Over the years my kids have played many sports. Included in the list are Lacrosse, soccer, baseball, football, golf and next up is water polo and swimming. Both my boys will be in the pool very often over the next few months.
The last time I played water polo was in camp and that was let’s just say decades ago. I was fortunate to go to one of the best sports camps in New England and always skipped swimming to play other sports that I enjoyed more. Because of that, I am a very weak swimmer and have little advice to offer either of my boys.
That’s where you come in:
- Have your kids played water polo or swam competitively?
- What advice would you give me as a parent?
- Any tips you could give my kids?
I look forward to reading your comments.
Mike says:
Hi Merrill –
I grew up as a competitive swimmer but never played organized team water polo. The analogy that quickly comes to mind is how important is ice skating if you want to be a good hockey player? In both cases, swimming and ice skating skills are essential to playing both sports at a high level. WWater polo is more aggressive (what happens under the water to steal the ball away, refs check finger nails of each swimmer before a competitive match, etc.). I guess that is the reason I never got serious with water polo. Hope that helps.
Fee Sepahi says:
Hi Merrill,
I will forward this to my daughter who has swum competitively for many years, including the season that just finished.
For the kids, swimming competitively, is a very different sport than recreational. A coach told me once that it takes a swimmer a year to get into competitive fitness. Think about it, like so many other sports, everything from your heart rate, to your breathing, hydration, your muscle build up and coordination, come into play. Some strokes will be easier for you to learn that others. When my daughter was learning how to butterfly I seriously thought she was drowning. Needless to say, she didn’t but with lots of diligent practice, doing the “right” kind of strokes versus just slapping the water, you will get it. Eventually, you will learn which stroke, fly, breast, free or back are your best stroke and you will excel at that, with enough practice. Listen to the coaches as they watch you keenly and can see the mechanics of your strokes. Make the corrections they suggest and see yourself improve.
Lastly, swimming like any other sport, is very technical. Learn the basics of the rules, flips, # of kicks before turns, dives, under water distance off the dives etc., and watch the fastest swimmers to see what they do well that makes them so fast and try and copy them. Unlike homework, learning by observation of another is not punishable! Try it on and see if it works for you and if does adopt it and if not, move to the next swimmer.
dawn says:
My 13 year son played rec. water polo for 4 years and this year joined the club team.
He now lives for polo. Swimming is part of polo but, the sport is completely different.
I found your site while researching summer polo camps and had hoped to find opinions on good camps in California.
A good coach will help your children understand the complexities of the game.
Enjoy the journey