How to stay in water polo shape over a break

Since water polo is such a physically demanding sport, taking weeks or even days off will have a significant impact on your water polo shape. Unfortunately for the typical athlete, there will be periodic breaks, whether it's a college winter break or a summer high school break, time away from the team is inevitable. It’s really important to continue to train at some level so you don’t return to your team worse than when you left. If you follow our steps, you might even return tapered and in a better place than before. 

• Get in the water at least three times a week. Whether it is the ocean for a quick swim or a surf, your local, or backyard pool, it’s very important to get yards in even if it’s only for 20 minutes. Don’t forget your legs. Try eggbeatering for 10 mins while you hang out with friends or do eggbeater walks across the pool. Holding a heavy ball above your head and throwing it and swimming to retrieve it is also a great solo workouts. Alternatively, the KAP7 weight belt is a great tool to build leg strength and can be used in any body of water. The resistance swim band is another item that really works well for swimming or treading water against.  

• Pass a ball around with friends or family, in or out of the pool. It’s imperative to keep you throwing muscles engaged so you don’t put stress or strain your arm when you get back into shooting.KAP7’s rebounder is a great option to pass against, it’s easy to set up in your backyard and you can change up how hard you throw it based on the distance from the rebounder. 

• Hit the gym. Keep your muscles activated. The last thing you want is to get overly sore on your return to your team. You don’t have to do anything heavy but focus on muscle activation, core strength, and lighter weights with higher reps. Band work is also a great way to strengthen the smaller support muscles around your shoulder. KAP7 has a great affordablestretch band that you can attach anywhere.  

• Finally, watch tape or games. It’s crazy how quickly you lose the mindset for water polo. Ask your coach for game tape and watch yourself while focusing on how you can improve. Jump on Youtube and watch some of the greats players. Focus on a player and watch their body positing, faking movements, and take notes. Then take those learnings and try them out when you get back to your team.KAP7 has a great gallery of videos if you want to start there.