Mini Polo

the attack • the defense • drills • discussion

At the beginning of a quarter, players line up along the goal line. On the whistle, the referee drops the ball at the centre. Commonly, the fastest player will be closest to the ball. The aim is the reach the ball first and put it out of reach of the other team.

The attack

The attack starts when the ball is reached. It is usually flipped back to another team member. The attacking team needs to push forwards towards the goal. Young players may be tempted to fall back and converge on the ball rather than move forwards into space. Alternately, some may feel they have 'done their bit' and grind to a halt.

The defense

The defending team must now mark tightly. If teams are well matched, this is usually a tight, one-on-one press. Players need to communicate so that a stray attacker is not left free on the other side of the pitch to a potential defender. Young players are often tempted to mark the player with the ball en masse and leave other players free.

Drills

Here are some drills that build up a swim off game play:

1. Line players up at the end of the pool with a ball each. Put the ball in the middle of the pool. On the whistle, players race to the ball and practise flipping it over the shoulder and behind them.
2. Repeat the first drill in pairs. The second player swims a little behind the front player and a little to the side. When the front player flips the ball behind them, it should fall just in front of the other player.
3. This time, the front player should swim forwards after flipping the ball behind. The receiving player swims a few strokes then passes the ball back.
4. Now team up one pair with another pair and line them up at opposite ends of the pool. On the whistle, players race for the ball. The players reaching the ball first attempt to flip it back and then move it forwards (as 3 above). They can try and shoot a goal or touch it on the end of the pool. The pair that does not get the ball, marks the other players. They need to tell each other, who they are going to mark. It might not be the person closest to them.

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