Water Polo Tactics - 6 on 5 Shooting Lanes

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The goal of any 6-on-5 tactical formation should be to create openings in the defense for high-quality shots. During an advantage possession, the defense tends to collapse closer to the goal in order to shrink the area the goalie must protect. However, allowing the offense to shoot from closer range also decreases the time defensive players can react to shots. Just so we are on the same page, this is the numbering system I will be using in this tutorial.

When a shooter is at the true four position, the near side shot will be heavily contested by X1 and X4, the middle of the cage is protected by the goalie, and X2 and X3 will be able to block the far side. A shooter at the 1 position on the 2-meter line has a narrow shooting angle but only one defender to beat. The near side shot is the best shot but still requires a high degree of accuracy. X1 will need to reposition closer to the goal to contest this shot. Any shot approaching the far post will be contested by X1 and the goalie. If the 1 position slides higher to improve the shooting angle, X1 no longer needs to reposition to shot block. In this situation, all the shooting lanes are contested and only the best shooters will be able to score.

Movement is required to create open shooting lanes. The most basic movement is to shift the 4 or 5 position to the middle of the cage. X4 loses the angle needed to block the near post, and X2 will most likely shift to a position in front of the goalie. With 2 players guarding the same spot, shooting lanes are created towards the corners of the goal.

The wings will also benefit from shifting players to create openings for higher percentage shots. Here, 4 shifts towards the middle of the cage, the 2 post can move away from the goal and draw X1 away from the near-side goal post. The 1 position will have a much larger shooting lane along with more time to shoot because X1 needs to shift further back to cover the corner.

A different shift will create the same result. In this example, the 4 stays in place while the 2 post slides toward the middle of the cage. If the 2 post acts like a scoring threat, X1 may be tempted to follow too far and leave the near corner undefended. Again, the 1 wing can move closer to the goal with extra time to shoot as the X1 defender needs to shift from further away.

These are basic shifts that open up shooting lanes. In more advanced systems, offensive players will shift to completely different positions to disrupt the defensive formation.