Water sports
Underwater Hockey
Underwater hockey is a fast, three-dimensional team game played beneath the surface without scuba equipment. Short dives, puck protection, coordinated substitutions, and shared breath management shape play.
At a glance
- Players wear mask, snorkel, fins, glove, and swimwear rather than tanks.
- The puck stays on the pool floor.
- The source presents it as one of three principal underwater team sports.
Player profile. Players need strong swimming, efficient breath-hold recovery, comfort underwater, leg power from fins, and constant team awareness. A player dives for a short effort, moves or protects the puck, then surfaces while a teammate replaces the pressure. Efficient finning and rapid breathing therefore matter more than remaining submerged continuously.
Where it happens
The contest takes place along the floor of a swimming pool. Each low goal is approximately 3 m wide and 25 cm high, and the dense puck remains on the bottom. Play remains on the pool floor between two low trough goals, each about 3 m wide and 25 cm high in the source diagram. A dense puck and a short wooden stick keep the contest below the surface.
- The contest takes place along the floor of a swimming pool. Each low goal is approximately 3 m wide and 25 cm high, and the dense puck remains on the bottom. Play remains on the pool floor between two low trough goals, each about 3 m wide and 25 cm high in the source diagram. A dense puck and a short wooden stick keep the contest below the surface.
What you need
- mask
- snorkel
- fins
- ear-protecting cap
- protective glove
- short stick
- weighted puck
- goal troughs
How to play
- Descend from the surface and move the weighted puck with the short stick.
- Rotate breathing dives so a teammate can maintain pressure on the bottom.
- Advance toward the shallow trough at the opposite end.
- Accumulate more successful finishes before regulation or overtime expires.
The essential rules
- Each team has six players selected from a squad of twelve.
- The full match occupies 33 minutes including the interval.
- Each half lasts 15 minutes.
- Teams change ends during the three-minute break.
- The puck is played with a plain wooden or plywood stick.
- The stick, including its handle, may not exceed 35 cm.
- A score requires the puck to enter the 3 m by 25 cm goal.
- Two five-minute periods follow a tied regulation match.
- If the score remains level, the next goal decides the winner.
- Tournament players wear a cap, mask, and at least one reinforced glove.
- The source describes the game as noncontact.
How the result is decided
A goal is recorded by driving the puck into the opposing trough with the short stick. Regulation consists of two 15-minute halves separated by three minutes; a tie proceeds through two five-minute periods and then to the next goal. Two 15-minute halves surround a three-minute interval within a 33-minute match. If the total remains level, the source adds two five-minute periods and then uses the next goal as the decider.
Fouls and penalties
- contact contrary to the noncontact format
- stick longer than the source limit
Techniques
- puck flick
- curl turn
- bottom glide
- stick tackle
- surface recovery
Tactics
- rotate dives
- maintain width
- support the puck carrier
- switch play before surfacing
- protect the center lane
Disciplines and variants
- club
- international six-a-side
Competition landscape
- CMAS Underwater Hockey World Championships
Records in the reference
No stable record table is published here. Records change; use the current governing-body source before acting.
How the sport developed
The sport developed in Britain in the mid-twentieth century as underwater swimming training before becoming an international game. The game appeared in the 1950s as useful conditioning for underwater pursuits. Its noncontact character and modest dependence on body size later encouraged mixed local play as well as international tournaments.
- Most action is invisible from poolside without underwater cameras.
Play it in India
Caution · No pathway, recognised federation or public facility for this sport was found in India in KhelPath's current sources. You can learn the sport here; you may not be able to practise it competitively in India today. This is not evidence that the sport is absent from India; it is a gap in current public evidence.
- Organisation reference
- No dated organisation reference found
- Recognition state
- Not established by the current MYAS snapshot
- SAI NCOE discipline rows
- No matching centre row found
- Khelo India discipline
- Not established
- Olympic programme
- Not a current core-programme sport
- India Olympic medals
- No sport-level total in current sources
Evidence and currency
This is an original KhelPath explainer assembled from editorial research. It is orientation, not an authoritative rulebook.
Current governing-body rules link: not yet verified.