you are on drugs
- Your most sensitive areas are usually attacked under water
- You end up spending so much money on bathing suits that you end up broke
- Your fingernails seem to be non-existant any more
- Waking up at 6.00 in the morning is the norm for early training
- People peeing on you during showere time becomes normal
- Your bathing suit is never dry
- The sound of a whisle turns your head
- You are sworn at by people who do not know anything about the game because you missed the last shot
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