How to Play Water Basketball

Splashing around in a swimming pool is incredibly fun and basketball is the most exciting sport going. Therefore water basketball is the greatest sport known to man. Water basketball is a great way to get some exercise, have fun with friends and stay cool at the same time.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Choose the type of basketball goal to use in water basketball. There is a floating basketball goal that is inexpensive and easy to use. If you are a casual or novice, this may be the best option. To play serious water basketball you can purchase a standalone goal, that is more expensive but is sturdier and comes with a backboard and regulation sized hoop.

2. Select the location in the pool for the game. If the players are children, you want to place the goal at the shallow end of the pool. However if the players are adults and good swimmers you may want to put the basket in the deeper end of the pool.

3. Pick teams for the game of water basketball. You do not want to have too many players or you will not have enough room to maneuver in the pool. For the shallow end game, keep the number to a maximum of four players for each team and in the deeper end limit the number to six players or less per team.

4. Nominate an impartial person to be the referee. Preferably, this person understands the game of basketball enough to know what a foul is, and what is not. If you do not have anyone available to the referee, you can just allow the players on each team to call their own fouls. However, this can lead to arguments if the players are too competitive.

5. Establish the basic rules for the water basketball game. For instance, you will want to designate a distance which each team must bring the ball to after the other team misses a shot. Because there is usually only one basket in water basketball a team can't just shoot the other teams missed shot or there will be chaos. In addition, you need to decide if you want to allow goaltending or not. Goaltending is when a player jumps up and knocks a shot on its way down toward the goal before it has a chance to go in the basket.