So how can one pull off a belly shot and why would one even want to.

The second part of the question is a good one as belly shots are a low percentage shot. It is like that between the legs tennis return that looks cool, but falls in the low percentage category.

A neck shot or tail shot would both be higher percentage. Even if you execute a belly shot correctly, there are lots of moving parts for that ball to pass through. However, there are times when a belly shot may just come in handy if you need it. Kind of like that sand wedge in your golf bag. You don’t use it that often, but it sure comes in handy when you need it. I myself tend to struggle in the sand traps. You think I would feel at home in a sand trap after all my years of arena polo. The only similarity that I saw in my arena polo and the sand trap, is that a tractor and drag would be more suitable for cleaning up the sand trap, then that dumb little rake they give you.

Anyway, back to the belly shot. The first rule, is do not swing under the horse. You swing down at the ball and hit the ground and the ball at the same time, chipping the ball, but stopping your follow thru. On my offside, my toe of my mallet is forward. On my nearside, the toe of my mallet is facing the rear. I have done belly shots on my nearside with the toe forward as well. I also had a lot more luck by angling the ball slightly from back to front as I passed the ball underneath the horse. The belly shot is a clever way to drag the ball to your free side away from the opponent in certain play situations. I will say that having the option for the belly shot helped me maintain possession many a time and even get some pretty cool goals over the years, but there is no question that the shot is low percentage, period.

What level is that? Some present that high goal is better supervision of incoming players; others feel that the more traditional “walk before you run” approach is better in lower goal. Which way is right? They both are, depending on your resources, riding skills, and mental attitude. However, it is true, that in lower levels of play, you are going to run into personalities playing well over their heads, pros coming up the ladder trying to show their stuff, and some pretty challenging horses. If you are financially able, and you have the ability to take direction, maintain your calm in chaos, and put in the time as to your riding skills, high goal is great. Obviously, your level of participation is going to be slightly different than all those other ten-goal players running around you, but you are learning from the best the game has to offer, and it is a real thrill ride. It does take a great deal of riding skill to ride at the high goal level, so make certain to get in your riding time. For an amateur playing amongst the professional ranks, field awareness and riding ability should be your cornerstones. It takes years sometimes decades to hone your hitting skills at those speeds, but riding skills and field awareness are the more important factors to focus on.

It took me a while (40 years) to remember what I really love about the sport of polo. Galloping on the back of a horse. That is what I loved my first ten years of playing when I seldom hit a ball and that is what I still love today. So maybe you make ten plays in a game, or almost all of them, it is galloping around on a horse, which in my opinion is a blast. Now, throw in an occasional shot sailing through the goal posts, while galloping down field, and now you get addiction, Your right, I didn’t say passion, passion is galloping on the back of a horse, I said addiction, that is the greatest game on this planet, polo. I think polo at any level, is wonderful. My personal suggestion as to levels is play both, if you are able. You learn more skills at the high goal level; you get the chance to execute them more in lower goal polo. The most important thing is to have good supervision at either level and to remember to watch out for yourself, to play in an environment that you are comfortable with.

You are running down the field, you alone are aware of what you are comfortable with and what you are not comfortable with, respective of speed, contact, and hitting. You need to take care of yourself, regardless of what you may be being instructed to do by a well meaning teammate. You should properly communicate any concerns or limitations that you might have to your teammates, so that you can come up with a more effective strategy for both you and your team. For example, you have been assigned an opponent that you are not physically able to stay with due to either horsepower or variance in riding skills. It is better to communicate that and try to adjust the strategy. It is true that you need to push yourself some to improve, but that should always be done carefully. Better to challenge yourself to more speed on the track and in higher goal practice matches, than throwing yourself into a competitive match, well over your head.

I have witnessed overly enthusiastic teammates encouraging a player to go to plays at speeds that they have no business attempting at their present level of competence. I have seen way too many players on horses that are not well suited to them over the years. It is true that we need to challenge ourselves to progress, but do it carefully. Polo is so much more fun when you are able to play the game for a long time.

Happy Polo !!

If you are able to stick and ball regularly, you need to start to imagine play situations to help you become more effective on the field of play. For example, practicing a tail shot to the middle from the end line, as opposed to an impossible neck shot. Or even a short back shot from the end line to a teammate behind you, so that the ball does not roll over the end line, setting the other team up for a knock-in. There are times when it would be better to let that ball roll over the back line, depending on the positioning of the two teams, but having the ability to execute a short back shot to a teammate is a good thing to practice. Many teams get the ball down field, but are unable to successfully navigate the ball to goal, as most shots are wide of goal. Often times the player may have been able to get off a higher percentage shot if they were able to think a little more about ball placement, speed, and shot selection as they were approaching goal. These are things you can practice or simulate while stick and balling, instead of running around for thirty minutes hitting offside forehanders as hard as you can. However, I will admit that running around just hitting offside forehanders can be pretty good therapy on certain days.

You will see some of the awesome magicians of our sport run into a melee, opposite of the direction of others and emerge from the pack with the ball and continue down to goal. It is always wonderful to watch, but not quite as easy to execute. I would advise for the most part, that players learn to turn with the direction of the flow of horses, so that you are in better position to defend the attacking players. When you see the pack beginning to turn, begin to slow your horse and prepare to turn, but first, yep, field awareness-never check or turn without checking in on the position of all of the players around you. Meeting players at speed can be very dangerous. In most cases, you try to meet a player in possession, you do not get the ball, and then you have left your back to the game and it is almost impossible to get back into position.

A client asked me to re-tread two of his horses after playing in the 12 goal leagues for the summer. He told me a bit about each horse over by his trailer right after the last game and we agreed that the horses should come to my place and that I would play them, though the likelihood of being able to was somewhat dubious.
After a new set of shoes the horses arrived and were assimilated by the herd and incorporated into the schooling program.

Their owner had not given these horses much accolade other then their original cost which I assumed should reflect their original quality. The owner could care less about that now and was most annoyed that these two horses, his most expensive, were now useless to him after just two years. One was a leaper, and the other a run away. His flowery descriptions of their behavior told the rest of the story.

I was told the hardware that was required to play these monsters was as monstrous as their tendencies. Sure enough when I first saddled up with a snaffle and a comfy saddle on the Run Away there was no stopping until we had climbed several hundred feet, but at the top of the nearest hill, an intense three minute canter up a steep slope, she seemed to stop on a loose rein but bore down on the bridle just as I wanted to let go and relax. She ran on through the point of stopping for no reason, so really we had just slowed down. I turned her in a sharp circle with a direct inside rein and eventually we stopped, but the mouth was very hard and her neck as stiff as a board.

Hills are great especially if the way home is directly down hill. On a leaping horse it is possible to very gently stop and then rein back. You can feel if the horse is responsive in the mouth, and if it is, then the leaping is probably more barn sour then anything else.

Barn sour is treatable with consistent schooling and the establishment of a work ethic in the horse, so leaping becomes an easy thing to fix if approached this way. However in this horse the problem was exacerbated by a very stiff neck just like the run away.

As an aside I used to ride some difficult horses on some very steep sandy hills as a way to stop them from leaping. I found that with their legs under them on a sandy hill they would concentrate on sliding down the hill. The trick is to find a hill that is long enough to stop on. Then rein back. Do this many times going home down hill.

Back to the stiff necks.

The owner had been using a lethal combination of “solutions” to the problems he was facing with his horses. In the run away’s mouth he placed some good hardware, as was logical, and in his hand he placed some leverage in the form of a draw rein or running rein.

In polo the running rein is used almost universally. It is used with great effect by many and has a place in the game, but although it’s virtues could be sung by many a player I am sure they would all agree that if it is used incorrectly it is a scourge for the horse.

I have seen the draw rein attached to every bit conceived but I have rarely heard of the draw rein being taken off the horse and the “bite” of the bit toned down. It would seem then that the training is not doing it’s job. The horse is not improving.

One of the pitt falls of the draw rein is that if it is held tight it just pulls the horse into a frame from whence the horse can’t perform at speed. At first the horse might submit to this assault on it’s mouth but as the level of play rises so do the expectations of the player and as such the horses demise should be noticed and dealt with.

In this case there was no one there for the horse and bad went to worse as training was undertaken on the field of play. As the size of the hardware mounted so did the fear in the horse.

It knew as it stood on the trailer that on that grass was pain. Eventually the fear inherent in the game coupled with the reactions from spurs, sounds, and so on caused this horse to over compensate. At first it would run every time it heard the ball get struck, and especially if the trailer were right ahead, in order to avoid the inevitable grip that meant spur. It would never select the lead that was away from the trailer, indeed it would never let the rider select the lead.

Now it was in the lead on the ladder of who is in charge.

And then it ran away, with a stiff neck and jaw that resisted all attempts from the rider to turn the horse using a draw rein who’s direct effect is to pull from the bit to wherever the rein is fastened on the saddle.
Without leg aids this is not an aid, just an impossible task.

When the horse is young and full of itself the breaker will inevitably have to present it with it’s first experience running in open country. This could be on a polo field or a trail with open country either side. It’s all the same to the youngster. If that horse were to bolt then the rider would use a direct inside rein to turn the horse in the airplane turn that is familiar to the green horse trainer. As the circles gets smaller the horse slows to an eventual stop. The direct inside rein is given so as not to raise the horses level of adrenalin just to place the head. I mention this because it is what the horse knows. Eventually one can teach the horse to come off the leg and that same rider can then use a draw rein as an aid in stopping provided he support and release the horse between maneuvers. Ridden like this the horse will flow and never become stiff.

On the other hand if the rider clamps on with his lower leg (and spur sometimes.) and draws in with a rein that helps him balance on the horses mouth then the flow stops and the horse takes charge in a battle that the rider will eventually have to loose using the tools he or she has chosen.

There has to be someone back in the pony lines that takes charge of your horses. If you can’t be there to re tread the horse between chukkers you will never find enough time on the field of play. Green horses and horses having problems become frustratingly “slow” in their maneuvers making the game seem faster and harder. “There is nothing worse then a slow run away!” as someone once said.

Hitting a successful neck shot, or rather hitting the ball as opposed to the legs of your horse requires three things:

1. Preparation & Timing
2. Starting your swing up front from the side of your horse’s head
3. A little more commitment up onto your horse’s neck
4. Sinking deeper into your heels as you move further up the horse’s neck.

You want to be making contact with the ball well forward of the horse’s chest, about underneath or just to the side of the horse’s head. That means you need to prepare early and begin your swing well before you arrive at the ball.

The most common problem players have is they begin their swing like they are taking an off-side forehander, starting the mallet from either behind them or from their hip. You have to force yourself to put your arm to the front of your saddle, just alongside the horse’s head and neck and slightly to the side to whichever side you will be swinging.

You need to get a little help from your horse’s neck with a little shorter rein and lean a little more forward.

However, you need to sink a little deeper in your leg so that you do not lose your balance. This is a swing that you should swing a little easier on until you get more confident for the safety of both you and your horse.

Finally, you need to be careful with your follow-through. You do not want to hit another player or their horse accidentally. This shot is a good one to develop at a walk and trot initially, and then move to your faster speeds.

It is pretty exciting to work with the same teammates over a period of time to develop team strength. By team strength I mean the extra handicap goals of the team that are in excess of the sum of the individual handicaps. The paper might have shown our three handicaps totaling 23 goals in LA, but we were easily playing as a 26-goal team.

Why? We played together, supported each other, but most importantly, we were very clear on each other’s strengths and weaknesses and had learned to adapt our individual styles to benefit the characteristics of the team.

Knowing each other as family. Does it surprise you that some of the most successful teams in polo history have been comprised of four brothers or close relatives? You are able to anticipate the play making of your teammates because you have put in the time practicing and playing with each other. You are clear to the strategies that will be applied to the team that you will be up against next. You watch videos of both your team and your opponents. You communicate with each other as to how you will coordinate your horses. You are in sync with the strategies that are most effective for the team. You identify both individual and team weaknesses and work on improving them. You play to your individual and team strengths.

The team members are dedicated to the responsibilities of their respective positions and dedicate the necessary individual effort to carry their weight for the benefit of the team.

Having a qualified coach is a welcomed luxury. That person takes the heat off of individual players trying to resolve issues. That person brings a different perspective to the field. The players are a mix of talent, intensity, and discipline. The coach should be all discipline, even though they may be an emotional wreck inside, they have the emotional strength to calmly direct their players on the outside. The coach needs to monitor the game and make any minor adjustments from chukker to chukker. Major adjustments are usually made between games and often between tournaments. A coach’s responsibility is to try to help their team stay on track and focused. To note any holes in the team’s performance that can be corrected. To note any weaknesses of the opponents that can be capitalized on. The team as an Indy racecar, has the players as the engines. The field captain is often the car’s driver, while the coach is the car’s mechanic, making certain that the car is running at optimal performance for existing and changing conditions. In some cases more of the responsibilities of the driver are also placed in the lap of the coach, depending on the strengths of the field captain. In Professional football, some quarterbacks have the ability and authority to make and change plays as they wish. Others rely solely on the guidance from field-side. Polo is no different. You do what works best for the team.

In a great deal of the tournament polo played, we only come together for a tournament or a league and then we are on to the next team. Again, the teams that arrive a few weeks or a few months early, focused on team preparation, will have the clear advantage over team arriving the first week of tournament.

In what could be the majority of polo played, the team is more of a group of friends or fellow member joining up with or without a pro to play the sport that they love. They want to win, but they are not as drawn into the professional approach of preparation. Their focus is a blend of camaraderie and competition with the emphasis often times being on the former. They replace the prior evening’s team meeting with a post game party or night out together. They may spend some percentage of time involved with some of the components necessary for better preparation, but their underlying motivation is to have a good time. It is some number of chukkers of getting away from the frustrations of life. They are usually not interested in the game being an additional source of similar frustrations. Polo offers a wonderful opportunity of handling and adapting to the dynamics of mixing professional and amateur players on the same field. How many other sports have our mix of the two, outside of various celebrity or fundraising events?

I have heard some amateurs say, like Madonna and Sheryl Crow, that they just want to have some fun, but often times, they also want to win. That in itself can be a confusing and conflicting message. The discipline required for winning is seldom fun, until you are winning. If you are able to enjoy our awesome sport with little regard to the scoreboard, you possess a quality that I admire.

Bottom line, we should all realize that the opportunity to play this game on top of a horse is the gift. A game that attracts so many different personalities from so many different places. A game that crosses the demographic and geographic borders of our planet. We are all so fortunate. I have always been a slow learner, but I think I finally understand how fortunate.

Happy Polo !!

A polo field is the perfect setting for us polo players to practice our somewhat dysfunctional, yet colorful vocabularies. The terms on the field are supposed to offer direction and clarification. Unfortunately, at times, the direction may be accompanied by some inappropriate references to family heritage. In fact, sometimes the message is absent of any productive content whatsoever.

In the USA, often times it is an advantage for an umpire to not have any comprehension of a foreign language. What you can ‘t understand will never hurt you. But at times, a translation would provide immediate ejection from the remainder of the game. Have you ever noticed that swearing in Spanish or French seems to be absent of the hard edges of the same words pronounced in English? I guess that may be one of the reasons they are called the romance languages. Even swearing in those languages seems to carry a less offensive musical tone.

However, back to the subject at hand. What are the effective and ineffective commands for the field of play? In the beginning and novice stages, a great deal of field talk is imperative and extremely helpful. In the more advanced levels of play, the verbal direction is replaced by non-verbal anticipation. The teams operating at optimum levels seem to be plugged into some mysterious level of telepathy amongst the teammates. Any announcement of directives at this level can often be viewed as unproductive as the opponents are in attendance and receiving the same information. Pretty much like inviting the competition to your staff meetings. Sometimes, higher levels will use team talk as a deception. A teammate yells tail and draws a couple of defenders, which allows the teammate backing the ball to turn the ball into a less congested area. Four players on offense is usually better than three, A respected player once told me that any directive uttered from his lips was merely an option. He understood that sometimes the player in possession may see a better play, or the ball may be in a divot, not allowing for a strong pass down field.

But I will focus on the more novice level of play.

Here are the common directives:

Self Defining

Turn-it – Turn the ball
Hook – Your opponent
Center – Hit to the center
Hit it out – Hit over the boards/sidelines when your team is poorly positioned
Hurry
Take your time
Follow me – Come along in line behind your teammate with the ball to cover
Leave it – Don’t hit the ball-if a teammate has a better play
Stay up – Don’t turn back
Stay Back – Stay on defense
Left/right/under you -Locating the ball for a teammate

Productive

Open/Away-Hitting away from the horse from either side of the horse on backhanders
Tail-Hitting towards the horse and around behind from either side on backhanders
Boards-Hit towards the closest boards/sidelines
Hard/Clear-Hit hard
Hold it-Maintain possession of the ball until a teammate is open.
Take it with you/or Keep it-Keep it yourself
Take the man/man-that dreaded phrase everyone hates/keep your opponent from the ball
Go Back/Get Back-Get to defense
Go Up-usually means offense/go for a pass
Cover Goal-Try to block an upcoming shot on goal
Get around/Rotate-Turn back or rotate in behind the players going to the ball
Go to goal-may mean either for a pass or with the ball
Man coming-opponent coming from behind
Through-usually yelled if ball goes through the throw-in

Questionable

Hit it-That would seem obvious and certainly not much direction
You are all alone-can sometimes create tension as opposed to eliminating the same
Leave it-I put it here as well, as this directive can be very much abused
Look out/Get out of the way-both of these are better than running over someone

I will close with the final comment that you must be able to clearly project your information on an outdoor field on a windy day or in an arena with an enthusiastic crowd. A raised voice should be productive and positive, but the polo field is no place for softly spoken directives. Some people are sensitive to volume, but volume is necessary for someone to hear running around a polo field. However, because of the volume, your words should be either informative or positive. Public embarrassment and/or verbal abuse are two characteristics that have no place in any environment.

Happy Polo.