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.
Category: "Technique"
Polo Tip #42: Taking The Danger Out Of “Taking Your Man”
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.
Video Of The Four Basic Polo Swings
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.
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.
Improving Your Polo Game – Video 3 of 3
In this video Claire moves away from stick work and onto horsemanship. She shows us the proper way to warm a polo pony up, how to check-up, and how to turn. Additionally, she explains how to maintain your balance and grip while in two-point. She also shows us some more advanced techniques like flying lead changes and rollbacks.
Improving Your Polo Game – Video 2 of 3
In this video, again from HorseTV.com, Claire Tomlinson moves from foot mallets and wooden horses to real horses and long mallets. She discusses common faults like running over the ball, swinging too hard, and crossing the line during backhanders. Later, she demonstrates the basics of polo horsemanship — balance, the half-seat, leg aids, lead changes, and turning.
Improving Your Polo Game – Video 1 of 3
In this video, Claire Tomlinson illustrates the proper way to hold a mallet, she demonstrates the plane of the swing and how to practice it, and shows us how to practice our swings both on and off the wooden practice horse. This is a really great introduction for beginning players as Claire takes care to address the fundamentals of a good swing, no matter what the shot.
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.
Polo Tip #31: Proper Timing
We are running towards the ball at speed, when we get to the ball, our mind (clue is our mind) tells us-ok, now, swing, hurry, NOW !! We swing and guess what? Way too late.