Water Polo for Small Players: How to Succeed Without Being the Biggest

When I was U15 I played and won European Championship for U17 and I was 5'10 at that time. and I wasn't even a talented player!

If you’re one of the smallest players on your team, you’ve probably had a few of these thoughts:

“Everyone else is bigger and stronger than me.”
“Coaches will always pick the taller players.”
“Water polo is a big guy sport—how am I supposed to compete?”

This is a huge pain point for a lot of kids, especially between ages 10–15. When everyone starts growing at different speeds, it can feel like your size decides your future.

But here’s the truth:

👉 Size matters… but it’s not everything.
👉 The modern game has a huge place for fast, smart, annoying, active smaller players.
👉 If you build the right tools—legs, speed, reading the game, smart drives, steals, and cut-offs—you can become a nightmare to play against, no matter your height.

In this blog, we’ll break down exactly how a smaller player can succeed in water polo and how to use Waterpolo University to build those skills step by step.

We’ll cover:

• Why being small doesn’t mean you’re “behind”

• How strong legs change everything for a smaller player

• Using speed and direction changes instead of raw strength

• Reading the game better than bigger players

• Smart drives and cut-offs (including a new WU course coming this week)

• Steals and disruptive defense

• Which specific Waterpolo University courses to focus on

1. Being Small Doesn’t Mean You’re “Behind”

At 10–15 years old, players are still growing. Some are already tall and strong. Others are still waiting for that growth spurt. It’s easy to think:

“I’m smaller, so I’m automatically worse.”

That’s not how it works.

Water polo is not just a size game. It’s a legs + brains + timing game.

Smaller players often develop:

• Better legs (because they have to work harder early on)

• Better game IQ (because they can’t rely on just pushing people around)

• Better movement and timing (because they learn to beat people with angles, not brute force)

When you’re smaller, you don’t have the luxury of being lazy. That’s actually an advantage long-term. You’re forced to build habits that will still work when everyone is older, faster, and stronger.

2. Your Superpower: Legs, Legs, Legs

For a smaller player, your legs are your engine.

Strong legs give you:

• Height in the water (even without long arms)

• The ability to maintain position against bigger players

• Better balance when you shoot, pass, steal, or drive

• More power in every movement

If you’re smaller and your legs are average, you’ll struggle.
If you’re smaller and your legs are elite, you become very dangerous.

As a smaller player, you should be asking:

“Are my legs better than most players my size?
Are they good enough to offset the height difference?”

That means focusing heavily on:

• Eggbeater – stable, high, efficient

• Explosive jumps – getting up quickly for shots and blocks

• Movement – moving laterally and forwards/backwards with control

Inside Waterpolo University, the Eggbeater / Treading Water and Body Position courses are must-do for smaller players. These fundamentals make every other skill easier.

3. Speed and Direction Changes Beat Raw Strength

You might not win a straight pushing contest with a bigger player—but you don’t need to.

You can beat them with:

• First-step speed – reacting faster off the whistle or when the ball moves

• Direction changes – fake one way, drive the other

• Explosive releases – two hard strokes to get space for the ball

• Acceleration into open water – going from “standing” to “full speed” faster than them

Coaches love smaller players who are always moving, always creating options, always turning a static situation into a dynamic one.

If you’re small and slow, that’s a problem.
If you’re small and fast with good timing, that’s a weapon.

In Waterpolo University, the Swimming With the Ball course is very powerful for this. It teaches you how to:

• Keep your legs high (so you move faster)

• Use a strong flutter kick with white water behind you

• Keep your head up so you can read the pool while you’re moving

This combination makes you a dangerous transition and counter-attack player, even if you’re not the biggest.

4. Reading the Game: Outsmart, Don’t Outmuscle

Smaller players can’t afford to “just play.”
You need to see the game earlier than others.

That means:

• Keeping your head up, not always staring at the ball

• Reading where the next pass is going to be, not where it is now

• Understanding your team’s system so you know where to move

• Anticipating when a defender is flat-footed and ready to be driven on

• Knowing when the center is about to receive and when to be ready for a rebound or outlet

Game IQ is often what separates “small and invisible” from “small and unstoppable.”

Every time you watch a game or a training drill, ask:

• “Where is the next best pass?”

• “Who is in the worst defensive position?”

• “Where is the open water?”

The more you think like this, the more you can beat bigger players by being in the right place at the right time.

5. Smart Drives: Use Angles, Not Wrestling Matches

Driving is one of the best weapons for smaller players.

You don’t need to be the biggest to:

• Slip behind a defender

• Cut in front of their hips

• Time your move when they look at the ball

• Use your speed to arrive first in front of the goal

Smart drives are about:

• Timing – leaving at the right moment

• Angles – not swimming straight at the defender, but around their shoulder

• Body position – using your legs to stay high while you swim and finish

• Reading defenders – attacking when they’re lazy or ball-watching

If your timing is good, a bigger defender will still foul you from behind or the side—and that’s where cut-offs come in (we’ll get there in a second).

In Waterpolo University, as we add more content on drives and releases, smaller players should treat those lessons like gold. Drives are one of the cleanest ways for you to become a consistent scoring threat.

6. Cut-Offs: Drawing Ejections as a Smaller Player

This is where things get really exciting for you.

Cut-offs are one of the best tools for smaller players to:

• Beat bigger defenders

• Create 5-on-6 opportunities

• Force the other team’s best players into foul trouble

A good cut-off means:

• You read when the defender is out of position

• You cut across their path at the right angle

• They are forced to either:

  • Let you go free to the goal

  • Or foul you from behind/side → exclusion foul

You don’t need to be taller to do this.
You need timing, legs, and courage.

📌 Important:
This week, inside Waterpolo University, we’re releasing a new course specifically on cut-offs—showing you step by step:

• How to time the move

• Which angle to take

• How to sell the foul (without exaggerating)

• How smaller players can use cut-offs as their main weapon to draw ejections and change the game

If you’re a smaller player, this course should be high on your list once it’s live. It’s literally built for players like you.

7. Steals and Disruptive Defense

Small players can be extremely annoying to play against on defense—in a good way.

You may not always guard the biggest center, but you can:

• Play aggressive press on the perimeter

• Bump and recover quickly

• Jump passing lanes because you read the play early

• Stay over the offensive player’s hips so they can’t easily roll you

• Use your speed to close out on shooters and block passing lines

On defense, you win not by being massive, but by being:

• Active

• Disciplined

• In the right line between the ball and your player

In Waterpolo University, the Over-Hips Defense and Shotblock courses (and related defensive lessons) are perfect for smaller players who want to become defensive specialists:

• You’ll learn how to stay balanced instead of getting turned

• How to use legs, not just hands, to control your position

• How to anticipate passes and go for smart steals, not random lunges

A small player who can stay in front, steal balls, and force bad passes is extremely valuable to any coach.

8. Putting It All Together: A Small Player’s Weekly Plan

So you’re smaller. You want to get better. What do you actually do this week?

Here’s an example structure using Waterpolo University and your regular practices.

Daily / Almost Daily

• Eggbeater / Treading Water drills

• Band exercises (shoulder health)

• Focus on head up, eyes scanning whenever you’re in the water

2–4x per Week

• Dryland / position-specific training (12U/14U programs inside WU)

• Extra focus on legs and core for vertical power

Each Team Practice

• Make a conscious decision:

  • “Today I’m going to work on drives and cut-offs”

  • Or “Today I’m focusing on staying over hips and looking for steals”

• Use every scrimmage as a chance to practice timing and reading the game, not just “playing”

On Waterpolo University (Suggested Course Focus)

• Eggbeater / Treading Water – foundation

• Body Position – bigger in the water without being taller

• Swimming With the Ball – speed + vision

• Over-Hips Defense / Shotblock – disruptive defense as a smaller player

• Cut-Offs Course (coming this week) – learn to draw ejections and punish bigger defenders

9. Message to Small Players (and Their Parents)

If you’re small right now, you might feel like the game isn’t built for you.

But many great players started as the smallest in the group. What separated them was not a magic growth spurt—it was:

• Stronger legs

• Smarter decisions

• Cleaner technique

• Better willingness to learn instead of just complain about size

If you’re willing to:

• Outwork people on your legs

• Study the game

• Become dangerous with drives, cut-offs, steals, and speed

…then your size becomes just one detail, not your identity.

To parents:
Smaller players often develop incredible discipline and game IQ if supported correctly. Encourage them to:

• Focus on controllable things (legs, technique, reading the game)

• Watch and learn, not just compare their body to others

• Use resources like Waterpolo University to build confidence and structure in their training

Train With Waterpolo University as an Individual

If you’re a smaller player (or a parent of one) and want a clear, step-by-step plan instead of guessing on your own, that’s exactly why Waterpolo University exists.

With an individual membership, you get access to:

• Fundamentals courses: Body Position, Eggbeater, Passing & Catching, Shooting Mechanics, Over-Hips Defense, Swimming With the Ball, and more

• Age-appropriate dryland programs for 12U and 14U

• Mindset and game-understanding content so you learn why things work, not just what to do

You can start by going to the homepage and using the “Start Here / Personalized Plan” option so you know which courses to focus on first based on your age, level, and goals.

👉 Start training inside Waterpolo University here:
https://www.waterpolouniversity.com/8d727d04-d59f-44f4-919b-2f6e88f08cbf

For Clubs, Teams, and Developing Programs

If you’re a coach or club director and you have several smaller players—or a full team of athletes who need better fundamentals—Waterpolo University can also work at the team level.

With a Club License, your staff and athletes can:

• Use WU as a structured fundamentals curriculum

• Assign specific courses (like Eggbeater, Swimming With the Ball, Over-Hips Defense, and the upcoming Cut-Offs course) as homework

• Make pool time more efficient by letting players learn the basics on video first, then apply them in practice

This is especially powerful for:

• Younger teams (12U / 14U)

• Clubs in developing water polo regions

• Programs that want a consistent way to teach fundamentals across all coaches

👉 Learn more about team / club access here:
https://www.waterpolouniversity.com/dcefd6da-89bc-4bb1-b026-2f297d4e4ad3

If you’re small and reading this: you don’t have to wait to “grow into” being a good player. You can start becoming dangerous right now with your legs, speed, timing, and brain.

Size may be the first thing people notice.
But how you move, think, and compete—that’s what they’ll remember.