Water polo drills at home for 11 year olds

An 11 year old can practice game IQ, shooting and swimming at home with 11 water polo drills picked for the age. Keep a session to about 30 minutes, up to 4 days a week, with rest days between. Why: Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week (NATA youth sport specialization recommendations).

A parent's page for an 11 year old: the drills that work at home, one session to follow, what changes this year and how much is healthy. Free, no account.

By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated November 5, 2026

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A parent's page. Free to read; no card to start; running a team is always free.

At a glance

At 11: 11 water polo drills the app opens for an 11 year old work at home, across 5 skills.
How long: One home session of about 30 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 45 minutes for an 11 year old.
How often: At most 4 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 11 hours for an 11 year old, with two rest days a week.
What you need: Most used: cones (3 of the 11 drills), ball (2), chair (1), chair or bench (1), game video or a game to watch (1), mat (1), paper (1), pen (1). 1 drill needs nothing but space. 2 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.
Safe at home: One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

11 at-home drills

Water polo drills for 11 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for an 11 year old and one that works at home: a room, garage or yard, one parent as the partner, no venue. Each drill's page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a log to print.

game IQ

Game IQ

shooting

Shooting

swimming

Swimming

defense

Defense

Dry-Land Hands-Up DefenseAges 7 and up · 8 min

eggbeater

Eggbeater

Seated Eggbeater on LandAges 7 and up · 6 min

A 26-minute session

A home water polo session for an 11 year old

A warm-up, 1 drill and a cool-down, 26 minutes in all. Do it up to 4 days a week, with rest days between.

1Water Polo Warm-Up, Ages 11 to 13A 10-minute moving warm-up for water polo players aged 11 to 13: running, moving stretches, plank, balance, landings and build-up runs, then water polo moves, with a note on growth spurts.10 min
2Dryland Core and LegsStrong legs, strong core.10 min
3Water Polo Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 11 to 13A 6-minute cool-down for water polo players aged 11 to 13 after training: stretches for the legs, hips, arms and chest, each held 15 to 20 seconds, never to pain, with growth-spurt notes.6 min

At 11

What changes in water polo training at 11

1 at-home drills join the list at 11.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 11 hours for an 11 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting water polo into a week at 11

At 11 the limit is 11 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 4 sessions of 30 minutes is 2 hours, which leaves 9 for team practice and games. Even 4 days at the app's longest, 45 minutes, is 3 hours.

The research behind it

Ages 6 to 12 are the "sampling years": high play, low deliberate practice.
Côté and Vierimaa 2014
Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week.
NATA youth sport specialization recommendations

Questions and answers

What water polo drills can an 11 year old do at home?

11 drills the app opens at 11 work at home. A few to start with: 6-on-5 Spots Walk-Through, Ball Side, Help Side and Call the Open Player. One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

How long should an 11 year old practice water polo at home?

One home session of about 30 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 45 minutes for an 11 year old. At most 4 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 11 hours for an 11 year old, with two rest days a week.

What do you need to practice water polo at home at 11?

Most used: cones (3 of the 11 drills), ball (2), chair (1), chair or bench (1), game video or a game to watch (1), mat (1), paper (1), pen (1). 1 drill needs nothing but space. 2 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

What changes in water polo training at 11?

1 at-home drills join the list at 11.