by Dr. David

Created on: July 26, 2008   Last Updated: September 30, 2008

Water polo is the ultimate sport, it combines soccer, hockey, and basketball all into one game all with the challenge of playing in water. Water polo is a sport that requires a person to have great conditioning, strength, and mental capacity. I'm going to tell you about the equipment required to play water polo, the basic rules, and basic strategy. Hopefully, by the end you'll be ready to hop in a pool and start playing with your friends.

Water polo does not require much equipment in order to play. You need 2 goals like soccer, caps person with numbers to identify each player, a few lane lines to identify the playing field, and of course a water polo ball. No goggles are allowed, because the ball could hit you in the face and the goggles could shatter. Anyhow, there are 6 players to a side and a goalie. The objective to the game is just like that of soccer, to put the ball in the goal. Now, that you know everything needed to play the game, let's take a look at the rules.
In order to play any sport you must know the rules. Water polo is a rather complicated game compared to a lot of sports. So I will tell the basics and you'll learn the rest on your own as you watch or play. First, water polo is played in quarters, and at the beginning of each quarter the ball is dropped from the side of the pool by an official at the middle of the pool, and players from each side of the pool sprint to get it. You can only touch the ball with one hand; otherwise it is a turnover, unless you are the goalie. If a player tries to advance to the goal and another player impedes progress then an ordinary foul is called. It is just like an on the ball foul in basketball, except instead of having to take the ball from the sideline you get a free pass or even a shot on goal if you are outside the 5 meter line. Occasionally, a player gets a kick out. This is because he fouled someone from behind or something of that nature. The person who committed the foul must swim to the corner and take a penalty, like hockey. If you commit 3 kick outs then you are ejected from the game. There is also a 2 meter line in which a player cannot cross unless the ball crosses the line, or else it is a turnover. Those are some of the most important rules in water polo, so let's get on with the strategy.
Strategy in water polo is very similar to basketball. The game centers around a hole man who sits in front of the net. It is just like the center of a basketball team, it is someone who is big, and very muscular. The surrounding players form a rectangle, with three people along the 2 meter line and 3 along the 5 meter line. These players try to drive through and get off shots, or clear drops on the hole man. Usually, the goal of a driver or a hole man is to draw a kick out, if they cannot score. On a man advantage teams usually switch to a 4-2 offense with 4 people along the 2 meter line and 2 at around 5 meters. The best offenses catch the ball dry (they don't drop passes or put the ball on the water), pump fake, and pass cross pool, for an open shot. That's the basic strategy of water polo.
Water polo can sometimes be a dirty sport. The refereed cannot call anything under the water line, so a lot of kicking and punching underwater is not called. Water polo is the ultimate team battle, as well as individual "fight" in sports. It really is the ultimate game.

Here is a video that helps explain as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfHn3GUF_Ew

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