Water polo differs from swimming as vertical floating and the eggbeater kick allow players to take position and do all the technical movements required, including dribbling and throwing. Players need to focus on different body parts at the same time when floating in vertical position.
You need appropriate training to enhance your floating skills. It’s important to master the skill as you need it so your upper body can carry out any kind of movement.
What are Body Parts Involved in Floating
Here is an accurate list of body parts involved during floating:
- Ankles need to be bent at 90 degrees. This skill is very important as it allows the feet to find the right support while the legs perform the eggbeater.
- Knees allow rotation of the legs. Moreover, they help the feet find a stable base in the water while keeping the body in vertical position.
- Hips are considered the most important part of the body for their pivot junction with the legs. They play a major role in performing the eggbeater kick as the movement starts from them. The hips have an opening movement involving legs. This is like the ones concerning the ankles and the knees. In fact, it allows the legs to find a stable base in the water by lifting and lowering the femur. The hip junction movement plays a fundamental role in other body movements. It also helps in stabilizing the shoulders. Hence, it is crucial for scoring goals, and passing. It is also crucial in keeping a good position when attacking or defending.
- Hands and arms also play important roles in performing a correct technique like the sculling.
What is Sculling
Sculling requires that hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders move in synchrony to function as support for the body. This is particularly important when you are performing the eggbeater kick without holding the ball. You also need it when you’re holding the ball with one arm above water to pass it.
Sculling is a movement carried out with prone palms, which move together away from the chest to open water and close inside.
Why are Sculling and Eggbeater Kick Important
Sculling and the eggbeater kick are necessary movements to let the body have a clear direction when you’re passing or shooting the ball. They are also fundamental when you’re marking an opponent.
In addition, you can use sculling to raise the body out of the water. It lets you gain some crucial centimeters to get closer to the goal and have better opportunity to score. This specific task depends on frequency of the movement and circumstances.
Keeping the body still while out of the water is another important technique that needs high frequency of movement. Here, sculling and the eggbeater kick work together. They push out your body as high as possible and support it for a short while.
When your body needs to change direction from backward to forward or vice-versa, you need to perform the eggbeater in the opposite way. This will allow your body to push towards your desired direction. If you need to move your body either to the left or to right, legs need to form a ↴ shape.
The ↴ shape is taken from your lower leg. It is the one supporting your body when doing the eggbeater. While doing this, your other leg should move backwards near the water surface. Doing so will push the body towards your desired direction.
The trunk could have an impact on the eggbeater when you need to perform twists, such as when a teammate passes the ball. It also has an important role when you need to hold a certain position while playing.
The eggbeater kick is the first of the basic techniques players need to learn regardless of their age. If players do not perform the eggbeater well during a game, the odds could easily be in their opponents’ favor.
What to do to Improve Your Eggbeater Kick
To perform the eggbeater correctly, you need to exercise hard at the gym.
Squats and steps are ideal exercises that you can use to strengthen your femoral girdle and your tendon in the acetabulum concave. When not trained properly, your tendon may be at risk of inflammation. Moreover, the external tendons of the knees need specific training so it can support your weight when you’re holding the ball in the water or in case there’s pressure from your opponent.
In water polo, the eggbeater kick is the coordination of skills used by all the players in all the styles but backstroke. All water polo players need to perform a good eggbeater to be able to coordinate a fast and efficient team work. This is particularly true in the case of finalizing an attack phase by scoring a goal or when performing a defensive phase by blocking the opponents during their attack phase.
Written by Livio Cocozza: I have a degree in Sport Science at University of Perugia, Italy. Over the years, I have gained vast experiences in training and coaching swimming and water polo competitions.
I have also worked extensively in personal training, covering different aspects of physical education. I was a swim/water polo head coach in London, UK and Rome, Italy.
I am an Italian water polo coach and American and British swim coach. I’ve worked as a manager and coordinator of daily activities in sport centers, including combinations of swimming classes and competitive courses at different levels. I also worked as a teacher of Physical education (PE) in nursery and primary schools (KS1 – KS2) in Rome and Perugia (Italy). I’ve worked as assistant head coach for international level and in Sector anti-doping championships. I am the admin of International water polo/swim page on Facebook.
Originally posted in May 2017