WOMEN’S WATER POLO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: TECHNICAL AND TACTICAL ASPECTS OF WINNING AND LOSING TEAMS IN CLOSE AND UNBALANCED GAMES CORRADO LUPO, 1,2 GIANCARLO CONDELLO, 1 LAURA CAPRANICA, 2 AND ANTONIO TESSITORE 2 1 Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, Division of Human Movement and Sport Sciences, University of Rome Foro Italico; and 2 Motor Science Research Center (SUISM), School of Exercise & Sport Sciences, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy ABSTRACT Lupo, C, Condello, G, Capranica, L, and Tessitore, A. Women’s water polo world championships: Technical and tac- tical aspects of winning and losing teams in close and unbal- anced games. J Strength Cond Res 28(1): 210–222, 2014— This study aimed to compare the technical and tactical aspects between winning and losing teams in close (i.e., 1–3 goals of difference) and unbalanced (i.e., .3 goals of difference) elite women’s water polo games. A notational analysis was per- formed on 45 games to evaluate occurrence of action, mean duration, action outcome, origin and execution of shot, offen- sive and defensive role, and arrangement of even, counterat- tack, power play, and transition situations. Independent 2-sided t-tests were applied to show differences (p , 0.05) between teams. Regarding close games, effects emerged for action outcome (counterattack: lost possessions; power play: goals, no goal shots), origin (even: zone 1, zone 4; counterattack: zone 1, zone 5) and execution (even: off-the-water shots; coun- terattack: shots after . than 2 fakes; power play: drive shots) of shots, offensive even arrangements (6 vs. 6/5 vs. 5; 2 vs. 2/ 1 vs. 1), and role. Regarding unbalanced games, differences emerged for the occurrence of action (even, counterattack), duration (even; power play), action outcome (even: goals, pen- alties; counterattack: goals, no goal shots, penalties; power play: goals, no goal shots; transition: lost possessions), origin (even: zone 2, zone 4; counterattack: zone 5) and execution (even: free throws, drive shots; counterattack: drive shots, shots after . 2 fakes; power play: drive shots, shots after 1 fake) of shots; offensive even arrangements (2 vs. 2/1 vs. 1), and role; and defensive even arrangements (pressing, zones 1–2, zone M, zones 2-3-4). Differences between close and unbalanced games underlining that water polo performance should be ana- lyzed in relation to specific margins of victory. Therefore, water polo coaches and physical trainers can plan a sound training session according to the most important aspects of close (opponent’s exclusion, center forward play, and power play ac- tions) and unbalanced (defensive skills) games. KEY WORDS notational analysis, margin of victory, playing situation INTRODUCTION A lthough men’s water polo originated in the late 1800s and is one of the oldest team sports of the modern Olympic Games, women’s water polo sourced later. In particular, the first Olympic Game edition of women’s water polo was introduced only in 2000 (Sydney, Australia). Nevertheless, since 1986 (Madrid, Spain), the Federation Internationale de Natation organizes the women’s water polo world championships. In 2009, this international competition has been organized in Rome (Italy) and counted the participation of 16 national teams coming from every continent. Independently from gender, water polo games are played by 2 teams consisting of 6 field players and 1 goalkeeper. In particular, since 2005, a game consists of four 8-minute clock time quarters, in a 25- 3 20-m court (7), and other new rules (i.e., 30 seconds of clock time allowed to conclude a single action, 5 penalties determine the winner in case the score remains tied after two 3-minute extra times, the 5-m penalty area from goal line, and the corner throw changed in goal throw when a defending player involuntarily sends the ball over the goal line) have been introduced (7). Although the water polo literature reported several articles that focused on heart rate and lactate accumulation parameters (8,21,24,25,28) and swimming capability (6,20,22) during training, tests, and simulated games, only few technical and tactical studies have been provided. In particular, the situational nature of water polo does not encourage the play analyses in terms of replication (17). However, the technical and tactical aspects of water polo have been mostly investigated for men’s official games, considering elite Address correspondence to: Corrado Lupo, corrado.lupo@uniroma4.it. 28(1)/210–222 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Ó 2013 National Strength and Conditioning Association 210 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research the TM Copyright © National Strength and Conditioning Association Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.