The 118th Argentine Open final game between La Dolfina and Ellerstina has been put up on ESPN. These games are always incredible. Brilliant play by both teams. If you find yourself looking for a way to burn through 3 1/2 spare hours, check out the match!
I really enjoy these helmet cam practices. Watching these, it’s very easy to feel yourself slip into “game mode.” I’ll start off watching them very dispassionately: “Nice backhand there,” “Where’s he going with that?” etc. But very quickly I’ll find myself much more absorbed, totally within the game. “Look for the hook” becomes, more simply, “hook hook hook!”
This video, edited by the Hurlingham Polo Association, illustrates common polo fouls encountered while turning the ball, blocking, and at the throw-in. The video illustrates not only the actual fouls (taken from tournament footage) but also provides examples of how the same maneuvers can be accomplished, or when they can be accomplished, without fouling.
Learning the proper strategy for this play is not difficult and has a high payout — it can set the tone for the chukker or even the game. Blowing through your opponents’ defense, or conversely, presenting a solid and consistent defense of your own during the knock-in can be a major psychological victory for your team, which can continue to pay dividends throughout the entire game.
Here you have the opportunity to watch a pro perform the four foundational swings of polo as many times as you like, in slow motion, from the comfort of your computer desk! These videos cover the offside forehand, offside backhand, nearside forehand, and nearside backhand.
Field Awareness is no different from Driving Defensively. The good drivers are aware of all of the traffic around them and ahead of them. They stay alert to unexpected and sometimes even illegal moves of the other cars around them.
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The open goal allows us to focus on hitting straight. We are not forced to hit hard due to someone rushing out, trying to defend. So don’t hurry yourself. You are only allowed one approach, so start back a ways so you can get a good line to the ball. Some canter, some walk.
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As in tennis and golf, we need to keep our head, and therefore our shoulders down as we finish our swing. Your eyes must follow the cane/shaft through the swing. The majority of players in polo finish their swings with their head and eyes up above their follow-through and high in the saddle. Interestingly enough, the majority of players are also handicapped at 2 and lower.
continue reading
The 118th Argentine Open final game between La Dolfina and Ellerstina has been put up on ESPN. These games are always incredible. Brilliant play by both teams. If you find yourself looking for a way to burn through 3 1/2 spare hours, check out the match!
continue reading
Kevin Cox: Most informative.... Thank You Keep Up The great Work!!!!...
krystal: I truly needed to read this right now! But not for the reasons that you perhaps wrote the ... krystal: I appreciate this advice. It all makes perfect sense, this novice is ready to try your adv...
mudit rajwat: excellent site 2 surf... mudit rajwat: good site , i like a lot 2 surf on this...
As in tennis and golf, we need to keep our head, and therefore our shoulders down as we finish our swing. Your eyes must follow the cane/shaft through the swing. The majority of players in polo finish their swings with their head and eyes up above their follow-through and high in the saddle. Interestingly enough, the majority of players are also handicapped at 2 and lower.
The 118th Argentine Open final game between La Dolfina and Ellerstina has been put up on ESPN. These games are always incredible. Brilliant play by both teams. If you find yourself looking for a way to burn through 3 1/2 spare hours, check out the match!
I really enjoy these helmet cam practices. Watching these, it’s very easy to feel yourself slip into “game mode.” I’ll start off watching them very dispassionately: “Nice backhand there,” “Where’s he going with that?” etc. But very quickly I’ll find myself much more absorbed, totally within the game. “Look for the hook” becomes, more simply, “hook hook hook!”
This video, edited by the Hurlingham Polo Association, illustrates common polo fouls encountered while turning the ball, blocking, and at the throw-in. The video illustrates not only the actual fouls (taken from tournament footage) but also provides examples of how the same maneuvers can be accomplished, or when they can be accomplished, without fouling.
Field Awareness is no different from Driving Defensively. The good drivers are aware of all of the traffic around them and ahead of them. They stay alert to unexpected and sometimes even illegal moves of the other cars around them.
If your horse were to take off unexpectedly and you are not able to stop them, circling is a great way of gaining leverage and therefore re-establishing control by turning them into smaller and smaller circles until they stop.
Everyone falls eventually — as polo players know all too well! After Prince Harry’s much publicized, if minor, fall this past Sunday in the Hamptons I thought I would take the opportunity to point out Tom Goodspeed’s excellent article on knowing when and how to make an “emergency dismount” from a moving horse as safely as possible.
The open goal allows us to focus on hitting straight. We are not forced to hit hard due to someone rushing out, trying to defend. So don’t hurry yourself. You are only allowed one approach, so start back a ways so you can get a good line to the ball. Some canter, some walk.
Being able to adjust a horse a few inches or a few feet from one side to the other is what allows the better riders to adjust to a bouncing outdoor ball, to win more ride-offs, and to get their horse closer to the boards in the arena than you seem to be able to do. Not to mention getting a better balanced frame on your horse while moving around the field.
Polo resumes play with a throw-in after every out of bounds and some whistles where no foul is the determination. Some infractions of procedure also are resolved with a throw-in, so it is rather obvious that throw-ins are a key factor in the play of the game. At the very least, it is a necessary evil.
