Morayfield Underwater Hockey

Looks like the pool will be closed longer, now from the 23td August until 4th September, so we won't be having our regular training sessions... 😭😭

Attention Members and Guests,

We have an exciting update regarding the upcoming bulkhead installation!

EDITED FOR EXTENSION DATES:
50mtr Pool will be closed from 24th August till 4th September.
Pending all goes well we will announce if we re open earlier.

During this period, the following program changes will be in place:
🏊 Learn to Swim
All Learn to Swim lessons will continue, with students temporarily relocating to the 25mtr pool.
🏊‍♂️ Squad Program
Squad training will continue at Caboolture Pool. Please note that Caboolture is currently operating under winter hours, with the pool open from 6:00am to 6:00pm. Further details regarding squad arrangements will be communicated shortly.
🏊 SwimFit
Unfortunately, our SwimFit program will be cancelled during this period. However, BRALC participants are welcome to attend SwimFit sessions at Caboolture Pool, which are held on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 5:00pm.
🏑 Underwater Hockey & 💦Deep Water Aqua
Unfortunately, we will be unable to run the Underwater Hockey and Deep Water Aqua programs while the 50mtr pool is closed.
🏊‍♀️Aquatic Members
Members with an Aquatic membership for lap swimming can attend the Caboolture pool during this time with your current membership.

We appreciate your patience and understanding during these works and look forward to sharing the benefits of the new bulkhead with our community.

Thank you kindly, BRALC Management

Congratulations on the Bronze medal .hind28 and the rest of the Australian U24s Men's team!!!!

And here's the final instalment!!
Thanks Cairns Crays Underwater Hockey
❤️ ya' work!!! ❤️

UNDERWATER HOCKEY BASICS - Part 5 - Body Positioning and Drills

1. Body Position - you want to look like a Banana on the bottom of the pool. Your hips should be down near the floor with your chest and shoulders up. This allows best movement of your upper body and best visibility. What holds new players back the most is poor body position. If you are not down on the bottom it’s much harder to control the puck and much easier for your opponent to steal it off you.

2. The ‘Bread Basket’ - this is the area that you form between your stick and your body. You want to keep your arm slightly bent and not at full extension. With a bit of a bend you have lots more options for moving the puck around, including sudden swapping of the stick from behind to in front of the puck. This is how you do a curl, or a push-pull etc.

3. Drills - doing drills and improving your puck skills bring great rewards in UWH. If you can just feel where the puck sits on your stick you won’t have to be looking down all the time. You’ll be free to look for your team mates for the perfect pass etc. You can do some of the drills at home with a can of tuna. Look up ‘dry land puck skills’ for some tips.

The way to build up your base level of skill is to put the time into practice and training. Games are not the same as training. In a club 60 minute game you can probably expect to have the puck for about 2.5 minutes of swimming time and you might do 12 flicks. If you spent 5 minutes flicking before a game you might get in 60 flicks. That’s a lot more skill development than just the game.

Happy practicing and stay tuned for our final edition of UNDERWATER HOCKEY BASICS - The Finale!

Installment #5

UNDERWATER HOCKEY BASICS - Part 5 - Body Positioning and Drills

1. Body Position - you want to look like a Banana on the bottom of the pool. Your hips should be down near the floor with your chest and shoulders up. This allows best movement of your upper body and best visibility. What holds new players back the most is poor body position. If you are not down on the bottom it’s much harder to control the puck and much easier for your opponent to steal it off you.

2. The ‘Bread Basket’ - this is the area that you form between your stick and your body. You want to keep your arm slightly bent and not at full extension. With a bit of a bend you have lots more options for moving the puck around, including sudden swapping of the stick from behind to in front of the puck. This is how you do a curl, or a push-pull etc.

3. Drills - doing drills and improving your puck skills bring great rewards in UWH. If you can just feel where the puck sits on your stick you won’t have to be looking down all the time. You’ll be free to look for your team mates for the perfect pass etc. You can do some of the drills at home with a can of tuna. Look up ‘dry land puck skills’ for some tips.

The way to build up your base level of skill is to put the time into practice and training. Games are not the same as training. In a club 60 minute game you can probably expect to have the puck for about 2.5 minutes of swimming time and you might do 12 flicks. If you spent 5 minutes flicking before a game you might get in 60 flicks. That’s a lot more skill development than just the game.

Happy practicing and stay tuned for our final edition of UNDERWATER HOCKEY BASICS - The Finale!

Let's go Aussies!!

Team Australia have arrived and will be spending the next couple of days training at the Gebze Olympic Pool, so we're all ready to start competing on Saturday!

UNDERWATER BASICS - Part 4 - Puck Skills

1. Push-Pulls
This is the basic defensive move to lure and avoid the opposition. Works best if you swim at your opponent on an angle. As you get close to them, suddenly swap the stick over to the other side of puck. Pull it in to yourself a bit. Quickly swap the stick over again to push the puck and swim off at a 45o angle.

If done well this move should take them by surprise and put you out of their reach.

2. Curls
The secret to learning how to curl is to make sure you turn onto your side when curling. You can curl to your left or right, but either way you want your shoulder down on the pool floor. Hook the puck with the inside of your stick and curl around using fin kicks on your side. The kicks help you stay down.

Curl to protect the puck, especially against the wall. You can go 180o and pass to a team mate, go 360o to shake off an opponent and then continue on yourself. Or even more if you are still under pressure.

But watch out for back-tacklers! (See Part 3 for explanation of back-tackling).

Next UNDERWATER BASICS Part 5 - Body Position and Drills

UNDERWATER HOCKEY BASICS - Part 3 - Strategy and Goal Scoring

Now, before you get too excited, we are not going to share our secret winning strategies 😜 In this theory session we will outline the basic plan when attacking and defending. It’s easily explained with the Diamond.

When you are in your Defending half of the court, the team works together to get the puck out to the edge of the court as much as possible. This might involve a furious swim directly for the corner if you manage to take possession close to your goal tray. It might be a pass to the player on your outside (rather than the middle), so if you lose possession it’s not an easy swim or shot for their team into the tray.

This is why so much play seems to happen along the wall. It’s called ‘swimming the channel’ and is effectively the safest spot when you are defending.

Naturally then, when you’re in the Attacking half of the court you want to work with your team to get the puck into the middle. There is a much larger area of goal tray to aim for when you are in front of the tray (rather than trying to flick the puck in from the side).

Switching from Attack to Defence - we all know this happens all the time and without any warning. ⚠️ This is where Back Tackling comes in. One moment you’re on the attack trying to swim up the middle for a goal - then the puck is stolen from you. Bingo, you say down, turn around and get ready to steal it right back off then when they curl etc.

So that’s basic game strategy! Part 4 of UNDERWATER BASICS will be all about Puck Skills.

Thanks for the steal Cairns Crays Underwater Hockey .

More to come!

UNDERWATER HOCKEY BASICS - Part 2 - Team Positions

There are 6 active players per team - 3 x Forwards and 3 x Backs. All team members stay close to each other. Within passing distance, approximately 1m apart. In UWH you don’t have a ‘goalie’ or leave anyone at the back for defence. You move together as a group, quickly flipping from attack to defence as the puck changes possession.

See the image below for two different configurations for the team. One for when you are playing on the wall, the other when you are playing in the centre of the court.

The Forwards - Left Wing, Centre and Right Wing. The Centre is involved in every play and as we say ‘they don’t get to breathe’. The Wing closest to the wall is pushing up along the wall with the support of their Halfback. Forwards also have an important role in ‘back tackling’ which is coming up from behind when the opposition curls and sealing the puck.

The Backs - Left Halfback, Fullback and Right Halfback. When the team is attacking the Backs are rotating through to support the Forwards when they need to breathe. They are also the defence if the opposition get the puck and break away.

While there is no ‘off-side’ in UWH, a team plays much better if each player can stay in position, stay close and play their role. If you have further advice on the positions in a team, leave a comment below.

Next instalment of UWH BASICS - Part 3 - Game Strategy and Goal Scoring.

Woo hoo! Thank you the Gambling Community Fund Grant! Your contribution to our sport is greatly appreciated! ♥️

Congratulations to all our local grant recipients from Round 126 of the Gambling Community Benefit Fund!

Caboolture Little Athletics
Centre Against Domestic Abuse
Endeavour Foundation
Morayfield Underwater Hockey
Narangba Eagles Football Club
Northern Districts Hack & Dressage

The Warren Hughes 4s comp kicking off today hosted by Cairns Crays Underwater Hockey