05/01/2020
Benefits of playing water polo
If you’re looking for a sport which combines the teamwork and strategy of football, rugby, basketball and hockey as well as the fitness benefits of swimming, then welcome to water polo!
Water polo players come in all shapes and sizes, with different positions requiring different strengths. The sport also has a great social aspect, both in the water and out.
Physical benefits
1. Stamina
You can’t switch off for a second in water polo. There’s no ‘easy swimming’. It’s a high-paced game where essentially you are interval training, sprinting from one end to the other. Playing a full end-to-end senior match can see players swimming up to 4km.
2. Power
It’s a great way of building upper and lower body strength, the sprints, fast breaks and individual battles build explosive speed, which can increase your sprinting speed.
3. Works the core
With your legs treading water to keep you afloat, changing your position comes from your core muscles. Twists, turns and throws are all core-driven moves, building these muscles reduces injury occurrences.
4. Weight loss
With all the swimming, movement, throwing and treading water, it’s no shock that you can shifting loads of calories playing water polo. A survey found water polo players can burn up to 700 calories in an hour.
5. Easy on the joints
Water polo can be an intense, physical game, but the fact that it’s played in water means it’s easier on joints and a much lower impact sport than any of the running based team sports, played on hard ground. This means unlike in many other team sports, injuries in water polo are very infrequent and rarely serious.
Mental benefits
1. Social
Playing team sports is a fantastic way for people to develop their social skills. Teamwork and good communication are vital for success in water polo.
2. Problem solving
Water polo involves players and teams having to think on your feet, teaches quick thinking and relies on you being able to find the best pathway for success, with quick split second decision making. You learn strategies such as how to break down a defence and how to play with an extra player etc.
3. Education
Water polo will be on the syllabus as a team sport for GCSE, AS and A Level PE. In past years, the swimmers from Blackpool who have used the water polo as their team sport (and put the training time in) have received near top marks for their effort; with the right application, we hope this will continue. Water polo can also be used as a Duke of Edinburgh award sport, for those striving for this award.
Ultimately, along with improving the current senior team, I would like to develop an under 15 year old squad and a ladies setup too; so no matter what your age and ability you are, there will be pathways and opportunities for you to join in and improve.
