Valerie Ho Y7 Respect

Water polo Criterion B: Game Plan

1. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of each player on the team in the table below.

Player Characteristics

Ashley Fast swimmer, good at making shots, good driving skills, quick
reaction

Kristelle Good stamina, good at passing, good driving skills, fast swimmer

Ophelia Good hand-leg coordination, good at passing, average swimming

skills

Valerie left hand dominant, strong leg muscle, quick reaction, good at
passing

2. Design a game plan and illustrate in the pool diagram

We had set an aggressive plan to score without sacrificing our defense. Our centre and
wings/drivers will get to their positions close to the opponents goal as quickly as possible in
a triangular formation with centre forward in the front towards opponents. We position
players according to our strengths and weaknesses and our tactics. Please refer to the
diagram below for our positions. (While we only use half of the swimming pool, the marked
distance just indicates our positions in proportion to our actual playing field)

3. Explain the game plan and its effectiveness.

We have all our three drivers spreading out in the opponents half, covering three sides, in
order to give pressure on the opponents defence while we can have a higher chance of
scoring at the same time. The center forward and the goalie are the better swimmers among
our team. We put the fastest swimmer, Ashley, in centre forward as good swimming is vital
to score and she is good at making quick shots. I played the goalie as I am a regular
swimmer with strong legs and is left-hand dominant that allows me to react quickly and raise
up my body above water to cover both sides of my goal and effectively block any shot.
Ophelia and Kristelle, both have good passing skill, play the left and right wings to cover two
sides as well as assisting the center forward to score.

4. Evaluate the game plan.

I think our game plan was very effective as we had good communications in our team. Our
three drivers had successfully positioned themselves at the opponents side according to our
plan. And in most time of the game, we had forced opponents to stay in their half with almost
no chance of making a shot. We however could make our attack effectively and finally won
the game. We had also successfully blocked their shot. Overall, our strategy and tactic were
very successful in this game.