Having a water balloon fight is always so much fun for the entire family. We’ve honed in our tactics over time that allow us to win the water battle every time.
How To Win A Water Balloon Fight:
- Find Good Cover
- Stay On The Move
- Be Unpredictable
- Have Proper Stance
- Dress Appropriately
- Map Out The Battlefield
- Practice Throwing
- Keep Extra Ammo Nearby
- Hit And Run Tactic
- Ambush The Enemy
These are great ways to make sure you always come out on top in a water balloon fight. But there are some additional things you should know about these tactics and how to implement them for a water battle victory.
Find Good Cover
If you can shield yourself from incoming enemy fire you will already have a great advantage. If you’re in an open area without much natural cover, try making your own cover if you can. Find something to use as a shield or anything you can use to make a base of operations. Some useful things to use as cover are:
- Large Rocks
- Trees
- Large Bushes
- Storage Totes
- Cardboard Boxes
We’ve had good luck stringing up an old blanket or sheet between two trees. That gave us a great place to store our extra ammo for a quick on the go resupply. Make sure your resupply points are well guarded, the enemy will surely try to ambush them.
Consider creating some water balloon shields. We’ve had good luck making them out of cardboard, but they tend to be less effective as they get wet. You could also use baking sheets or boogie boards to construct a decent shield.
Stay On The Move
You don’t want to stay stationary for too long unless you have excellent cover and your enemy can’t easily ambush you. I found it best to always stay on they move. It makes it harder for your enemy to plan an assault if they need to keep changing their tactics.
Also, it’s harder to hit a moving target. Try to keep yourself moving side to side from your enemy rather that forward and backward. Constantly moving from cover to cover is a good approach to keep yourself dry. Doing the stop and go can be a good way to throw off your opponent as well. Don’t give them an easy target.
Be Unpredictable, Keep Your Enemy Confused
I talked about staying on the move. But you also don’t want to become predictable. If you’re constantly moving back and forth between two places of cover, you’re almost as predictable as standing still. Your enemy will catch on to your movement pretty quickly and it gives them an advantage.
You want to make your movements seem random to your opponent. Keeping them confused as to what you’ll do next will give you an edge. The enemy should never be able to predict your next action or movement. Try using a zig-zag pattern to keep them guessing.
Have Proper Stance
Using proper stance will go a long way in your accuracy but also in your maneuverability. Try to stay lower to the ground by bending your knees slightly as move around the battlefield. This will decrease your silhouette, which means your enemy will have less of a target to aim for.
Keeping your knees slightly bent will also allow you to evade incoming water balloons more easily. Allowing you to duck or step to the side a lot more quickly and easily. Using the proper stance while throwing will help with your accuracy as well, but we will go over that in the throwing technique section.
Keep your stance in mind as you’re ducking behind cover as well. Keep your self positioned so you can easily dart out of there if things start to get hairy. You also want to be able to pop up and throw a water balloon easily if you need to.
Dress For The Battle
You will most definitely want to wear clothing that you don’t mind getting wet. Or you can take it a step further and just wear bathing suits. I would avoid wearing socks and shoes if you can because they are difficult to dry out. Wearing a poncho or rain coat might work, but they will slow your mobility quite a bit.
If you plan on staying out of sight as much as possible during the battle, try wearing clothes that blend in with your surroundings. If it’s going to be a little dark out, try wearing dark blue or black shirts. If you have a pair of cargo shorts you don’t mind getting wet, they will allow you to carry extra ammo with you in case of emergencies.
Map Out The Battlefield
Get a good idea of the layout before the water balloon fight starts. Try not to make it obvious but look for good hiding spots and areas you could use as cover. Keep in mind the distance from your resupply area and what it will take to get more ammo if you run out.
If you’re playing on a team, you should cover movements and tactics with the team before the battle. Make sure everyone knows the area of operation and plan out each team members role. For instance, how will you defend your supply cache and what sort of rotations will you need. If you have the time, you could map the battle field out on paper and plan your strategies that way.
Practice Throwing, Technique Is Key
Nailing down your throwing technique will help improve your accuracy in the heat of battle. You will want to throw a water balloon like you would a baseball. Lead with the opposite foot of your throwing hand and work on your release.
Remember not to grip the water balloon too tightly though, they could burst before you even get your shot off. While holding it too loosely will decrease your accuracy. Find a good middle ground.
Always aim for the center of the target. This would be in the middle of your opponents chest. Doing this will give you a better margin of error and best chance to hit your target. Look for targets that aren’t aware you are there. An unsuspecting target will always be easiest to hit.
Keep Extra Ammo Nearby
You should always have a resupply point where you can run back to and grab more water balloons. This area should remain guarded so it can be a safe place whenever you need one. If you’re on a team, you could even have someone filling more balloons while the fight is still underway.
Think about having some smaller hidden ammo stash locations. Just a quick place you can go to grab some ammo if you need it. Be careful with this tactic though, if left unguarded your enemy could end up using your ammo against you.
We use this Bunch O Balloons Instant Fill Water Balloon Pack from Amazon. You can fill and tie 100 water balloons in under a minute. The pack comes with 420 water balloons that seal themselves, and you can fill groups of water balloons at a time with a hose.
Hit And Run Tactic
This tactic requires lots of speed and accuracy but can really devastate your opponent. The goal is to run by an enemy, hit them with a water balloon, and return to safety without ever stopping. This will require you to leave your cover to accomplish, but if done right, can pay off big.
If you’re on a team this tactic tends to be more successful when two or more of you execute at the same time. Using one team mate as a distraction while the others make their move. The distraction team mate will be vulnerable and possibly get hit pretty badly. But to accomplish an overall win for the team, he will be the real hero.
Ambush Your Enemy, When They Least Expect It
This bold tactic, when done correctly, will determine the winner of the battle. If you ambush and take over the enemy’s supply stash they will quickly run out of ammo. This is a risky tactic putting many troops in danger, but if it pays off you will come out victorious. This can also work on areas where you notice the enemy team likes to group together.
What you need to do is go in with three or more teammates. One facing the enemy head on laying down covering fire while the others flank from the side. The element of surprise will make or break this tactic. The goal is to get your opponent to abandon post when they see the flank being taken.
Bonus:
Consider trying out the water balloon baseball game after you get sick of water balloon fights. I wrote an article How To Play Water Balloon Baseball to help explain the rules and game-play, but you can always alter the rules to fit your play style.
Or check out these other 10 Water Balloon Games you can play to mix things up a bit.