Playing goalie in water polo is all about reactive speed and quickness. Defending the goal requires a solid foundation so athletes are ready to block the ball, regain balance to react to multiple shots on cage, and be in good position to make an accurate outlet pass. Dryland training is crucial to not only setting a good leg base to stay high in the water the entire game, but also for balance, flexibility, and injury prevention. Check out this article about building a dominant water polo dryland program.

Shooting is a complex movement for all water polo players. The shot begins in the lower body and ends with an aggressive follow through with your shooting arm. Many water polo players make the mistake of training only rotational and forearm exercises. However, strengthening the entire kinetic chain of muscles is crucial for not only power production, but also for injury prevention. Any weak link in the kinetic chain can send all the force into the wrong area, compromising technique and exposing the body to acute injury. Implementing specific exercises in your dryland program will improve a player's shot. 

Hard work in the gym results in better performance in the pool. Water polo-specific dryland training programs designed for each player’s position, their strengths and weaknesses, and the team’s competition calendar are paying off big time in the pool. Coaches can see the difference in terms of wins and losses. They are also seeing a reduction in injuries and an ability of their players to go hard all season long. Here’s a four-step guide on how to build a water polo-specific dryland program:

Preseason strength and conditioning programs prepare athletes for their grueling upcoming season. In particular, building a strength foundation is important for improving skills, preventing future injury, and quickly enhancing overall fitness. In the offseason, athletes are resting to mentally and physically recharge for another year of competition. Although preseason strength and conditioning is challenging, it helps athletes transition into high-intensity training and keep them strong throughout their competition season.

Kinesiology tape is used by athletes of all ages across all sports. Commonly seen on the shoulders of volleyball players and knees of runners, kinesio tape comes in a variety of bright colors and is intended to improve athlete performance. Although this tape is a popular wardrobe addition, the real question is: does the tape actually work? Injured athletes will try anything if it means they can return to the game, and this tape may or may not be the answer. 

A large factor in achieving success in volleyball is the ability to quickly anticipate and react to situations on the court. Building a primary set of volleyball mechanics at a young age is important for an athlete’s future strength and quickness training. Once the basics are well practiced, athletes can use sets of progression drills to improve the skills that are already in place. Here are four progression drills proven to enhance player quickness and performance on the court.

Strength training, stability, flexibility, and mobility are inextricably intertwined; an athlete cannot excel at one without the other. Greater stability, flexibility, and mobility ensure that athletes maintain proper exercise techniques and reach their full range of motion in order for target muscles to fire and strength to improve.

Swimmers train differently depending on their stroke specialty and preferred distance. Butterflyers, backstrokers, breastrokers, and freestylers require unique dryland strength exercises much like how sprint, middle-distance, and distance athletes need variation among their workouts. While the general phases of strength training are the same across all swimmers, there should be particular movements within each workout that translate to the strokes and distances they swim most often. 

Last week at the 2017 Swimming World Championship Trials, we held our first #BridgeLIVE event with our co-founder, Nick Folker. While on deck in Indianapolis, Nick answered questions that were sent in from athletes and coaches about preparing for the championship event. Here is the LIVE video and a recap of our #LIVEwithNICK.