Defend the Line
One-to-one practice of staying between an attacker and the goal line using position and movement – no holding allowed.
- Stages
- Water Polo – Stage 9, Water Polo – Stage 10
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Eggbeater, Water Polo Movement, Game Awareness
- Equipment
- Float
- Age
- 8–99 years
- Group size
- 2–16 swimmers
- Time
- About 5 minutes
- In a lesson
- Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2, Game / Consolidation
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Strictly no contact; teacher stops pairs that start pushing or holding.
What it develops
- Basic defending without holding
- Simple team defending and recovering
How to run it
- Pairs face each other; the defender keeps their back to a line of floats representing the goal.
- The attacker tries to swim past to touch the line; the defender moves sideways and backwards to stay in front.
- Defenders use eggbeater and body position – hands may not touch the attacker.
- Swap roles every 30 seconds.
Teaching cues
- Stay between them and the goal.
- Watch their hips, not their head.
- Hands off – use your legs.
Make it easier
- Attacker moves at walking pace in shallow water.
Make it harder
- Attacker has a ball to dribble.
Common faults
- Defender grabs or pushes.
- Defender turns their back.
Corrections
- 'If you grab, you've lost the position.'
- 'Face them, move with them.'
Assistant / L1 role
- Watch three pairs on your side and remind any defender reaching out to keep 'hands off', using the teacher's words.