Now that you have mastered some of the basic head-up drills in Head-up Water Polo Technique Part 1 you can start training your transitions. In a water polo game you will perform a water polo transition from swimming to eggbeater, or vice versa, at least two times each possession.
From your defensive end, you will perform a water polo start and swim to the offensive end where you will transition back to eggbeater. You may catch a pass early in the counterattack and then pass and swim to another position. You may also initiate a drive in your half-court and end the drive by kicking-up to catch a pass and score a goal. As you can tell, transitions are extremely important to work on. Fast transitions allow you to: 1) play mobile defense 2) counterattack quicker 3) pass and shoot from a stable and high eggbeater position 4) save energy.
Let's try some transition drills that will help you get in shape for the season.
Transition technique 123 is a variation of technique 121. Here you will start from various positions and facing different directions. Face left, right, backwards and forwards. Start with your legs pointing in different directions as well. Each direction requires different explosive movements. Finish the laps with hard eggbeater for 5-10 seconds and at least one vertical lunge. It is up to you to make this drill harder and harder. 8x15 yards head-up sprint with 5 seconds of eggbeater at the end and 2 vertical lunges is a pretty good set! Take 20 seconds of rest between each rep.
From your defensive end, you will perform a water polo start and swim to the offensive end where you will transition back to eggbeater. You may catch a pass early in the counterattack and then pass and swim to another position. You may also initiate a drive in your half-court and end the drive by kicking-up to catch a pass and score a goal. As you can tell, transitions are extremely important to work on. Fast transitions allow you to: 1) play mobile defense 2) counterattack quicker 3) pass and shoot from a stable and high eggbeater position 4) save energy.
Let's try some transition drills that will help you get in shape for the season.
Transition technique 121 is a simple drill to add to your water polo conditioning. Instead of swimming laps and starting and stopping on the walls, begin and/or finish each lap with some eggbeater. On an eggbeater start, make sure you are balanced with your hands out of the water and explode into the swim position with a forward breaststroke kick lunge. To finish, work on getting your knees up quickly and eggbeatering hard to the end of the lap.
Transition technique 122 adds some game situations to the eggbeater transition. If you start eggbeatering at the beginning of the lap you are in a shot-blocking position with one hand up and your palm facing the shooter. Knock down the shooter after a few yards and explode into your swim with a breaststroke lunge. If you finish the lap in the eggbeater position you should transition to eggbeater about 7 yards out and move forward high in the water with a shooting hand up looking for a cross pass. Finish the lap with a high shooting motion. If you eggbeater before and after the swim you should be sprinting head-up the middle 10-14 yards of the pool.
Transition technique 123 is a variation of technique 121. Here you will start from various positions and facing different directions. Face left, right, backwards and forwards. Start with your legs pointing in different directions as well. Each direction requires different explosive movements. Finish the laps with hard eggbeater for 5-10 seconds and at least one vertical lunge. It is up to you to make this drill harder and harder. 8x15 yards head-up sprint with 5 seconds of eggbeater at the end and 2 vertical lunges is a pretty good set! Take 20 seconds of rest between each rep.
Transition technique 124 shows you three types of water polo turns. Remember, when training for water polo you should never start with wall pushes or do flip turns. Save those for swim season. The ankle turn involves lifting your foot and leg out of the water and spinning. Notice that if you spin clockwise you will be pushing your right foot out of the water. Keep your legs high in the water and get proficient at turning both directions. The knees-to-chest turn is straightforward; just pull your knees up as high as you can and fall backward into a swim position. The hip turn is hard to master but is a very quick transition move. Watch the video and practice these turns until you feel comfortable. Proper turns will help you conserve energy in a game!
