Water polo.

Whatsup guys! Thought I'd take the time to spread some knowledge about the wonderful sport of Water polo!

What is Water Polo?

Water polo to many seems like a combination of sports: Swimming, Football, Basketball, Soccer, and MMA (it get's intense).

The game is split into two teams of 7:


Meet the Point:



The point's job is just like in Basketball, to keep the ball moving. He's the main man, he controls who the ball goes to, and even takes the shots from up top.

He is positioned at the top center.

On defense, he defends the Hole-Set (explained later), and is named Hole-D (Hole-Defense). It's a grueling job, but someone needs to get it done.

Meet the Hole-Set:



The Hole-Set is the man in the middle. He's essential to any team, and usually the largest/huskiest guy on the team. It's a grueling task to play hole-set as anything goes until you get the ball. The defender (Hole-D) can pretty much do anything necessary to keep the hole-set from getting the ball.

But once/if the hole-set gets the ball, all hell breaks lose. He is in a very easy scoring position, and can easily be the game changer. A good hole set scores 4-5 goals in a given match.

The Hole-Set is positioned 2.5 Meters in front of the goal, hence why it is a dangerous position to the defending team.

Meet the Flats:



The Flats are the shooting guards of Water Polo. They are positioned on the right and left and sides of the point. They take most of the high shots, but also drive towards the goal for a driving play.

Meet the Wings:



The Wings are also shooting guard-like. They are positioned on the right and left sides of the Hole-Set. The basically do the same things as the Flats, but are closer to the goal.

Meet the Goalie:



The Goalie is usually the most agile player in the pool. He has to be able to get up and out of the water fast to be able to block the powerful shots. There have been goalies known that are able to get their waists out of the water.


How do you play?​

Here is a basic diagram of the spots/positions in Water Polo:


It is pretty much shown above, but back and forth.

There are fouls in Water Polo, if you foul a player (hitting/agressive play), you must back off and allow a free pass. On the sides of the pool are markers of 2 meters (You cannot enter the 2-meter zone without the ball or it is a turnover), and 5 meters. If you are fouled behind the 5 meter, you may shoot the ball at the goal after being fouled only if it is contracted in 1 motion, anything else and it's a turnover.

Kick outs in water polo, A.K.A. exclusions are given to players who prevent another player from getting the ball by excessive means such as: Holding/Pulling/Pushing etc. When you are kicked out you are excluded from play for 20 seconds, therefore leaving the playing field and leaving your team playing defense with 5 people instead of 6. After 20 seconds/a goal/or your team gains posession of the ball, you may re-enter the pool.

There is a shot clock of 30 seconds for each side. The shot clock is reset after a kick out (pretty simple right?)

A quarter of playing time in high school is usually about 7-8 minutes. There are 2 refs, one on each side of the pool monitoring play. Fighting with a ref (like any other sport) results in expulsion from the game.

What people don't seem to understand is, what the ref doesn't see, doesn't count. Players are usually kicked/punched/elbowed/kneed/grabbed etc. when a ref isn't watching resulting in many injuries. Water Polo is also a naturally grueling sport, also resulting in many injuries.

Have you had an expierience in Water Polo? Interested? Comment below. I personally played 4-years in highschool, and was Varsity for all four. I gained the title of Varsity Captain my Junior and Senior year. And am still continuing to play in college. I play Point and Hole-Set. And let me tell you, if you can play Water Polo, you can play anything.

This thread will be continually updated as I just started, so feel free to point out mistakes/things I should add to the thread.​

 

good guide.

 

looks like a interesting sport.

 

Hey fresh! This is a really good guide! I assume you're the creator of the guide, have you considered creating a thread in the Outdoors/Physical subsection of the guides section?

I've never played Water Polo on a proper competitive level, mucked around at the local pool playing some sort of variety of it (We don't really know the rules, just try to throw the ball into the net haha.) I really enjoy watching the Sport at the Olympics though, the close games are always really exciting!

When the guys get the exclusions they look like little kids being sent to the corner for being back :3 Haha.

 

Thanks for looking, and I didn't even know we had an outdoor guide section! But yeah, I wrote this guide myself so i'll look into getting it moved in the outdoors/physical subsection. Thanks!

 

I didn't like this sport until the Olympics this years, womens was awesome to watch (not for the girls but just because it's better than mens)

 

tbh i hate doing water polo but i like watching it lol.

 

i think water polo is boring tbh