Water Polo Swim Workouts

If you are looking for a way to improve your water polo game, consider exercises that can enhance your strength, stamina, and coordination. This will lead to improved speed in the pool, more scoring and blocking shots more effectively. Instead of just practicing the game, do the kinds of exercises that can give you a big advantage over your opponents.

Practice Basic Strokes

When you play water polo, your swim style is 80 percent front crawl and 20 percent backstroke. The front crawl with its short strokes is how you travel fast to get to the ball. Practice swimming this stroke with your head out of the water the entire time. The backstroke is much slower. It is used while you are waiting for the ball and watching the other players. Practice each type of stroke as much as you will use it: 80 percent crawl, 20 percent backstroke.

Treading Kick

The egg-beater kick is the standard water-treading movement. To perform this kick, you need to become proficient at moving one of your legs counterclockwise and at the same time your other leg goes clockwise, keeping your torso in place. Be sure to keep your head, forearms and hands above the water at all times.

Combine Kick With Throws

Once you have mastered the egg-beater kick, you can practice throwing the ball. Grab a medicine ball weighing 1 to 2 lbs. and, while egg-beating, throw it at a target. Swim using the front crawl stroke to retrieve it and throw it again. Have a partner throw it back so you can practice catching, too, all while egg-beating. An important aspect of water polo is the ability to catch with your less-dominant hand, so if you are right-handed, practice catching mostly with your left hand and vice versa.

Build Strength

Once you are proficient at catching and throwing the 1- to 2-lb. medicine ball, move up to a 5 to 8 lbs. This will build strength in your arms and will make the actual water polo ball seem as light as a beach ball. This exercise will also help your core and legs gain strength as they work harder to stabilize and keep you above water under the additional weight of the heavier ball.

Train For Stamina

Once you have these basic exercises down, you can work on extending your time doing them. With your front crawl, work up to sprints of 200 yards at a time without stopping. With your backstroke, work up to 50 yards at a time. Work on your egg-beater kick until you can go for as long as 1 1/2 hours. Practice long- and short-distance shots with the medicine balls, working up to 25 shots with the 5- to 8-lb. ball and 50 shots with the 1- to 2-lb. ball. Play "tag" with a partner in the pool. If your partner is not a fast swimmer, give him a big head start. Work up to 15 minutes of this exercise.
With these exercises and regular practice, you can improve your game and have more fun playing water polo.