The Rules of Water Polo

What is water polo?

Water polo is a team sport played in a deep swimming pool. It is a bit like a mix of swimming, handball and football — but in the water! Two teams swim, pass a floating ball, and try to throw it into the other team's goal. 🤽

Each team has seven players in the water at once: six field players and one goalkeeper. Because the pool is too deep to stand in, players must keep swimming or treading water the entire game.

The aim of the game

Score more goals than the other team. A goal counts when the whole ball passes over the goal line, between the posts and under the crossbar. Matches are split into four quarters.

The one-hand rule

This is the rule that makes water polo special:

A field player may only touch the ball with one hand at a time.

You can catch, pass and shoot with one hand, but you cannot grab the ball with two hands or hold it underwater. Only the goalkeeper, near their own goal, may use two hands.

Treading water: the eggbeater kick

Since you can never touch the bottom, players use a clever movement called the eggbeater kick. Instead of kicking both legs together, you rotate each leg in alternating circles, like an eggbeater whisk. This keeps you stable and lifts your body high out of the water so you can pass and shoot powerfully.

Fouls

Water polo is physical, but rules keep it safe and fair. There are two main kinds of foul:

• Ordinary fouls — small mistakes like touching the ball with two hands or holding an opponent who does not have the ball. The other team gets a free throw.
• Major (exclusion) fouls — serious actions such as pulling, sinking or kicking an opponent. The offending player must leave the water for 20 seconds, leaving their team a player short.

Pulling someone underwater is dangerous and always punished.

Key skills

• Swimming — fast front crawl with your head up to watch the ball.
• Treading water — the eggbeater kick, the most important skill.
• Passing — a quick one-handed throw, often a "dry pass" that never touches the water.
• Shooting — lifting your body high to throw the ball hard past the goalkeeper.

Safety first

Water polo demands strong swimming, so it must always be played in a supervised pool with a lifeguard or coach watching at all times. Never play in deep water unless an adult is supervising and you are a confident swimmer. Warm up properly, and learn the eggbeater kick before joining full games.

Practice activity: eggbeater and pass

In the shallow end at first, practise the eggbeater kick until you can keep your shoulders above the water without using your hands. Then, with a partner, tread water a few metres apart and pass a ball back and forth with one hand. The challenge is to stay high and still while catching and throwing — exactly what you need in a real match.

Now you know the rules

You understand scoring, the one-hand rule, the eggbeater kick and fouls. Build your swimming first, then add the ball.

To get water-ready, read Water Safety and Swimming Basics or Swimming Strokes for Beginners.