1 WATER POLO FOR PLAYERS & TEACHERS OF AQUATICS Pete Snyder, Ph. D. Professor, Fullerton College, Fullerton, California Layout Design: Mary Jo Reutter ©2008. All rights reserved. This manual may not, in whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or converted to any electronic or machine readable form without prior written consent of the author. It is Web-pub- lished by the LA84 Foundation under a license from the author. Printed in the USA 2 Acknowledgements This book would not have been completed and had its particular attention to detail without the help and support of the following individuals. First I’d like to thank Mr. Lundy Smith, an English teacher and head Girls Water Polo Coach at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. Lundy was most helpful in points of emphasis and grammatical structure in the book. I’d also like to thank Roger Nekton from Phillips Exeter. Roger just retired as head boys water polo and swimming coach after a long and very distinguished career of over thirty years at the Academy. Roger provided valuable technical input as well as encouragement regarding the need for written material in the sport of water polo. As a picture is worth a thousand words, I’m very indebted to Mrs. Chris Kittredge of CMK Enterprises (www.tudorgraphics.com). Chris was able to capture some of the more difficult team aspects of the game only because of her dedication, extensive knowledge of over twenty years with the sport and her brilliance as a photographer. Matt Brown (www.mattbrownphoto.com) is another photographer who exhibited a tremendous amount of alacrity in his water polo photos. Matt has been in Orange County for two decades and has a vast repertoire and portfolio of sporting photos. Many great photos throughout the book were made available through the generosity of Joan Gould (www.waterpoloplanet.com). Joan’s tireless efforts at taking and posting photos have helped spread water polo throughout the country and the world. For technical expertise I am indebted to Phil Thurman (www.sports.fullcoll.edu) , Sports Information Director at Fullerton College. Phil’s willingness to answer the mundane and often remedial computer and technical questions was extremely valuable. Phil also created the cover for the book. Many thanks also to my wife, Becky Snyder, President of ABC-CLIO (www.ABC-CLIO.com), an award winning publishing company of history material for the education market. Becky passed on bits of her expertise regarding the publishing industry and the market (or lack thereof) for water polo. And, last and most importantly, my children Grady and Kendall, both of whom were generous enough to allow me to publish their high school and college water polo photos as well as field numer- ous innocuous questions and comments about the sport we know and love. Sincerely, Pete Snyder, Ph.D. 3 Table of Contents Chapter 1: History and Tradition . 7 Comparisons With Other Sports . .7 Evolution and Rules . .7 Women’s Water Polo History . 11 Notable Historical Changes in the Sport . 13 References . 16 Chapter 2: Physiological, Psychological, and Medical Aspects of Water Polo . 18 Physiology . 18 Psychology . 19 Biomechanics . 20 Upper Body . 21 Lower Body . 24 Nutrition . 26 Injuries . 26 Gender Differences . 28 References . 29 Chapter 3: Basic Swimming Skills as Applied to Water Polo . 33 Front Crawl . 34 Back Crawl . 35 Breaststroke . 36 Side Stroke . 37 Sample Swimming Conditioning Drills and Their Applicability to Water Polo . 38 Sample Ball Handling Conditioning Drills . 39 Eggbeater Leg Motion and Sample Drills . 40 References . 41 Chapter 4: Individual Offensive Ball Handling Skills . 42 Dribbling . 42 Ball Pickup . 43 Baseball Pass and Pass Reception . 47 4 Layout Pass When Closely Guarded . 49 Basic Passing Drills, Guarded and Unguarded . 51 References . 53 Chapter 5: Individual Offensive Skills –Team Offense . 54 Where to Shoot, Targets on the Goal . 54 Basic Shooting Drills . 55 Two Meter Offense Responsibilities, Shots . 59 Half Court Offense Positions, Names, and Numbers . 63 Two Basic Offensive Patterns . 64 Drive Style . 65 Pick Style . 66 References . ..