I.S. Maryin¹
Dr.Hab., Professor О.N. Stepanova²
Dr.Hab., Professor V.Yu. Karpov¹
PhD, Associate Professor Е.N. Latushkina^3
1Russian State Social University, Moscow
²Moscow State Pedagogical University, Moscow
³Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow

Keywords: water polo, elite water polo players, forwards, 2016 Olympic Games, swimming styles, competitive success rate.

Background. Competitive success in modern water polo sport largely depends on how efficient and versatile every teammate is in the competitive and special swimming styles, tactics and competitive game actions [1, 2]. It is commonly acknowledged by the sport experts [3, 4] that forwards play the key role in every attack success; and that is the reason why we believe that special studies need to be performed to analyze the forwards’ competitive swimming styles, patterns and tactics and their contributions to the competitive success.

Methods and structure of the study. The study was designed to attain the following goals:

1. Identify swimming styles, techniques and their patterns applied by the elite water polo forwards in top-ranking competitions;

2. Find and rate the forwards’ competitive swimming style factors of influence on the team competitive success;

3. Develop a statistical (factorial) elite forwards’ swimming style model for competitive success; and

4. Design the most efficient swimming training practices to model the elite forwards’ competitive swimming styles and tactics.

For the purposes of the study we analyzed 42 video-records of water polo matches played in the 2016 Olympic Games by 12 elite teams, with a special priority given in the content-analysis to the competitive and special swimming style elements, patterns and game techniques applied by the forwards, with the swimming style elements accounted in seconds, meters and game time percentages, and the game actions accounted in times per match. The output analytical data were processed by the standard mathematical statistics toolkit followed by a correlation analysis (using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient), and factorial analysis with varimax rotation of the reference axes.

Study results and discussion. The 2016 Olympic match video content analysis showed the following distribution of the swimming styles in the game time: 89% crawl stroke; 4.5% breast trudgen; 3% sidestroke; 1.5% back trudgen; 1.0% back crawl; and 1% classical breaststroke. The water polo to sprint swimming styles ratio was the following: ( ): 65/35% for the crawl stroke; 60/40% for the backstroke; 66/34% for the breast trudgen; and 67/33% for the back trudgen. This domination of the special swimming styles with the head and shoulders kept above water is explainable by the forwards’ game role that implies the game situation being closely controlled all the time to effectively win the ball and score.

Furthermore the 2016 Olympic match video content analysis found the forwards covering distances of 900 to 1100 m per match, with the swimming pace and style widely varying from short (5 to 15m) top-speed sprints to on-spot stays, to “water-walking”, with multiple special actions as required by the situation including jump-ups, stick-outs, side-thrusts and trick (feint) moves. The swimming styles, patterns and game actions related data were subject to a correlation analysis followed by a factorial analysis.

The data provided by the correlation analyses were interpreted on the assumption that the team competitive success is determined by the following factors: (1) team standing on the scoreboard; (2) goals scored; and (3) goals conceded. Based on the assumption, we picked up from the correlation matrix only those of the forwards’ swimming style rates that were in significant correlations with the above three competitive success rates of the water polo teams: see Table 1 hereunder.

Table 1. Elite forwards’ swimming style rates versus team competitive success rates

The above data demonstrate the team standing being in the negative correlation with the goals scored (ρ = –0.55) and in the positive correlation with the water polo breast crawl time per match (ρ = 0.46). This means that the water polo breast crawl is less often applied by the most successful and highly scoring teams, with the shortage being apparently offset by the more accurate passes towards the opponent goals.

Furthermore, no surprise that the goals scored were found in a positive correlation with the breast trudgen time per match (ρ = 0.56) since trudgen is a dominating style in water polo today.

 The goals scored were in the negative correlation with stick-outs per match (ρ = –0.58) and jump-outs per match (ρ = –0.45), with both of the game actions being quite common in the situations when a fast attack fails, or game stalls for a moment with many encounters; or the game situation needs to be assessed to find a place for attack, catch/ redirect the ball, pass or shoot on goal. The negative correlation in the case may be interpreted as domination of fast attacks in the scoring statistics of modern water polo, with the attacks designed to score prior to the defense being put together by the opponent.

The negative correlation of the goals conceded with the sprint breast crawl time per match (ρ = –0.45) may be interpreted as indicative of this style being beneficial for the fast attacking/ counterattacking teamwork with fast comebacks to defense – as such game skills and tactics naturally result in less goals conceded.

To attain the third goal of the study, we designed a statistical (factorial) forwards’ competitive swimming style model based on the 2016 Olympic match data and analyses: see Table 2. As one can see, the first factor is bipolar with the specific weight of 22.77% which means that it includes two variables: breast crawl time per match plus the team standing on the scoreboard; i.e. this factor may be defined as the breast crawl to secure fast attacking (with/ without ball) actions. The second factor includes the breast trudgen time per match, sidestroke time per match and total individual playtime per match; with the factor being defined as the swimming styles applied for encounters and maneuvering close to the opponent’s goals.

Talbe 2. Statistical (factorial) forwards’ competitive swimming style model for the 2016 Olympics

The second factor with the specific weight of 15.38% is bipolar too including the game actions for attack success plus the swimming styles to win the scoring position and control the game situation – with the factor combining the harmonized game control patterns applied by the elite forwards.

The specific weight of the third factor is 12.61%. This factor is also bipolar as it combines the high-speed swimming styles (dominated by the water polo/ sprint breast crawl) applied with/ without the ball and the high-speed swimming styles to win the ball (like the sprint back crawl).

The fourth factor with the specific weight of 10.25% refers to the ball-winning swimming styles (including the sprint and water polo back crawl).

The fifth factor with the specific weight of 6.93% is bipolar too as it combines the distance covered per match indicative of the individual competitive working capacity plus the rest/ rehabilitative game actions per match.

The sixth factor with the specific weight of 5.76% refers to the forwards’ game control actions in the potential scoring positions.

The study data and analyses made it possible to design and offer a set of the swimming skills training exercises to model the competitive performance of the elite forwards in modern water polo. Some of these exercises may be described as follows: (1) 15m water polo breast crawl sprint from a goalkeeper stand; (2) 10m accelerated water polo breast crawl sprint followed by a jump-up with the right/left hand up and then return by back trudgen; (3) 15-second forward-defender encounter on a coach’s command, with the forward reaching the potential scoring point, then making a 15m breast crawl sprint finished by a jump-up; (4) on-spot waiting in a goalkeeper stand, and then, on a coach’s command, 15m water polo back crawl sprint followed by relaxed 5m breast trudgen, then 5m accelerated water polo breast crawl sprint, side-thrust and return by 3 trudgen spans finished with a jump-up; and (5) 30s hands-up chest-level water-walking followed by a 10m back crawl sprint, and then 5s top-speed breast crawl sprint.

Conclusion. The study data and analyses of the elite forwards’ competitive swimming styles and patterns in the modern water polo sport may be applied as the reference points in the water polo training system designs for players of different skill levels. Such training systems are being actively designed today by the Sport Club of Russian Social University.

References

1. Maryin I.S., Stepanova O.N., Karpov V.Yu. et al. Sposoby plavaniya, primenyaemye vaterpolistami vysshey kvalifikatsii v sorevnovatelnoy deyatelnosti: rezultaty kontent-analiza igr Olimpiady 2016 goda [Competitive swimming strokes applied by elite water-polo players: results of content analysis of 2016 Olympics]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2017, no. 4, pp. 66–68.
2. Maryin I.S., Stepanova O.N. Sorevnovatelnye objem i effektivnost spetsialnoy plavatelnoy podgotovlennosti vaterpolistov vysokoy kvalifikatsii: rezultaty kontent-analiza igr Chempionata Evropy 2015 g. i Chempionata mira 2016 g. [Competitive scope and efficiency of special swimming skills of highly skilled water polo players: results of content analysis of European Championship 2015 and World Cup 2016 games]. Uch. zapiski un-ta im. P.F. Lesgafta, 2016, no. 7 (137), pp. 60–66.
3. Frolov S.N., Soficheva A.M. Modelnye kharakteristiki tekhniko-takticheskikh deystviy zhenskikh vaterpolnykh komand vysokoy kvalifikatsii [Model characteristics of technical and tactical actions of elite women's teams]. Sb. tr. Mezhvuzovskoy nauch.-prakt. konf. 'Innovatsii i traditsii v sovremennom fizkulturnom obrazovanii' [Proc. Interuniversity res.-practical conf. 'Innovations and traditions in modern physical education'] In 3 vol. Vol. 1. Moscow: MSPU publ., 2016, pp. 203-219.
4. Shmeleva L.V. Sredstva i metody upravleniya protsessom podgotovki vysokokvalifitsirovannykh vaterpolistok. Avtoref. dis. kand. ped. nauk [Means and methods of control over the highly-qualified female water-polo players’ training process. PhD diss. abstract]. St. Petersburg: SRIPhC publ., 2003, 24 p.

Corresponding author: fizkult@teoriya.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to rate the elite forwards’ competitive swimming styles and patterns versus the team competitive success rates in modern top-level water polo. The authors made a content analysis of the 2016 Olympics video replays with application of the qualitative and quantitative performance rates to analyze the competitive swimming styles, patterns and the game actions and tactics of the elite forwards. It was found that the team competitive performance may be rated by the following criteria: (1) team standing on the tournament scoreboard; (2) goals scored; and (3) goals conceded. The study data were processed using data averaging, correlation and factor analyses to offer a statistical model of the competitive swimming styles and patterns applied by the elite water polo players. The study findings were used to offer the sets of swimming skills training exercises to model competitive performance of the elite forwards in modern water polo.