Passing and catching are all important factors in water polo and should be practised constantly. In passing it is well to bear in mind that the object in view is to give the ball securely to one's team-mate. Pass high and carefully; a low throw may be intercepted and a hard one fumbled. Specially in close quarters high passing is essential.
To cover one's opponent when the other side has the ball and get away from him when one's own has it, should be the religion of every player. In covering him, always stay back of him, where you can watch him, and tackle him just in the nick of time if the ball is passed to him.
Many new men have an idea that one knows intuitively how to score, but it is not so. The various ways must be learned. One only does in a game what one has become used to in practise, for there is little time or chance to think in the excitement of a keen contest, and it is those things which have been ground into one by dint of repetition that stand by one. To get used to scoring, place yourself three or four yards from goal and then sink yourself, or let some one else put you under, and try to come up and hit the board with eyes closed; you will soon find what a difference practise makes. You must also learn how to hurdle by letting some one tread water between you and goal and score by placing your free hand on his shoulder and lifting yourself over.
A short course of the above, and you will be ready to line up.
A FEW POINTS
On entering the tank for an important game, every player should forget his individuality and submit passively to the orders of the captain. There must be only one head for a team to succeed, and an order should be executed without hesitation and without questioning; right or wrong, the best results come through blind obedience. The man giving the orders often sees an opening that the other does not.
Let no personal difference affect your game; play to win, not to pay off an old score. It is the goals made, not the men disabled, that give one victory, and victory is what every player should seek.
To the forward, discrimination is a valuable asset. When caught in a tackle so far away from goal that getting free will not help you pass the ball at once, don't allow your opponent to punish you. But if you are nailed within easy reach of goal, fight as long as there is breath of life in you. Never mind how helpless the task may seem, a team-mate may come to the rescue at any moment, and then you'll score.
The forward should always play the ball in preference to the man and keep free as much as possible. And above all—play fast and hard.