Water polo drills at home for 12 year olds

A 12 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 40 minutes, up to 5 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 a 12 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

Start your free trial Or build a free week first, no account

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

At a glance

At 12: 11 water polo drills the app opens for a 12 year old work at home, across 5 skills.
How long: One home session of about 40 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 60 minutes for a 12 year old.
How often: At most 5 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 12 hours for a 12 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 12 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for a 12 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 38-minute session

A home water polo session for a 12 year old

A warm-up, 3 drills and a cool-down, 38 minutes in all. Do it up to 5 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
2Home Cardio CircuitEasy rhythm, steady breathing.8 min
3Call the Open PlayerFind the space, not the ball.6 min
4Ball Side, Help SideNear the ball: close. Far: help.8 min
5Water 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 12

What changes in water polo training at 12

From 12, a home session can run to 60 minutes and the plan can have 5 training days a week, up from 45 minutes and 4 days at 11.

The app opens the same 11 at-home drills at 12 as at 11; the ones below are a different selection from that list.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 12 hours for a 12 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting water polo into a week at 12

At 12 the limit is 12 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 5 sessions of 40 minutes is 3.33 hours, which leaves 8.67 for team practice and games. Even 5 days at the app's longest, 60 minutes, is 5 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 a 12 year old do at home?

11 drills the app opens at 12 work at home. A few to start with: Call the Open Player, Count the Players and Dry-Land Play Picture. 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 a 12 year old practice water polo at home?

One home session of about 40 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 60 minutes for a 12 year old. At most 5 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 12 hours for a 12 year old, with two rest days a week.

What do you need to practice water polo at home at 12?

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 12?

From 12, a home session can run to 60 minutes and the plan can have 5 training days a week, up from 45 minutes and 4 days at 11. The app opens the same 11 at-home drills at 12 as at 11; the ones below are a different selection from that list.