Body Position in Water Polo: Master the Position Without Even Using a Ball

In water polo, everyone wants a harder shot, better accuracy and faster passes.

Most players start by thinking about the ball: grip, spin, release.
But the truth is simple:

If your body position is wrong, your real level will never appear in the game.

Before you worry about shooting drills with five balls in the cage, you need to master the same body position you’ll use without the ball. That’s why I love the “NO BALL NEEDED” idea. You remove all the distractions and train your body to get into the correct shape automatically—every single time.

In this blog we’ll go step-by-step through:

• How to set up your legs, hips and torso

• Exact position of your sculling arm and shooting arm

• Why the elbow must be above the ear line

• How to use your wrist like a sniper scope for accuracy

• How this body position transfers to shooting, passing and faking

• Daily no-ball drills you can do anywhere

At the end, I’ll link you to the full Body Position & Shooting course inside my online school and the detailed YouTube breakdown so you can see everything from multiple angles.

1. Why We Start Without the Ball

When players have the ball in their hand, they usually:

• Forget their legs

• Drop their hips

• Force the shot with only the arm

By taking the ball away, you can focus on:

• Leg position

• Hip position

• Torso angle

• Arm path

• Wrist finish

This is exactly the same concept I use in my online water polo courses and water polo classes: slow everything down, build the correct pattern, then add speed, pressure and finally the ball.

So for now, imagine you are in the pool, no ball, just you and your body.

2. The Basic Stance: Legs First

Everything starts from the legs.
If your legs are wrong, nothing above the water can be correct.

Staggered Leg Position

For a right-handed player:

• Left leg in front

• Right leg slightly behind

For a left-handed player:

• Right leg in front

• Left leg slightly behind

Think of it like a fighting stance or a boxing stance in the water.
Your front leg is your “brake” and balance; your back leg is your “engine” for power.

Knee and Foot Position

• Knees bent, not straight

• Feet turned slightly outward, ready to eggbeater

• Distance between your knees: about shoulder width

You don’t want your legs completely under you like a vertical pencil.
You want a small diagonal: front leg slightly more in front, back leg slightly more under your hip.

3. Hips: Always Underneath You

Your hips are the center of everything—shooting, passing, blocking.

• Hips should be underneath your shoulders, not behind you.

• Imagine a straight line from your ear → shoulder → hip → heel.

• If your hips drop behind you, your chest falls back and you lose power and control.

• this DOESN'T APPLY WHEN WE PLAY DEFENSE, IN DEFENSE HIPS ARE UP SO WE CAN COVER MORE SPACE!

4. The Eggbeater That Supports Everything

You can’t talk about body position without mentioning eggbeater.

For this shooting/passing body position:

• Your eggbeater must be constant and strong, not lazy.

• Think of pushing water down and slightly outward with your feet.

• The goal is to keep your hips high and stable while the upper body does the work.

If your eggbeater is weak:

• Your hips drop with every movement.

• Your torso wobbles when you start the shooting motion.

• Your accuracy disappears because your base is moving.

So every time you practice this no-ball body position, you are also training your eggbeater and legs—exactly what we do in my fundamentals water polo courses.

5. The Sculling Arm: Your Steering Wheel (Positioned at 11 o'clock)

Let’s start with the non-shooting arm (for right-handers, this is the left arm).

This arm has two jobs:

1. Sculling – constantly moving water to keep you stable and high

2. Balancing – helping the torso rotate and stay controlled

Sculling Position (hand at 11 o'clock)

• Elbow slightly bent

• Hand just under the surface

• Palm “feeling” the water

You’re drawing small side-to-side or figure-8 motions with your hand, always adjusting your balance. This is what lets your shooting arm relax and focus purely on the shot.

If your sculling arm is dead:

• Your body leans too much left or right.

• You start fighting to stay up while shooting.

• The shot loses coordination.

Treat your sculling arm as your steering wheel.
It keeps your body in the correct lane so the shot can be smooth and repeatable.

6. The Shooting Arm: Elbow Above the Ear Line

Now, the main star: your shooting arm.

Correct Arm Position

For a right-hander:

• Right elbow is clearly above the ear line

• Upper arm is back, roughly in line with your shoulder

• Forearm is relaxed, hand where the ball would be

Why above the ear line?

Because that’s the only way you can create a whip motion and get real power.

If your elbow is in line with the ear or even lower:

• Your motion turns into a push instead of a whip.

• You’re pushing the ball forward instead of snapping it.

• The shot feels heavy and slow, even if you’re strong.

Think of throwing a baseball or serving in tennis.
You never keep your elbow flat with your ear; you bring it high and then rotate and whip.

So in your no-ball drill, get used to this feeling:

Elbow high, above the head line, ready to come over the top.

7. Torso and Shoulders: Rotating Around Your Axis

Now connect the legs, hips and arms.

Your torso should be:

• Slightly rotated away from the target at the start

• Hips and shoulders “loaded” like a spring

• Chest open, not collapsed

When you shoot:

1. Hips start the rotation towards the target

2. Torso follows

3. Shoulders rotate

4. Shooting arm comes over the top

5. Wrist finishes towards the target

If your hips are under you and your legs are stable, this whole chain feels smooth and powerful.

8. The Wrist: Your Sniper

I like to call the wrist your sniper.

The legs give you height and power.
The hips and torso create the rotation.
The arm delivers the energy.

But the wrist decides exactly where the ball goes.

Wrist Orientation

At the release:

• Your wrist should be pointing at the target

• Fingers relaxed but directed towards the exact spot you want

• Follow-through finishes where you look

If the wrist is sideways, loose or not aligned with the target:

• The ball will drift left or right

• You’ll feel like you’re “close” but never exactly hitting the corner

So every time you do this no-ball shot motion, imagine:

• You’re holding the ball

• Your wrist snaps directly at the top left, top right, or wherever you choose

• The sniper never lies—where the wrist aims, the ball follows

9. Shooting Motion: Step-by-Step (No Ball → Full Shot)

Let’s build the shot in stages.

Stage 1 – Pure No-Ball Motion

1. Get into your stance: front leg, back leg, hips underneath you.

2. Sculling arm working, shooting elbow high above the ear line.

3. Slowly rotate hips and torso, bring the arm over the top.

4. Snap the wrist at the “imaginary target.”

5. Hold the finish for a second. Check:

   • Did my hips stay high?

   • Did my elbow stay above the ear?

   • Did my wrist finish at the target?

Repeat 10–20 times from each angle (straight, 45° left, 45° right).

Stage 2 – Add an Imaginary Ball

Now do the same, but visualize the ball in your hand:

• Feel the weight.

• Imagine the grip.

• Hear the splash of the shot in your mind.

Nothing changes in your body position.
You’re simply adding more mental focus on the release.

Stage 3 – Add a Light Ball or Tennis Ball

To keep mechanics clean, you can use:

• A tennis ball

• A small rubber ball

• A very light water polo ball

Because it’s light, your body will stay long and fast, and you won’t cheat with bad body position.

Stage 4 – Full Shot with Real Ball

Only now do you pick up a normal ball:

• Same stance

• Same hips under you

• Same sculling arm

• Same elbow above the ear line

• Same wrist sniper

You’ve trained the pattern without distraction.
Now you just add power and speed.

10. Passing: Same Body, Smaller Finish

Passing is not a completely different movement.

It’s the same body position, but with:

• Slightly less rotation

• Shorter arm path

• Softer wrist finish

The legs and hips still work.
Your elbow is still high.
Your wrist is still pointing at the target.

For a strong, accurate pass:

1. Get into the same stance.

2. Hips under you, eggbeater strong.

3. Rotate less than for a shot, maybe 50–60%.

4. Snap the wrist towards your teammate’s hand, not just their body.

Again, the sniper wrist controls everything. Passing becomes very simple once your body position is automatic.

11. Angles: What You Should See from Every Side

In the full video and course we break this down from multiple angles because it helps you self-correct.

From the front:

• Hips high, not sinking

• Shoulders level

• Elbow clearly visible above the head line

From the side:

• Slight diagonal body angle (not a pencil)

• Hips under the shoulders

• Shooting arm behind the head at the start

From the diagonal:

• You can see the rotation from hip → torso → shoulder → arm

• The sculling arm’s constant movement is visible

• You see how the wrist finishes through the line of the shot

When you record yourself (which I highly recommend), compare your video to this checklist. That’s exactly what I teach inside my self-analysis water polo classes and video breakdowns.

12. Common Mistakes and Quick Fixes

Mistake 1: Hips Behind You

• Problem: Legs too far forward, hips drop back.

• Result: You fall backward when you shoot, can’t control direction.

• Fix: Bring hips directly under shoulders, engage eggbeater harder, feel like you’re sitting “on top” of the water.

Mistake 2: Elbow Too Low !!!!!!!

• Problem: Elbow in line with ear or even below.

• Result: You push the ball; shot feels heavy, slow, and easy to block.

• Fix: Practice no-ball reps with elbow clearly above the ear line. Stop at the set position, check in a mirror or video, then continue.

Mistake 3: Dead Sculling Arm

• Problem: Off-arm is stiff or just hanging.

• Result: Loss of balance, you tilt or sink when you shoot.

• Fix: Focus on small, constant sculling motions with the hand. Treat it like your stabilizer.

Mistake 4: Floppy Wrist

• Problem: Wrist not aligned with target, fingers pointing randomly.

• Result: Inconsistent direction, missing corners by 10–20 cm every time.

• Fix: In slow motion, finish each shot by freezing the wrist at your exact target. Feel that last snap and hold.

13. Daily No-Ball Routine (5–10 Minutes)

You can do this before or after practice, or even during warm-up.

Round 1 – Stationary (2–3 minutes)

• 10 reps of no-ball shot to the left corner

• 10 reps to the right corner

• 10 reps middle high

Round 2 – With Target Imagination (2–3 minutes)

• Visualize different corners and spots

• Always focus on the sniper wrist finishing exactly where you look

Round 3 – With Movement (2–4 minutes)

• Move one or two strokes laterally, stop in body position, shoot (no ball)

• Repeat right, left, forward, backward

This little routine connects directly to your real shots, passes and fakes. Over time, your body learns the correct pattern and repeats it automatically, even under pressure.

14. Take It Deeper: Course + YouTube Breakdown

If you want to really master this, step by step, with slow-motion examples and corrections, you can:

1. Join the Full Body Position & Shooting Course

Inside my online school we have a full course where we go through:

• Detailed eggbeater & hip position

• Body position for different game situations

• Shooting from point, wing, 1–on–goal situations

• Examples of common mistakes from real players and how we fixed them

👉 Course link:
https://www.waterpolouniversity.com/body-position

This course is also part of the Premium and Basic memberships, so if you’re already a member, you can access it right away along with other water polo courses and classes. If not, you can sign up her: Memebrship options

2. Watch the Free YouTube Breakdown

I also recorded a full YouTube video where I show:

• The exact stance we talked about

• Elbow above ear line from different angles

• Wrist sniper finish

• “No ball needed” drills you can copy directly at home or in training

👉 YouTube video link:
https://youtu.be/ISSFp99biSk

15. Final Message

You don’t need ten different fancy drills to improve your shot.
You need one perfect body position, repeated again and again.

• Legs: front leg forward, back leg strong, eggbeater stable

• Hips: always underneath you, never hiding behind

• Sculling arm: steering wheel that keeps you balanced

• Shooting arm: elbow above the ear line, ready to whip

• Wrist: sniper that decides exactly where the ball goes

Start without the ball.
Get this position clean.
Then add the ball, speed, and pressure.

If you build this foundation now, every shot and pass you take in your water polo career will be faster, cleaner and more accurate—and your real quality will finally show in the game.

How to Access the Courses

• Club & Team Licenses

• Individual Memberships for Athletes & Families