The cobra position is a body position that players can take up on the bottom of the pool that can be used in a variety of situations. Most importantly, the cobra position allows players to maintain a strong presence on the bottom while having a good view of everything around them. The cobra position can be used to lead into several moves including the deke and fade maneuvers.
What to think about for the cobra position:
To practice using this position it is effective to spend some time outside of the game alternating between swimming forward and rearing up into the cobra position. During a game players will go in and out of the cobra position regularly, so building up the muscle memory to go in and out of this position is extremely helpful.
Demo video coming soon!
The cobra position can be used anytime during a game. It is important for players to look around carefully to find where their teammates are. Once they have located a teammate, the player can flick the puck, lunge forward and swim hard or even maintain the cobra position while swimming forward.
The only obvious time the cobra position is not good to use is if the player wishes to swim forward full speed. Trying to maintain the cobra position while swimming forward is useful at times but will drastically slow down the player. If the player wishes to move forward quickly, they should drop down to a regular swimming position with their shoulders and hips close to the playing surface, then once they stop again, pull their shoulders up and return to the cobra position.
White player #3 gets the puck and takes it to the corner where he then cobras up and looks for teammates.
COBRA POSITION