How a player moves through the water is very important based on what is happening during the game at that point and what interaction with the play the player intends. The start of each point begins with a strike and players have specific options available to reach the puck. Throughout the game players will need to swim at the surface, kick mid-water, and kick at the bottom in order to reposition themselves properly and (re)enter the play. During this repositioning the player will at some point need to dive down and players can choose to dive while swimming (duck dive) or perform a fins-first dive (kelp dive).
Once on the bottom a player should assume the Ready Position (cobra position) to indicate that they are available as a passing option. The ready position is also the base position for many puck-handling maneuvers. Before or after performing puck maneuvers players will often need to swim with the puck in order to make progress.