Practices

Seasonal/Yearly Schedule

Practice schedules may vary throughout the season due to pool availability, swim team participation, and a variety of other factors.  Many athletes will participate in SFY Tsunami Water Polo recreational programming throughout the year.

In the fall and winter, it is anticipated that practices will be one day per week.  In the spring, it is anticipated that practices will be two days per week.

Training Objectives and Form

Practices will focus on building the foundational skills and fundamental game concepts.  As the team progresses, more advanced game concepts and strategies will be introduced and reinforced.  

Each practice begins with a quick team check-in to see who's here and how everyone is doing, followed by a brief chalk talk to review the goals and plan for the day. Athletes then move into a warm-up focused on treading and ball-handling skills, followed by passing and shooting drills. We build on these fundamentals with game-concept drills that develop teamwork, positioning, communication, and game awareness. Practice finishes with a competitive scrimmage, either 3v3 or full-pool play, depending on the focus of the day. We wrap up with a team cheer to celebrate our effort, teamwork, and progress!

Conditioning Philosophy

Our practices focus on water polo-specific conditioning rather than traditional swimming conditioning. We do not typically incorporate lengthy lap-swimming sets into practice. Instead, we develop the endurance, strength, and athletic skills needed specifically for water polo through activities such as:

• Treading and eggbeater development.

• Ball handling and dribbling.

• Passing and shooting under pressure.

• Movement, positioning, and transitions.

• Game-based drills and scrimmages.

We recognize that swimming ability and endurance are important foundations for water polo. While athletes are not required to participate in a swim team year-round, we strongly encourage participation in swimming or another consistent conditioning sport or physical activity.

It is important for families to understand that water polo practices and training will only take an athlete so far. Our practices are designed to develop water polo skills, game awareness, and sport-specific conditioning. However, athletes who want to continue advancing and compete at higher levels will benefit from additional training outside of our practices.

As athletes get older and competition becomes more demanding, the difference between athletes who consistently work on their swimming speed, endurance, and overall fitness and those who rely solely on water polo practices becomes increasingly noticeable. Athletes who invest time in swimming will often have an advantage in the water, particularly when it comes to speed, endurance, recovery, and the ability to maintain performance throughout a game.

Our goal is to develop better water polo players while encouraging athletes to take ownership of their overall athletic development. We want families to understand that becoming a stronger competitive athlete requires work beyond the hours spent at water polo practice.