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  • Riding the bicycle backwards- By Zac Monses

    February 02, 2025 5 min read

    Zac is the writer of the popular water polo blog Pool Reflections. Subscribe to his Substack to get access to all of his blogs. You can read Zac's original blog post here.

    You need to learn to reverse scull, or your next opponent will dunk on your skull.

    Reverse sculling is a fundamental, yet often overlooked, technique in water polo that plays a vital role in a player's performance and overall effectiveness in the water. The importance of reverse sculling and its benefits range widely. It should be practiced consistently and intensely.

    What is Reverse Sculling?

    Reverse sculling is a technique where players move feet first through the water, with their hips at the surface. Their right hip or left hip points up, their arms work in concert, grabbing water and pushing it behind them, and their legs grab water in more or less a “bicycle” pattern. Polo autists will be quick to correct that the top knee also points up a bit more than to the side.

    It involves keeping the hands flat like paddles, with fingers together but relaxed, and making small, quick movements just below the water's surface. The best way of describing it to a swimmer is it is like the beginning of your breaststroke stroke, but you are directing the water behind you, while on your side.

    If you’re still having trouble picturing the technique, its essentially the sidestroke that we all learn when we are first starting out in swimming, but in reverse, going feet first.

    This technique is important to drill primarily for its applications on the defensive end of the pool, but mastering the technique on defense also provides tangible benefits in your offensive game.

    You can practice it going slow to increase your feel on the water and look for places where you can eliminate drag and improve technique, but it is best done practicing it going fast. Test your limits. Race your teammates while switching hips every lap for a 200.

    If you’re more of a visual learner, here is a picture of the position, below, of a few of my players practicing the drill. Notice the disturbance of water behind his back hand, hands and hips at the surface and legs grabbing water in front of them? Yeah, do that.

    Benefits of Reverse Sculling in Water Polo

    1. Improved Body Position and Balance

    Reverse sculling helps players maintain a mobile position in the water. This is crucial for:

    • Playing in passing lanes, zone defenses and 5 man defense. Offensive players make decisions based on where defender’s heads are in the water. In a reverse sculling position, you appear to be in one position while your hips are in another, allowing you to “bait” passers or cover additional distance to shooters.

    • Increasing your angle of attack while handling the ball or preparing for shots. It allows the offensive player to feel “balanced” though their legs are in a position that would be traditionally considered “unbalanced”. Once you notice elite players utilizing the bicycle kick to improve their tactical position with and without the ball, you can’t un-notice it.

    2. Defensive Advantage

    Reverse sculling is particularly valuable in defensive situations:

    • It allows players to maintain “head in/feet out” position when facing the opponent, which is crucial for covering more than one player at once and effective shot blocking.

    • Players can quickly adjust their position without losing sight of the ball or opponent.

    • When defending drivers, the ability to go in reverse while maintaining high hip position is paramount for maintaining agility and a strong platform from which to guard the quick direction changes of the driver.

    • Allows for the coverage of additional distance while playing in either passing lanes or field blocking lanes.

    3. Versatility in Movement

    Mastering reverse sculling enables players to:

    • Move efficiently in multiple directions (reverse, forward, and up) without changing body orientation. Since your hip position is maintained, you’re never “swimming out of a hole” caused by low hips which requires twice the effort and time.

    • Transition smoothly between different horizontal and vertical positions and movements in the water - all you have to do is stack your body on top of your hips.

    • When holding the ball in shooting position, a master of reverse sculling can move to a better shooting angle or increase the space they have without compromising the appearance of their dangerous shooting position to the defense and the goalie.

    4. Enhanced Water Feel

    Regular practice of reverse sculling develops a player's "feel” for the water, which is essential for:

    • Better agility, control, and maneuverability in various game situations.

    • Improved overall swimming efficiency, technique, and speed.

    • Better acceleration from a dead stop to full sprint.

    Incorporating Reverse Sculling in Training

    To improve reverse sculling skills, water polo players should:

    1. Practice basic sculling drills to develop proper hand technique.

    2. Incorporate reverse sculling into defensive drills and shot-blocking exercises.

    3. Use reverse sculling as part of warm-up routines to enhance water feel before matches or training sessions.

    4. Combine reverse sculling with other water polo-specific movements to simulate game situations.

    5. Once you are proficient at reverse sculling with both hands and both feet, try practicing with your top hand out of the water. This hand can either be in a shooting position (imagining you are improving your angle in front of the cage) or field blocking position (imagining you are moving towards a shooter).

    Reverse sculling is a fundamental technique that underpins many aspects of the game, yet is often overlooked or not practiced on a regular basis, especially in America. By mastering reverse sculling, players can improve their positioning, balance, defensive capabilities, and overall efficiency in the water. Coaches and players alike should recognize its importance and dedicate time to developing and refining this crucial skill.

    I remember the first time being in the water with Albert Espanol (Spanish 2012 Olympian) and he demonstrated the speed at which he could cover distance in this position. Suddenly, everything clicked. No wonder he was such a nightmare in passing lanes, finding angles on shots and drive defense! He could move backwards as fast as I could breaststroke kick FORWARD!

    It’s no surprise that many of the most disruptive defenders and elite shooters in the sport are black belts when it comes to the reverse scull.

    Master the scull to crush skulls.

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    About Zac

    Zac is a graduate of Cal-Berkeley, earning his diploma in History in 2008. While at Cal, Zac was a First Team All-American water poloist, academic All-American, 2x NCAA Champion, a USA National Team member, and played professionally in Spain and Brazil. As a member and former commissioner of the storied Olympic Club water polo program, Zac has been a key contributor to medal winning teams in every major US competition.
     
    An accomplished swimmer, Zac went undefeated his Sophomore through Senior year in CCS Championships, swam for Cal's number 1 ranked swim team his freshman year as a dual sport athlete, and competed in Olympic Trials in 200 IM in 2004.

    He has coached water polo at Leland High School, Lamorinda Water Polo, and is the current Varsity coach at Tamalpais High School and the high performance coach at San Francisco Water Polo Club, responsible for developing multiple Division 1 athletes over his past few years at the organization.

    Zac writes a popular water polo blog, Pool Reflections on Substack and has written a water polo instructional called Playing Driver.

    Outside of the pool, Zac has cultivated a successful career in Commercial Real Estate and is raising his family in Larkspur, CA.

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