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.