What to Know about Underwater Hockey?

Underwater hockey is born very accidentally in situations that have nothing to do with sports. The number is that in 1950, the British Navy often demonstrated a way to practice and play similarly to water hockey in the water to help divers improve their mobility and effective underwater missions. In 1954, Underwater hockey also known as Octopush was officially considered a sport after Alan Blake founded his first club Southsea Sub-Aqua in England.

Both men and women can participate in this subject, as long as they have good stamina against the challenge of holding their breath for a certain time underwater.

To participate in underwater hockey, an athlete needs to be a good swimmer, able to dive deeply and hold a bit well for as long as possible, so in addition to competing to score goals on goal. This is also a game of swimming with deep diving, long diving, who can dive longer can bring victory for their team.

The ball used in water hockey is of normal size, round, and flat, but importantly it must have enough weight to sink to the bottom. Usually a ball to play in this interesting match weighs between 1.3 and 1.5 kg.

Each member participating in the match is allowed to use a hockey stick about 30cm in length. It is not too long for the athlete to move easily and use the club to hit the ball against the opponent’s net. Besides the ability to swim, the athlete participating in the match must learn the skill of hitting the ball in the water accurately. Because water strength can obstruct the bridge’s path, and the bridge is quite heavy, requiring athletes to be healthy to hit.

Each athlete participating in the match will be equipped with propellers, swimwear, polishing sticks, masks, rubber gloves, etc. And to distinguish underwater, each team will be equipped with equipment with the same color.

The surface of the lake used to hold water hockey matches has a depth of 2-4m and has a flat lake bed to ensure the bridge moves in the polishing direction. Usually the size of the lake must reach 25x12m. Each team’s goal is made of metal that looks like a tray and each team has to get as much of the ball into the opponent’s tray as possible.