A key component to Spain's U20 World Championship win was its aggressive press.

An effective press requires the goalie to be aggressive in coming out of the cage for steals on entry passes.

The easiest way to break a press is with a dry cross pass to a one-timer entry pass. This strategy typically leads to an ejection or penalty almost every time under current rules.

The goalie's responsibility is to read the cross pass for the one-time entry pass and move out for the steal, just as the Spanish goalie demonstrated here.

Notice how the goalie positions himself far out of the goal. This positioning works because he trusts his perimeter defenders to maintain an aggressive press, keeping offensive players off-balance and away from the goal.

This should prevent clear shooting lanes and limit the power behind any perimeter shots.

As mentioned earlier, the most effective way to break a press is through a dry cross pass to the wing with a one-time entry pass. After Spain built an initial lead, Team USA managed to tie the game partly by executing these sequences and drawing penalty shots.

Spain quickly adjusted their strategy to apply intense pressure on the deep wings.

In this clip, they successfully force Ben Leighty to keep the ball in the water, preventing an immediate entry pass.

However, this approach requires some precision because pressing the wing too aggressively can result in an ejection away from the ball.

But I’m willing to bet that Spain was OK with risking a deep wing ejection and the resulting man-down defensive stand rather than allow a penalty shot with its higher completion percentage.

If you want to implement a suffocating press defense, then the goalie needs to be aggressive coming out of the goal for steals. Otherwise, you’ll run through center defenders pretty quickly and give up a lot of penalties.

Spain’s first goal in the U20 world championships is a great example for how thin the margin of error is on defense at the higher skill levels.

Watch the clip below and see if you can spot it.

USA is in 5 zone.

Team USA uses the Euro numbering system.

A 5 zone is the X2 and X3 defenders, 2+3=5.

The Spanish center recognizes this and works to get his set deeper on the post closest to us in the video.

This stretches out the drop for X2.

And you can see him have to swim further back to get in a good enough position to steal an entry pass but it makes it harder for him to close out the lefty who is a dangerous shooter.

It then forces the X2 defender to have to swim as he tries to close out to the lefty.

And this is all the lefty needs.

A half second late defender coming at him too low.

He legs up and hammers a cross cage shot.

It also doesn't help that the USA X2 defender in his scramble to close out the shooter is to the outside of the lefty’s shooting arm. This gives the Spanish lefty both sides of the cage to shoot on.

Other Issues

X3 Sitting & Watching

I don’t know if this would've changed the outcome but…

There is 5 seconds left on the shot clock. Everyone knows a shot is coming but it doesn't mean you get to rest and watch on defense.

X3, the other crucial part of a 5 zone is content to sit up top and not drop back on set as the X2 defender closes out.

You can see the X3 defender sit up top when the ball moves back to the lefty.

And here is X3 still sitting as the lefty winds up and the guy he his guarding starts rotating back to defense.

There is also still a play at center.

The Spanish lefty could've easily legged up, pulled his blocker out to him, and then changed his wrist angle and entered the ball to the center for a goal or an ejection.

Covering Side Defense

The 4/5 side, the near side to us, is the covering side.

The Spanish players know that that the 1/2 side with the lefty will finish the play so they start rotating back to cover up on defense if the shot is missed.

USA’s X4 defender is getting pulled too far away from having any impact on defense.

Yes, you could argue he is trying to push a counter attack if there is a missed shot but at this level and above it is highly unlikely to get a lead break like that.

Or he is preventing any last second cross pass for a catch and shoot.

Yeah, that could happen but he is so far away from the cage that you would prefer that shot over the lefty in his strong pocket much closer to the cage.

Preferably, you let the Spanish player at 4 rotate back to defense and then you come back under the ball to help on any play at center.

The Defensive lessons

Ideally, your center defender keeps the center forward on the same side of the offense as your zone and can push the center forward closer to your zone drops.

This keeps the drops close to the center but still allows them hip over and close out the player with the ball.

You don’t want the center stretching out your zone. It opens up entry passes and outside shots in strong shooting pockets.

Perimeter defenders can not swim at a shooter.

Swimming at a shooter allows them to leg up over you and shoot an uncontested on the goal. You have to snap over your hips and close out the shooter on your legs with a strong field block.

The goalie and the perimeter defenders need to know where they want their zone blocks to be and where they want the shot funneled to.

In this case maybe, USA wanted the lefty to shoot near side, hence why the X2 defender was more to the outside but he was too far to the outside allowing the whole cage to open up.

Again, the very first goal was a great example of how slim the margin of error is between a goal and a defensive stop as you move up in skill level.

File these as examples of higher-level players still making basic mistakes.

I’ve talked before about pushing the counterattack up the right side of the pool because most teams are full of right-handers. You want to work right to left on the counterattack.

But in the 2025 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship game between Stanford and USC, I kept seeing the two starting goalies out letting to the left side, killing counterattacks and losing precious seconds on the shot clock.

Example 1

The first problem is that the USC goalie, Anna Reed, is bouncing the ball in the water like it’s a basketball.

The difference between a good pass and a steal can come down to a split second.

If you’re bouncing the ball in the water and then see an open release, you have to bring the ball up into a passing position and then throw. You’re probably staring at your target too. This gives the defender time to recognize where the ball is going and to possibly get a jump on the ball and the passing lane.

Get the ball up in a passing position, walk forward to cut the distance, and anticipate when your teammates will be open, and then beat the defender on the pass.

But then she outlets the ball here.

To the left side and on her side of half. The release is immediately pressed.

The Stanford player makes a mistake and fouls the ball instead of keeping the ball pinned back here.

Eventually, the ball moves to the point player, and then 8 seconds later, the ball is on the right side where USC attacks the defense and enters the ball.

From this angle, I think this should’ve been an ejection, but USC turns the ball over.

In the USC goalie’s defense, there is no counterattack structure on her right side. If you watch the two players on the right side, each is doing their own thing, but that doesn't mean you throw the ball short on your side of half to the left side, where it could be pinned, and even more time is lost.

Call your teammate by name that you want to release. In this case, Reed would have to settle for an outlet to the point player.

But the point at least gets the ball up into the offense quicker than a release on your defensive side of the half. Saving some time and getting the ball to the right side to attack Stanford’s zone.

It also leaves you with more time to attack Stanford on the left side with drives, because look at all this open space.

It’s a 2 v 1 on the bottom of your screen. The USC center is drawing everyone to her.

If the ball is on the right side, the left side drivers can find open space and receive a cross pass with a high scoring opportunity.

But you need time to develop this so on’t bury the ball deep on your side of half.

Example 2

It’s USC again.

Again, Reed is bouncing the ball in the water, and USC loses 10 seconds of the shot clock with the ball in the goalie’s hand.

A reason why you want a well-defined 6-man counter with a structured right side release is to get the ball up the pool quickly. You can attack your opponent on the counterattack, and then, if nothing comes of that, you have time left over to break their front-court defense without rushing a shot or entry pass.

The ball goes all the way to the deep wing on the left side, and by the time the ball moves all the way back to the right side. USC has 10 seconds left on their shot clock.

Stanford is very worried about the USC centers, and you can see how much open space they are giving USC on the left side to drive. It’s another 2 v 1.

But USC stays in their shell, and to their credit, they don’t rush the at the end of their possession.

They move the ball right to left, and the right-hander in her strong shooting pocket pulls out the Stanford drop, creating a passing lane for the late entry pass and the ejection.

A bad start to their offense, but a good finish.

Assert Yourself into the Offense

We only see the set-up after the pass is made but based on the angle below.

But you can assert yourself in the offense here.

Tell the player who stopped in the middle to drive down and through to the left side wing. There is a lot of open water here.

Then call the name of your teammate up top and tell them to release to the right.

The middle player should clear out the drop on the center opening up entry lanes.

Or if the Stanford defender does not follow the drive, then there should be a potential passing lane to a catch and shoot right in front of the goal.

Example 3

I’m not sure what the Stanford Goalie, Christine Carpenter, was reading here.

There is potential for a ball side drive after the initial deep outlet pass, but USC can just foul and drop on the drive like they did here, and then there are no other options from that wing.

And there was a bigger opportunity on the right side, at the bottom of your screen.

Her teammate on her right side has body position, a lead, and open water to the goal.

The Stanford goalie could try to make this pass herself. She has the arm to do so, and the pass would probably lead to a penalty drawn.

If Carpenter doesn’t want to make the throw or doesn't think she can, then call for this teammate to release.

Now it’s an easier downline pass.

Again, this comes back to scanning the whole pool before you make a decision.

And if we go back a few frames, her teammate is giving her the set-up I love to pass into.

She is grinding into her defender and getting her defender on her back and her outside hip. This creates a great open lane to the cage.

But you can see in the freeze frame that Carpenter is looking towards the center and the left side of the pool, and doesn't recognize the huge opportunity on her right side.

Example 4

Again, Carpenter stares down the left side. She never looks to her right, where she has a good counterattack developing.

You can see the ball at the top of your screen but look at the right side, the bottom of your screen.

Call for the player at half tank to release.

They then have the downline advance pass to the lefty.

The lefty’s defender will have to make the decision to press her or help on the Stanford player streaking ball side in the middle of the pool

The lefty will either have an easy pass to her teammate coming up the center, or she can take the ball in an attack the goalie.

She would then have the shot, maybe an inside pass to the player middle for a potential penalty, or even a potential cross pass to her teammate at the top of the screen, who has an inside position diving to the far post of the cage. She could make an easy dunk goal or draw a penalty.

But the Stanford goalie has made up her mind right from the start that she is going to the left side and never gives her right side a thought.

Again, USC is very worried about the Stanford lefty and Neushul when she posts up. It’s going to open up other Stanford players for drives and sliding into space, especially on the left side.

This isn’t to say that you should never pass to the left side. There are always going to be potential breakaways or 2 v 1s that develop on that side that you should pass into.

But for the most part, you are going to be attacking in a 6-man counter structure with most teams full of right-handers. Push the ball up the right side with good structure and see if you can get a quick score, an ejection, or a penalty.

If not, then you have lots of time left on your shot clock to break a press and then break a zone.

If it’s a 6-man counter and you pass it to the left, more than likely, you’re going to kill precious time on your shot clock and leave your teammates with less time to break the defense down properly.

One exercise cyclists practice is keeping one foot locked into the pedal while removing the other foot.

This forces the locked leg to do all the work, both pushing and pulling.

It's a hamstring-strengthening exercise.

To get faster and stronger on the pedals, you need strong quads and glutes for pushing down, plus strong hamstrings for pulling up. A powerful upswing adds more force to your overall pedaling.

While we spend lots of time working on the down stroke of our egg beaters to make them stronger and faster, we often neglect the "upswing" motion. The red part in the image below.

One way to improve this is to add ankle weights.

The goal is to speed up our lower leg's return to the ready position for the next downward thrust.

Start with adjustable ankle weights at a very light setting to get a feel for the movement.

Gradually increase the weight until it feels challenging, but not so heavy that it impedes bringing your leg back to the ready position. Too much weight will disrupt your eggbeater rhythm and form. Focus on maintaining proper form while practicing your normal eggbeater and recovery movements.

I like adding this exercise after completing a tough traditional weighted eggbeater drill.

When my pushing strength is depleted, it's the perfect time to work on strengthening the recovery stroke.

With the ankle weight on, I stay in one spot while eggbeatering, focusing on rotating my lower leg back to its externally rotated position and lifting it ready for the next downward push.

The workout is simple: 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off with hands out.

Once you've mastered this, you can progress to more challenging movements like the goalie in the video above.

Today’s highlight reel comes courtesy of Mr. Braeden Sanders.

Like last time I’ll pull some clips from it that I think can help us learn a few things for both goalies and field players.

You can watch the full video here.

Clip #1

I like the aggressive play here.

Braeden reads his teammate going passive on the back of the offensive player and that the offensive player was looking more for the call than a finish.

The field player got too close and kept their hand not the ball.

Braeden is able to poke the ball away because he does not have to come that far out. Coming too far out too son could tip the offensive player to go for the shot instead of trying to get the penalty call.

To be fair, this clip is couple years old and with the new fouling from behind rule this would still be a penalty today.

But still make the ref make the call. Go for the steal. If the ref calls penalty on your teammate so be it. Maybe you get away with a steal.

Clip #2

Not the best lob because it is coming from the worst angle for a right hander but I like the adjustment Braeden makes.

He initial goes for the lob with his right hand but thinks better and dives back and brings his left hand up to tip the lob away.

Clip #3

Another close range lob but again, he puts his lead hand (his left hand this time) back into the water and goes for the lob pulldown with his trail hand.

It allows him to make that second effort to block the ball after initially coming up on his legs in anticipation for the hard shot.

Clip #4

This is for field players.

DO NOT SHOOT THIS!

And especially not as a lob.

This is another bad angle lob for a right hander. The shot clock is winding down. The field player is under pressure and they throw up the Hail-est of Hail Mary shots.

This is never going in.

Braeden was even confused. He was expecting a hard shot to and he got an off-balanced from distance lob.

For the field player, let the clock wind down and then dump the ball.

Allow your team a chance to get back and play half court defense.

A shot like this could easily fuel a counter attack the other way.

A possession shot would be great. But that is a high hard corner shot to get the goalie to tip it out.

Not this.

Clip #5

A couple of blocks before this one show Braeden, blocking and pulling down the ball.

But in this clip he gets a hard shot and the ball goes flying out of bounds.

He got a good read on the ball. He went for a two hand pull down.

If you’re going for a two handed block you better be pulling this ball down instead of deflecting it out of bounds and giving the other team another possession in front of your goal.

Braeden does track the ball well after deflecting it though.

Clip #6

To my point in the clip above.

Here is another two handed block to the same side. This time the ball is pulled down and controlled.

The big difference? A weaker shot.

Braeden does control it and if I’m evaluating a highlight reel from a recruit I need to see you dominating weaker players and hopefully the top players too.

Clip #7 & 8

This clip is a series of clips for field players.

Where does each shot get blocked?

In the mid to low range.

These are not great shots. Each field player got Braeden to commit to his legs and come up out of the water.

Braeden shows them low hands and the field players still shoot into Braeden low hands.

Pay attention to where the goalie’s hands are when you get the up on a close range short like this.

If their arms are up high, then you go low or under their arm pits.

If they are low like Braeden’s then you need to go high or over the head.

The very first Clip the field player had all the time in the world to fake Braeden and move laterally towards center cage to give himself the best shot possible but no.

Mishandles the ball and then shoots straight down into an sinking Braeden.

Clip #9

Got to end on a full court goal!

Too bad whoever was filming did not give it the justice it deserved.

I loved this question on Reddit and it raises some important topics to discuss.

I am currently a junior in high school who plays water polo, and I am a goalie. I also play club. I am from the midwest and its not very popular here, but I found out about the sport my freshman year and loved playing. I had always thought about playing college but I never actually thought I could, but now I feel like I do want to play college, because I have a lot of fun playing at higher levels. The only issue with that is that I started playing in my freshman year, and I am on the JV team despite being good enough to play at a higher level. There are 2 senior goalies ahead of me on varsity, and the coaches don't take more than 2 goalies per level. Is there hope for me to play college? How do I get into it?

Starting Late

Can you get into college if you start playing later in your high school career?

Yes.

This goalie’s story sounds similar to mine.

But I didn't start playing water polo until the summer before my sophomore year.

Then my junior year I was cut from Varsity after hellweek/tryouts. There were two senior goalies ahead of me. But I was better.

It’s a long story but I was back on Varsity after a week and played through a 3 goalie rotation the entire season.

Surprise, surprise when we had a big game I was the goalie. At the end of the year, I was the only goalie on our team to make an all-league team. I told you I was better.

Then in my senior year, I had the position all to myself.

The only reason I got into water polo was because of my freshman P.E. class. We had 6-week rotations through various sports, including swimming.

Our P.E. teacher, who was also the swimming and water polo coach, would let us play "water polo" every Friday instead of swimming laps.

It was just jungle ball, but since I knew how to egg beater, I played goalie and blocked most shots. Both my best friend and I were in that class, and the coach invited us to try out for the water polo team.

If not for my best friend joining the team I probably wouldn't have joined either.

But from there I fell in love with the sport and I worked my ass off.

After my sophomore season ended, I showed up religiously to the weight room every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday before school with a few teammates and the Varsity coach. Luckily, my Dad was in the Navy and woke up daily at 4 am1 and he could drop me off at the school gym in the morning before I could drive myself.

During the off-season, I played for both my high school's club team and a new start-up club named San Diego Shores—this was before Doug Peabody.

I immersed myself completely—playing multiple games a week, playing tournaments every other weekend (sometimes playing on two different teams in the same tournament), driving up to Orange County to play better clubs, and sometimes attending two practices in a day. I packed in as much experience as possible between high school seasons.

This intense schedule is easier to maintain in California, where water polo is more established than in other parts of the country. The Midwest likely doesn't offer the same volume of playing opportunities between seasons.

While it's possible to advance quickly in the sport, your progress depends heavily on the opportunities available in your area to do so and how aggressively you pursue them.

What can you do if you don't have these opportunities in your area?

Drive to a practice with a bigger club with more talent on it. It helps if you have a teammate to go with you.

It costs money, but I've seen players come out to California for the summer to play with a more established club team to gain the experiences they won't get back home.

This could also increase your exposure to college coaches and the network of coaches they rely on. More on this below.

The Recruiting Hurdle

I’ll speak to the West Coast recruiting situation and I don't want to blow smoke up anyone’s ass.

Coming from the Midwest is a huge hurdle for a few reasons I’ll outline below.

Travel Budgets

Most schools have small travel and recruiting budgets, with only a few exceptions. They won't spend that money to fly out to the Midwest.

College coaches won't be able to see you play unless your club team travels west for major tournaments or competes in the Junior Olympics.

Lack of a Network

College coaches rely on their network of high school and club coaches to gain broader insights about potential recruits and discover new talent for their recruiting pipeline.

Most West Coast college coaches lack connections with high school coaches in the Midwest.

24-Man Roster Limits

Before roster limits, coaches could more easily take chances on unknown players. Now they need much more certainty about a recruit's ability to compete at the college level.

With limited roster spots, there's no room to give players two years to develop.

Lesser Competition

All else being equal, if the choice comes down between you and the starting goalie from somewhere like J Serra, the college coach will likely choose the J Serra goalie. This is because they come from an established program, with coaches that the college coaches trust to develop high school talent, and they compete against the best high school schools and club teams.

It all comes down to experience level.

With today's roster limitations, college coaches must minimize risks in their recruiting decisions. They're hesitant to take chances on unknown players when roster spots are scarce.

Instead, they prefer players who have extensive experience in high-level high school competitions and arrive as more polished athletes.

The Best Option

Although it is not official yet, it appears that more than likely due to the Diego Pavila lawsuit against the NCAA, Junior College years will no longer count toward your NCAA eligibility.

If you're from an area that doesn't offer enough high-quality games to advance your skills, consider heading West to play for a top junior college water polo team.

This will expand your network connections since most college coaches, both on the East and West Coasts, communicate regularly with top JC coaches.

You'll also face tougher competition, giving college coaches a clear benchmark to evaluate your playing ability.

“Help Me, Help You!”

If you asked most coaches, I think they would all say that they would love to find a player from an overlooked area who becomes a phenomenal college player.

However, given the barriers I outlined above, this is like the scene from Jerry Maguire. You need to help the coaches find you and derisk their recruiting decision.

Girls CIFs in Southern California just wrapped up and a couple highly clips stood out to me.

San Diego CIF Division 1 Finals

The first one comes from the Division 1 Final down here in San Diego featuring Rancho Bernardo vs. Patrick Henry.

Rancho Bernardo won in OT on this play.

The problem with these clips is we’re missing a lot of context.

Like how did the RB player get so wide open?

Why is the pass to her falling short?

Was the RB goalie under pressure? Did the goalie even throw the pass? Because that pas should’ve been dry to the RB player’s hand.

But let’s focus on where the RB player takes the shot from and where the Patrick Henry goalie is when the shot is taken.

The RB player receives the ball right around 5m.

When she turns to shoot the Patrick Henry Goalie is way off her line. It looks like she is out past the 2m line.

And her positioning looks even worse after the goal.

Again, without the full context of the game, it looks like the goalies was coming out to pick up the RB player as the pass was coming in.

Then the goalie realized she made a mistake. The RB player was too far away and the pass was not overthrown.

The Patrick Henry goalie got caught in No Man’s Land.

No Man’s Land is where you can’t make a steal and you open the whole cage behind for al types of shots. You’re only hope is for a bad regular shot that you can make a save on.

But even then you don’t have the best angle to cover the cage behind you on a regular shot.

You have given the shooter too many options to score when you’re in No Man’s Land.

Some basics to not get caught here on this play.

When the ball is on offense you should be out on the 2-3m line with your hips up and arms sculling out in front of you. You want to be ready to explode into a sprint. The longer the pool the further you can come out and if the risk of a full court shot is not there you can come out further too.

The idea is to be ready to come out and cover a lead breakaway especially if you read the pass as an over pass or a lead pass to the opposing player.

If the lead pass is too far out in front you can steal it.

But if the pass is going to be on target or short like the one above. You can easily drop your hips back and slide slightly back into a a good position in the cage while still in your blocking base.

You haven’t overextended yourself or put yourself in a bad position to play the coming shot.

In this specific example, the goalie would see that the ball is falling short so she would drop her hips and stay in the cage. Also, since the pass is short it gives her teammates time to pick up the RB player.

If the goalie was back on her line with better angles to protect the cage, it would hold the RB shooter up and allow her teammates to pick up the player and prevent the shot.

Souther Section CIF Open Division Finals

The next clip comes from the Open Division Finals game for the Southern Section between Oaks Christian and Newport Harbor.

This is a different way to get caught in No Man’s Land.

We don’t need a lot of missing context for this goal.

Let’s look at this set-up.

We have an Oaks Christian lefty on her strong side with the ball.

Newport is pressing her but the ball is up in a shooting position.

The center forward is set around 5 meters and the center defender isn’t in the best position but she is behind the center forward and sliding into a better position.

The goalie decides they need to come way off their line and cover the entry pass. It looks like the Newport goalie is around 4 meters out.

And then this happens.

A lob goal on a wide open cage with a bar down for added effect.

She got caught in No Man’s Land again.

The Newport goalie did not need to come out and nor should they have come out on this play.

The Oaks Christian player is a lefty on their strong shooting side. The Newport press is not forcing the OC player to put the ball down in the water. She has the ball up.

The press also did not push the OC player to the lane line.

The center forward is set at the 5 meter line. Let the entry come. Force her to beat you with a set shot from 5 meters out.

The pressing Newport player is so close to the center forward that they could easily turn around and crash on an entry pass.

But by coming off her line and getting caught in No Man’s Land the Newport goalie give the OC player a wide open cage to shoot a soft lob on.

It’s Ok to come out and cover entry passes or pick up lead players but you better be making the right read given the situation or you’re giving the opposing team easy goals.

Here are some guidelines for when to call back a teammate to defend against a cherry picker.

A cherry picker is an opposing player who stays on their offensive end (your defensive end) instead of returning to play defense.

They wait for your team to turn over the ball or miss a shot, hoping to get an easy score while wide open near your goal.

When to Call Back

Call back a teammate early in the game.

Since all games start at 0-0, you don't want to give up an easy score that could decide the game later—especially if you end up losing by just one goal.

Call back when you have the lead at any point. There's no reason to risk giving up an easy goal that reduces your advantage.

Call back when you're losing but there's still plenty of time left.

If the score is close—within 1-3 goals—and there's substantial time remaining, focus on playing 5-on-5. You don't need to risk a 6-on-5 situation that could lead to another quick goal against you, making your comeback even harder.

However, as your opponent's lead grows larger, you can consider aggressive 6-on-5 plays with more time left on the clock.

When Not To Call Back

Based on the guidelines above, don't call back a teammate when you're trailing by several goals with limited time or timeouts remaining.

With few possessions left, you need to maximize every scoring opportunity. The risk of giving up another goal while playing with an extra attacker is worth the potential reward, especially if you're having trouble scoring at even strength.

When you're down by 3 or more, the decision is straightforward. However, it becomes trickier when you're only down by 1-2 goals or still have timeouts.

Remember, these are just guidelines—each game's end-game situation is unique and requires different strategic decisions.

The full video is below. Watch it and see what you notice first before I start breaking it down.

Clip 1

Right off the bat we have a one v one save.

Any save that stops a high scoring opportunity is a great on in my book.

But…

He is turning his body away from the save. Maybe it is a onetime deal because of the nature of the shot but it is something to watch out for.

Turning away from the save is not a good fundamental lunge.

Clip 2

There it is again three saves into the highlight reel.

Turning away and swinging at the shot.

We’re not going to have the perfect save every time.

Stopping any goal is our top priority. But when it is a highlight reel, I want to see proper lunge blocking technique. If this is for recruiting purposes, I would be turned off. At the college level we don’t have a lot of time for project players or the roster space anymore. We need to move onto higher level individual and team play.

Clip 3

The very next clip is a great one.

This is an excellent read.

Mr. Noyes sees the offensive player trying to get an inside turn but keeps their hand on the ball. And when the player puts their head under water, Mr. Noyes pokes the ball out of the player’s hand for a great timely steal.

Clip 4

Here it is again.

Body turning on the penalty save.

Clip 5

This is the type of save I would like to see. The shot isn’t the best but Mr. Noyes executes a good fundamental lunge block and keeps his eyes on the ball the entire time. He also blocks the ball down where he can easily control it.

Clip 6

This is less about the save and more about the team defense in front of Mr. Noyes.

His defenders on the right of your screen should not be dropping.

The Offensive player with the ball is in deep. Mr. Noyes teammate who is pressing the ball is also close enough to turn around and steal any entry pass if that happens. Plus, the center forward is set to the ball.

By dropping off the left hander, Mr. Noyes teammate left open a perfect opportunity for a catch and shoot while Mr. Noyes is out of position.

Luckily, the left hander pulls the ball down and fakes before shooting allowing Mr. Noyes to slide over and block the eventual shot.

It’s tough for the goalie in this situation to remind his teammates to press away from the ball. But it should be worked on in practice and in film review that you don’t drop off the opposite creating an open catch and shoot opportunity. Especially when the set and the player with the ball are all covered.

Clip 7

I was curious as to why this was included at first. It’s an average steal that starts the clip.

But then he quickly gets his head up to scan the pool and delivers a great pass for the quick strike goal.

Besides a full court goal this is the next best offensive thing you can do as a goalie.

Clip 8

Instead of letting the ball hit him and absorbing the ball to control it down in front of him, Mr. Noyes bats the ball forward.

The clip cuts out right before we can see you gets the ball. I’m betting since it cut out that his opponent got the ball back.

Yes, prevent a goals as a best as possible. But if you find yourself in a good blocking angle like this then you need to pul the ball down and control it.

Each team starts with the same number of potential possessions. Then the game starts. One of your goals as a team is to limit the other’s team’s total possessions.

Blocking the ball back to the other team gives them another possession.

Clip 9

I like the accuracy on this pass and it leads to another quick strike. It’s pretty demoralizing for the other team when you turn a defensive stop into an immediate counter attack goal.

We’ll ignore how the other team’s goalie handled the shot.

Clip 10

How do I know he is keeping his eye on the ball and tracking it all the way through his block?

Because he even follows the ball after his block and finds it coming back down.

Yes, ideally the ball is not getting blocked up into the air but it’s a good example of what happens when you’re tracking the ball well. You know where the ball goes even after you block it.

Clip 11

This is not about the sea but my biggest pet peeve with field blockers.

This!

Field players afraid of the ball and turning the head and body away from the block.

You can’t block what you can’t see.

The shooter is not going to hit you in the face! They want to score.

You should be willing to turn your face into the shot to prevent the ball from getting to the goal.

Hockey players will dive in front of hockey pucks to block them! Talk about something the hurts when it hits you in the face.

Clip 12

An accurate and aggressive pass. I like it.

Obviously, the game situation dictates when to take this risks.

And the field player should’ve gone for the penalty drawn instead of doing whatever shot that was.

Clip 13

I’ll get Mr. Noyes out of here with a good one.

Any penalty save is a good one.

But when you do it to seal the victory, it’s even better.

I’ll excuse SDprepinsider for the hyperbole because it is a social post and its high school sports but that is not an insane backhand goal.

The ball goes right over the goalie’s head.

It should’ve been an easy block for the goalie if they had their hands up in a neutral but ready blocking position and they were heavy on their legs.

Something like this.

Even with a slight elevation out of the water and the ball would’ve hit the goalie in the face.

You don’t have a lot of time to react to a shot coming from the center forward. But the center is so close to the goal that you can play the angles and use your body to take up a good portion of the goal.

More times than not, you’re going to jump to the side your center defender is not on. That is the opening for the center forward to make their move towards.

Then after getting into position your hands come up, you get heavy on your legs like Genai does in the image above, and then you walk forward to cut the angle down further.

And if they get off a quick shot that you weren't ready for at least your body and arms are in the way to potentially block the ball.

For part 2, we’re going to assume that everything we should’ve done in Part 1 was done and we fixed that problem.

So watch the clip again and focus on the bottom of your screen., the goalie’s right side.

The problem is here.

The other post player, the 6 post is beat.

Again, I’m using this numbering system on man-up.

And then the CCHs player cuts off the Sacred Heart player creating another inside position scenario with a free lane to the goal.

Just like what you did on your left side.

You want to bring the field player out in front of your beaten teammate middle to cover the inside position.

The timing could be tricky here but if you work from your left to right. you cover up the inside position at the top of your screen and then cover up the inside position on your right side.

Then you would send this player wide to the wing and all inside positions are killed.

To recap

The more Likely Scenario

But in reality, you’re more than likely you’ll have to deal with your right side when it looks like this.

That field player out in front of the beat 6 post stops to find “his man” and press him. Instead of picking up for his teammate who is beat middle.

This is going to create a wide open 2 v 1 on your weak side.

In this situation you’re going to move the teammate closest to you to pick up the CCHs player driving middle.

Then you’re going to call the field player who stopped up at the top to dive down deep to the deep wing.

Then you’re going to leave your teammate that was beat off the 6 post up top.

Remember clear concise directions.

Call your teammate by name.

Tell them where exactly you want them to go.

Point there if you can.

Give your teammate a specific cap number to pick up.

And once you start getting your teammates in the right position they will helpfully start communcicating with your other teammates too. It creates a cascade of communication that clears up all confusion.

Right Side Wing?

You may be thinking, “doesn't this leave the deep wing on the strong side wide (your right side) open for a cross pass?”

Yes.

But remember from Part 1, you already have your teammate that was beat on the 5 post picking up the release at the top of your screen. And you should’ve clearly told them to press and not to foul.

They simply need to contain the release. Not foul them.

Get your teammate to press the release enough so that the offensive player keeps the ball in the water to protect it. Your teammate can even lean heavier on the offensive player’s right side to force them to spin back towards their goal top protect the ball. Anything to keep the release from sizing up a wide open cross pass.

This gives your teammates on your right side time to get into good defensive positions.

But yes, If your teammate does not press the release or fouls them right away then the cross pass is open.

If this happens you know where the ball is going. It’s the only open person. You can anticipate the pass and beat them to that side. You still have teammates diving down that can put pressure on the ball.

And it’s a longer pass that is hopefully under pressure that could force a bad pass. It’s better than a shorter wide open pass to the player in the front of the cage.

The clip below is from Sacred Heart Prep vs Cathedral Catholic.

Cathedral is in the white hats and Sacred Heart is in the dark caps.

Cathedral Catholic is attacking their front court from right to left as I often recommend doing.

The image above probably gives it away but pay attention to Sacred Heart’s transition defense.

What goes wrong?

And think about what should've been done.

First there is a clear communication breakdown right from the start of the transition.

The goalie should be scanning their transition defense and seeing where the problems are.

Right away there is a problem on the goalie’s left side. The side where the ball is outletted to.

Sacred Heart’s center forward who was playing the 5 post on man up is burned and about a half body length behind the person he is swimming with and trying to guard.

This is the numbering system I’m referencing for man-up.

The goalie needs to see this and communicate with this field player to crash middle and cover up for their center forward.

And then tell his center forward to go and pick up the first release in the flat.

Even right here you can see the field player look middle and see that the CCHS player has inside position and a lead on his Sacred Heart teammate but does not come back to take away his inside position.

He starts to make a move but pulls up.

And then sits vertically in the water while guarding no one as the ball is entered to the CCHS player with great position who is going to either going to draw a penalty or an ejection. An ejection in this case.

Luckily for Sacred Heart, CCHS misses their shot attempt on the man-up.

How to Fix This?

The first step in transition defense as the goalie is to scan the pool and quickly assess where you have problems.

Most teams want to work their counter attack from your left to your right so start your scan this way too.

Do you have a problem on your left side?

Yes!

Your center forward is trailing the play and in a bad position.

Can you bring someone back to cover for your center forward and take away the inside position?

Yes.

Now you need to call that player by name. Tell them the direction you want to go. Point to where you want them go if they look up at you after calling their name. And give them a cap number of the player you want them to pick up if possible.

It should be very short directions and to the point.

“John!”

“Middle! Cover Middle!” [while pointing with your right hand to the spot you want them to go]

“Number 4!”

Then once he is going where you need him you need to tell your center forward, if they haven't already down so, to rotate out to the release in the flat.

Again, say their name. Give them the direction where you want them to go and a cap number.

“Jack!”

“Left! Press ball!”

“Number 5!”

“Press no foul!”

We want to get the ball stuck on this side when the other team gets into their front court offense.

So once you have your problem sorted out on your left side and the other team doesn't not have an advantage anymore. Go into a press and pin the ball on their weak side. That's why we don't want to foul the release.

The Right Side

There is also a problem on the goalie’s right side at the bottom of the image below.

But I will address this side next week…

Below is a video I recently watched on the accuracy of high school football player rankings.

If you aren't familiar with them, a 5-star ranking means this player is one of the top 32 recruits in their high school class and they are likely to be drafted high in the first round of the NFL draft.

The video wants to know how accurate per position the rating agency, 24/7 Sports, was in predicting who made it to the NFL.

The video found that the ratings were the best for positions like Running Back and Defensive End. You're measuring their physical prowess and athleticism. Which are easily measured and easy to compare across multiple players.

The most inaccurate ratings or the biggest misses were at Quarterback, Middle Linebacker, and Offensive Line.

Josh Allen the current front-runner for MVP voting was an unrated QB out of high school.

3 x Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes was a 3-star recruit. A 3-star recruit is just expected to be a solid contributor to a power 5 college football team and with the potential to be drafted into the NFL.

Why are these 3 positions so hard to get right?

*Spoiler Alert*

Intangibles.

The unmeasurable skills required to be great at these positions.

Offensive linemen are just as big and strong as their defensive counterparts, often bigger. Whereas Defensive linemen “see ball, get ball”, offensive linemen have to make smart decisions together as a unit and as individuals.

Middle linebackers are considered the quarterbacks on defense. They have to think and respond to the down and distance, what the other team likes to do in those situations, the offense’s formation, and then communicate with their teammates what needs to be done.

Quarterbacks are arguably the most important position in all of sports. The position is not just about arm strength and athleticism, otherwise, Tom Brady wouldn’t have 7 Super Bowl rings.

Intangibles exist in every sport and at every position. Below are the ones I can think of.

• mental toughness and resilience

• composure under pressure

• adaptability to changing situations

• emotional intelligence and team awareness

• competitive drive and self-motivation

• decision-making ability

• focus and concentration

• coachability

• positive attitude

• game intelligence and strategic thinking

If I had to rank water polo positions like football positions from the highest amount of intangibles required to be great to the lowest, I would put goalie at the top.

Yeah, I know I’m biased but it is the most unique position in our sport and I have seen a lot of goalies with all the desired physical attributes fail to rise to the expectations of their athletic abilities.

This is usually the part where I provide a drill or a workout to help you improve these areas. But I can’t.

These are intangibles. They come from within.

Yes, on some of them a coach can help like Decision Making Ability and Game intelligence and Strategic Thinking. But only up to a point. A coach can review game tape with you and help you understand what was a better decision to make. A coach can help you understand how to see the game as a whole and the bigger strategy at play but it’s up to you to internalize the lessons and then apply it during the next practice or game. It’s the old cliche of “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.”

My best advice here is the classic fake it till you make it.

Identify the top athletes that you admire and then dive into every aspect of their routines, on and off the field of play. Try to find the parts of their routines where they are working on their intangibles and then try them out for yourself. Not everything will work or feel right. So pick and chose from several athletes. Then after a while you can adapt their routines to better fit your personality and the areas you really want to improve on.

The catch is this desire to improve your intangibles is itself an intangible asset. No one can coach that.

I’m bringing back an old drill, again I’m repopulating my old website on here as best as possible, but it’s one I still use often.

A high corner shot to angled rebound shot.

Focus

The focus of the drill is legging up big to make a save on a high corner shot but we do not control the ball.

Either the ball bounces off our arm back or off the bar and back into the field of play where the opposing team picks up the rebound in front of the cage but at an angle and gets a secondary shot on goal.

As goalies we want to work on our ability to recover quickly after a big save, find the loose ball, and then get into a proper close range blocking position to make the second save.

Set-Up

One shooter at the point with a ball.

Two shooters around both deep wings but pinched in tight where you’re most likely to pick up a rebound. Each shooter has a ball too.

If you only have extra shooter than work one side first then the other for each goalie.

The shooter at the point legs up to shoot a high and hard shot to the corner. Their trying to get the goalie to block it but not control the ball or bounce the ball off the bar.

Then alternating sides one shooter at the deep wing attacks the cage with their ball like they just picked up a rebound. They then go for a quick off the water shot or they can drop their hips to shoot the ball but it has to be quick. In. theory there are defenders around the bal too to close out the player with the ball.

Drill in Action

When in transition Defense the most common place where you’ll be down/trailing is in the backcourt at your center forward position.

It helps to have a pre-set direction for where you want your center forward to go in transition D.

It helps your center forward know exactly where they need to go in transition defense so they’re not wasting time or energy. It enables you to communicate to the rest of your team where you want them to go and where to pick up for your center forward. It lightens everyone’s cognitive load.

In a normal 6-on-6 counterattack, teams want to work their right to left or your left to right.

When everyone gets down the pool you’ll have something that looks like the two set-ups below.

Or your right side post will be open.

The wings and flats are in their general area. Your opponent's first guy down the center of the pool will either post up to the left or right side creating space for their center defender to drive through and post up on the opposite post.

Their goal is to have your defense press everyone else which forces your center forward to chase their center defender to the post.

It tires your center forward out and it puts them in a bad defensive position where your opponent could earn an ejection against them.

You don't want that.

You want to pin the ball on your left side, your opponent’s weak side, especially if they don't have a left-hander.

You will have your left-side flat defender crash center and pick up the player driving to the open post.

Or this.

The final set-up will look something like a 4-2 offense that your opponent may keep or rotate out of.

This transition defense rotation also keeps your center forward away from defending your right side which is going to be filled with your opponent's best right-handed drivers and shooters.

You don't want your center forward playing drive defense. Again, it tires them out and potentially puts them in bad defensive positions where they can get kicked out. And when thinking about your transition to offense your center forward is further away from the center of the pool and it potentially puts them in the position of having to release the ball from you. You don’t want them hanlding the ball. You want them streaking to the center.

Your left side is going to be filled with right-handers who are better playmakers and passers. This should be less drive defense for your center. If the other team does have a lefty who likes to shoot you can camp your center forward on them and have your other teammates on the left side work a zone.

This is the ideal set-up for a normal 6-on-6 defensive transition where your center forward is only slightly trailing the center defender.

If the other team is way up out of the backcourt then we’ll have to move into a 5-man shell until your center forward can get back to defense.

But even then you’ll want them going to your left and picking up your opponent's weak side. It puts your center forward into a better defensive position and it keeps them near the top of your defense so they don’t have to swim as far when transitioning to offense.

I call the pass below the Homerun Pass.

Every goalie loves making the deep pass into a tight window that leads to an immediate score.

The assist is the only consistent offensive metric goalies get. It is an absolute heart breaker when a field player misses an breakaway and screws up our assist.

But after watching it, is it a perfect Homerun Pass?

No.

The pass is late.

The field player rolls onto their back and it is here where the field player wants the ball and he wants it dry.

And the perfect pass would’ve been on time and to their right hand.

But the goalie makes the right adjustment on then late pass and the field player recognizes that the pass is not going to be a dry pass and readjusts his body position.

The goalie puts the ball in the water away from the trailing defender and short enough that the goalie can’t make a play on it.

The ball is also in a spot where his teammate can immediately get his shooting hand on the ball, push down on the ball to pop his hips into a shooting position, and take a high percentage shot.

Was it the Right Choice?

When you watched the clip did you notice anything else?

Watch it again but this time with audio.

That’s me yelling to outlet the ball to the right.

Why?

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts about counter attacks, most teams are dominated by right handers and you want to work right to left in the counter.

But the biggest reason was it was a 4 on 1.

As you can hear me say, the ball should’ve been outletted earlier to the right side as a lead pass to player 1. It’s a shorter and safer pass to make.

Player 1 can bring the ball up the right side pulling the goalie towards him and forcing the defender circled in red to make a decision about who to pick up.

Then as player 1 attacks the cage with the ball up he will have at a minimum two guys to throw a cross pass to. In theory, they should have an easier shot as the goalie has to move laterally to get in front of them.

I’m not a ends justify the means type of guy but our goalie did shut me up. He took a risk when it wasn’t risky. We had a comfortable lead heading in to half. A missed pass here and a counter back against us wouldn’t have affected the outcome of the game. And the Homerun Pass with a goal at the end is just demoralizing. It’s a quick strike off an opponent’s error and hitting right before the half is going to disrupt the opponent’s ability to rally during the halftime break.

But if you know you have the homerun pass take a quick look to the other side to make sure you don’t have an easier pass that will give you the same outcome.

A common question is when should I come off my line and cover an entry pass to the center?

It’s a case-by-case basis but the clip below is a good example of when to come forward off your line and cover a potential entry pass.

The clip below is from Socal Black 18s vs Mission from the 2022 Junior Olympics.

The ball starts at the top of the screen and the White Team, runs a pick play, and they get a post up with position on the same side of the ball.

But the Black Team keeps their press and their post defender reestablishes ball side position on the White Team’s post up.

But the play also has a secondary post-up to the nearside of our screen.

And the White post-up player has a great position for a wing entry.

The White Team moves it there but the Black defender stays in a press and makes sure the White wing player is off-balanced when he finally controls the ball.

This removes the White wing player as a shooting threat and most importantly it allows the Black Team goalie to come off his line and to cover any entry pass from the wing.

Then when a foul does occur. The Black wing defender quickly drops to cover the entry pass and the goalie drops back for an outside shot.

And then when the ball moves away from the near side wing the goalie drifts back towards his line to cover any outside shot again.

This is like the shooting drill I wrote about recently.

When you’re in a press and the center or a post up has a position to the side where the ball is not, you have to be ready for the ball to move to that side.

When you're in a press and the ball does move to this side you have to be ready to anticipate and jump on any catch and entry pass. Or, like in this clip if the pass is mishandled and your teammate continues to press and keeps the offensive player off-balanced and out of a shooting position, it allows you to come forward off your line and sit on an entry pass.

Then you have to be ready to recover back to your normal position once a foul occurs or your press breaks down.

A question to answer later is what are these two top defenders doing?

All the action is underneath them and the defender towards the top of screen can come back underneath the ball and still cover two players on the White Team.

A question I got after the Olympics was about hand position on man down specifically when the ball was up in either of these two spots.

They had watched Adrian Weinberg of Team USA and Soma Vogel of the Hungarian team playing it like a shot from the center. Heavy on their legs with hands and arms up.

Adrian did it a lot and Soma tended to do this when a player up top moved closer towards the goal. Otherwise, Soma tended to play it in the standard vertical position with hands in the water but very light.

I was asked if they should play it the same way? Hands out instead of hands in like a normal outside shot?

Primary Blocking Zones & Trust

First, we need to understand why they played it like this.

Everyone on defense during man down has primary blocking zones for each position of the ball. For goalies, the primary blocking zone is overhead and then halo.

When the ball is up top, Weinberg and Vogel are blocking their primary zones with their hands up.

They also trust their teammates to be in their primary blocking zones. Their teammates are all professional water polo players and some of the best in the world so it is easy to trust them.

By taking away the overhead shot and halo the goalies are forcing the shots from up top to go towards a side where their teammates should have multiple blocks in the way. The goalies are also trying to entice the shooter to go low. A low shot on man-down is tough. There are a lot of bodies in the way.

If you want to play the ball this way you have to ask yourself how good are my teammates at holding their blocking zones and how good are they at field blocking?

Even if you’re tall and your teammates are good shot blockers I don't like playing the ball up top like this. Bringing your arms and hands up and going heavy on your legs gives the player with the ball a lot of information about where you can and can't block. You’re making it easier on them.

Playing it vertically, heavy on your legs, and light hands gives the player with the ball less information about what you can and can’t cover.

There are exemptions.

As I said earlier Soma would play with his hands out when a shooter moved in closer to the goal. The time for him to react is much shorter so he leans on his strong legs and size to give him a chance at blocking the ball or forcing the shot into one of his teammates’ blocks.

Height & Leg Strength

Second, both goalies are tall.

Vogel is listed at 6’6” and Weinberg is listed at 6’5”.

With their hands out in these positions, they can’t lunge as far. But they are tall enough that they can still reach for a block with a slight lunge from a hands-out position.

They also have incredible leg strength and can hold this position for a long time.

High out of the water and a big body means they are still taking up a good portion of the goal in this position,

How tall are you and how long could you hold this position?

Lateral Movement

With hands out, you can’t lunge laterally as far.

It also slows your ability to move laterally around the goal to get in position.

You have to bring your hands down and then slide. Whereas, if you were playing the ball up top with your hands light in the water they are already there to help you slide laterally to get into position.

In general, when the ball is up at the top two positions on man down have your hips beneath you in a vertical position. You are heavy on your legs but you still have your hands light in the water to assist in your ability to lunge and slide laterally on any pass.

With the new 2-meter rule teams will start in the classic 4-2.

Then they will execute a heavy shift and will park a guy just outside the pylon and near the goal line.

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One of the more common shifts is to rotate heavily to their right, your left. Especially if their right side (your left) deep wing is right-handed. But teams will still do this shift with left-handers at the deep wing.

The eventual goal is to get the ball to this deep wing with two potential passing lanes to the post players.

The closest post player, which I number the 6 post, is high just above the 2-meter line to get a catch and shoot from the wing.

The far post, which I number the 5 post, is just on the 2-meter line or slightly inside of it following the ball. They’re looking for the over-the-top lead pass to slam into the cage.

I’ll see goalies step slightly into the goal to have a blocking angle on the deep wing or they may come all the way to the post like they’re expecting the deep wing to be a shooter.

But you have to keep this rule in the back of your mind. When there is a heavy shift to your left, that is not where the play is finishing. It’s going to be on the other side.

When the ball rotates to the deep wing on this shift they’re looking for the post players. Usually the far post.

When the ball rotates here, instead of slightly stepping back step up ever so slightly.

Open up your left hip to have an angle to dive into the cage just in case the deep wing does take a shot.

It’s similar to the body and cage positions in this video with Jack Bowen.

But by stepping up, you are putting yourself in the way of the passing lane and you can potentially steal it.

Game Clip

Watch the clip below to see this in action.

It’s quick.

The ball doesn't stay long in the deep wing’s hand. The goalie doesn't have time to get into the right position on the ball. He doesn’t open his left hip all the way to be able to dive into the goal to block a potential shot by the wing.

But the deep wing has been sitting there most of the man-down possession. So the goalie knows that whenever he gets the ball again, the wing will look to feed the far post with an over-the-top lead pass.

The goalie stays up slightly in the passing lane.

When the pass happens, the goalie lunges up and pulls down the steal.

As a bonus, we see the goalie after securing the ball with two hands instinctively dump the ball to his teammate coming out of the box.

It helps that the goalie you’re watching is 6’7”.

But no matter your height, with the new 2-meter rule this deep wing to the far post pass will be a common way to score out of a man-up. Step up into the passing lane and force the other team to make the perfect pass.

A story I heard once about the late great Bill Walton was that as he was up in the air pulling in a rebound he was already looking down the court to see who to pass to to push his team’s fastbreak.

You can’t take your eyes off the ball mid-block to look down the pool to see who to pass to.

But as quickly as possible you need to corral the ball, get it up into a passing position, and get the ball up into your counterattack.

You are the first pass of the counterattack so you can set your team up for success or failure

The clip below from Socal Black vs Mission is an example of a failure

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I’ve said many times before, as you move up in playing levels your counterattack scoring opportunities are going to come from a full team counterattack and less from individual breakaways.

Having the right 6-on-6 counterattack structure and attacking ti quickly is key.

The majority of your team is going to be right-handed. So you want to move your 6-on-6 counterattack from right to left.

The first pass should’ve been to a short release on the right side near the half tank.

This release pass would pull a defender towards them. Most likely this defender.

This opens up a lane for this guy to counter hard to the post.

But there is no early release and the ball does not get out of the goalie’s hands quickly.

You as the goalie need to be yelling your teammate’s name to release.

If he did open up and get the early release then he would make the next pass up the same side of the pool to the deeper release.

This pulls his defender wide with him continuing to open up the driving lane to the near side post for their last teammate coming up the pool.

But none of that happens.

The goalie sits on the ball waiting for someone to release instead of calling for his teammates on the right side to release for the ball.

The goalie burns a lot of precious clock time sitting on the ball and then it finally ends up here.

And then more time is wasted as he swims the ball up into the offense.

But look at all this space.

Yes, they have a set to the left side of the pool. And I know the common lesson for goalies is to pass the ball up to the side you are set on.

But that set will still be there later in the clock. Right now you are pushing a full team counter. You’re looking to take advantage of a defense that is out of position.

If you get the ball up to the right side on the counterattack and the ball moves up to the deep wing. Then you have all that space to attack to either get a goal or an ejection on a defender out of postion.

The deep wing can attack the baseline with the ball.

This allows either the player who should've been the early release to attack the space and rive on his defender.

Or it allows that trailing teammate to continue countering and attack that right-side post.

If nothing comes of the counterattack, you can stay in a double post-formation or clear out along the baseline and work the ball back over to the left side for an entry or a shot from the right-hander’s strong side.

Correct Counterattack Structure & Release

I will preface this by saying it is not the best execution of what I talked about above. It develops slower than I would like because it is coming out of a man down but it was the first example I could find and I don’t have all day to find the perfect clip.

Compare this counterattack versus the one above.

The ball moves up to the mid-tank release. Then it is moved up to the front line and wide. Both moves pull their defenders out wide into a press.

Their teammate trailing the play pauses at the top but then sees all that open water in front of them and finishes his counterattack to the nearside post.

That stop-and-go move helped and pulled his defender out to him in a press. But the defender’s hips were down and the offensive player was able to drive past him and get him on his back.

The deep wing player enters the ball to the drive and the ejction is drawn.

A quick strike because they were able to finish their 6-on-6 counterattack structure.

Be Bill Walton

So be like Bill Walton rebounding.

Scan the pool as you corral your block and get the ball up the pool quickly so your teammates can attack the counterattack effectively. More times than not it is going to an early release to the right. Then a secondary release up the same side so your teammates can set up their appropriate 6-on-6 counter structure and take advantage of being up out of the backcourt.