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.
Articles By: Tom Goodspeed
Polo Tip #41: Runaways
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.
Polo Tip #40: Undefended Penalties
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.
Polo Tip #39: Leg Yielding
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 Tip #38: The Throw-In
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.
Polo Tip #37: Reining Techniques – Direct and Indirect Reining
Reining may seem like pretty simple stuff initially…but there is a lot more to it. The beginner rider starts out pretty much all hand, while more advanced riding is all about the combination of seat, legs, eyes, voice, hands, and position. Hands or reining is only a piece of the puzzle, but certainly an important one.
Polo Tip #36: Proper Lower Leg Angle
Probably the key to a great polo seat. The old hunt/polo seat saw a much longer stirrup and a straight leg that resulted in what they call a deep seat. The riders were usually more to the rear of the saddle. Those polo players of yesteryear even used to turn their mallet a quarter revolution clockwise in their hands to make up for the fact that they weren’t getting up in a hitting position and turning their shoulders as we do now, well, at least some of us, ahem.
Polo Tip #35: Hit it! Anywhere! Just hit it!…NOT THERE!
It is true that sometimes just hitting that ball seems to be a noteworthy accomplishment. However, for effective play in any sport, ball placement and ball possession is what it all comes down to. There have been many an armchair quarterback on the sidelines of polo fields that feels the only acceptable shot is a long one with plenty of loft, you know, the crowd pleaser.
Polo Tip #34: Field Positioning – Anticipation
The polo field is an incredibly large area of play in the world of sport. An outdoor field is ten acres, which defines itself as nine football fields. That is more than an acre for each mounted person in the game. It is easy to see how we can do a lot of running without a great deal of progress.
Polo Tip #33: You Hit Like A Girl
Some guys can sit in the saddle and get away with powering the ball with just their arm. However, in most cases, women are a smaller frame and they have to get up in the saddle, into their legs, and take full advantage of their body rotation to get power into their swings.