Ball Push Dribble
Head-up front crawl with the ball pushed along on the bow wave between the arms – the basic water polo dribble.
- Stages
- Water Polo – Stage 8, Water Polo – Stage 9
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Head-Up Swimming, Ball Handling, Water Polo Movement
- Equipment
- Water Polo Ball
- Age
- 8–99 years
- Group size
- 1–16 swimmers
- Time
- About 5 minutes
- In a lesson
- Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Swim in one direction with space between swimmers.
What it develops
- Head-up front crawl with a strong kick
- Swim with the ball under control
How to run it
- Place the ball just in front of the head.
- Swim head-up front crawl with arms entering wide of the ball, so the ball sits between them and is pushed by the bow wave.
- Keep the kick strong and the head up.
- Dribble across the width and back.
Teaching cues
- Ball between your arms.
- Head up, eyes forward.
- Push with the water, not your face.
Make it easier
- Walk and push the ball in shallow water.
- Use breaststroke arms.
Make it harder
- Dribble around cones or floats.
- Change direction on a whistle while keeping the ball.
Common faults
- Arms hit the ball away.
- Head drops and swimmer loses the ball.
Corrections
- 'Hands go in wide, like a doorway.'
- 'Watch the ball and where you're going.'
Assistant / L1 role
- Walk alongside on poolside and roll the ball back to swimmers who lose it, so they don't stop and stand.