Polo Player Equipment
Below is a list of equipment needed to play polo and some links pointing to trustworthy sites that sell each article. If I’ve left anything off, please comment and let me know! The below list is player equipment only, I’ll deal with horses and tack in a future post.
Polo Helmet
Polo helmets consist of a hard plastic frame supporting foam or another impact-absorbing material. They’re generally covered in cotton cloth or leather and come in a variety of colors. The helmet brim is usually made of stiff cardboard and will break away when necessary.
Your helmet is the most important piece of polo equipment you’ll buy. Everyone falls off of their horse eventually – some of us more frequently than others. On top of that, polo is a fast and rough sport. It makes sense to protect the most vulnerable part of your body. The opportunity for severe injury is just too great to ever justify playing, or riding, without a helmet.
The USPA has published safety ratings for most helmets on the market today. The Bond Street helmet is no longer produced as far as I know. But of those listed that are still being made, I can recommend the Polo Gear helmets for comfort and protection. And hey, they look good too!
You can also get a metal facemask attached to any polo helmet you buy. These are generally silver or powder-coated black. You don’t have to buy both at the same time.
Where To Buy:
Glasses/Goggles
Many players today wear protective goggles/glasses. These are to protect your eyes from lacerations either due to getting hit with a ball or whip or from bits of dirt/gravel/turf thrown up during practices and games.
You can find sport glasses almost anywhere although it can be difficult to find them in prescription.
If you find a nice looking pair of prescription sport glasses, let me know!
Polo Boots
Polo Boots serve three primary functions: they protect your shins and calves from rubbing against the stirrup leathers, they offer protection against mallets, balls, and during ride-offs, and the heels help to keep your feet in the stirrups.
Traditional Dressage/Jumping/Eventing boots are fine for practice, but they won’t cut it during a game. Polo boots are made from much thicker leather than that used in traditional Dressage boots and while Dressage boots do a fine job of protecting your legs from the stirrup leathers, they’re much too thin to protect against mallets and struck balls.
La Martina, The Tackeria, and Polo Gear all offer excellent polo boots. If you’re part of an Interscholastic or Intercollegiate club, be sure to mention that (I believe all three shops offer discounts to student players).
Where To Buy:
Polo Knee Guards
Knee guards act as a kind of extension of your riding boots. They too help to protect against mallets, balls, and during ride-offs. Additionally, I find that they help me wedge my knees in against the saddle for better grip during games.
Knee guards come with two or three straps and can either be buckle fastened or Velcro. My personal preference is Velcro as they’re easier to deal with.
Where To Buy:
Polo Mallet
From polomallets.com
The finest polo mallets share a common heritage. They originate from a special cane which grows in the rain forests of Asia and an unusual tree found only in a certain area of South America.
Unlike ordinary bamboo, which prepared mallet canes resemble, the thorny stalks used for polo mallets come from a cane called Manau, a thorny member of the palm family. Snaking its way through the jungle in search of sunlight, this cane reaches 600 feet after 15 years. Although mature, the cane is still considered young by Asian government standards for protection of the species, making harvesting of the smaller diameter cane needed for polo mallets difficult.Once selected and determined mature, the cane is cut near the root where it is strongest. Nine foot lengths are boiled in coconut and diesel oil for 10-15 minutes until yellow, then washed in a mixture of sand and water. When clean, the canes are bundled and stacked to dry to the familiar shades of gold and beige. When the’ mallet maker receives his canes, he must heat them over an open fire to straighten them, then cure the lengths in a special oven. The length of time for the curing is critical to the strength and durability of a cane and is determined by the weight of each.
As polo players have different preferences regarding flexibility (whippiness) and weight of their mallets, some prefer to select their own canes before they are attached to the mallet head. Because the best mallets are carefully balanced, it is critical that cane and head be compatible in terms of weight.
Finally, the cane is attached to the mallet head, a cigar-shaped piece of wood cut from the Tipa tree, an unusually durable, close grained variety, found only in northern Argentina and parts of Brazil and Paraguay.
There are many different types of mallet head, just as there are many different types of cane. If you’re thinking of buying your first mallet, contact the store directly. They’ll work with you to find the perfect combination for your playing style and strength.
I buy all my mallets from Nano’s. They are a pleasure to work with, and they deliver extremely high-quality mallets. I can’t recommend them enough.
Where To Buy:
Polo Gloves
Gloves aren’t really a required piece of equipment, but I believe they’ll make the experience of playing polo much more enjoyable. Unless you’re a grizzled farmer with hands made of leather, you’ll develop blisters from swinging your mallet. Your hands will also get slick with sweat as you play and, other than falling off your horse while it’s standing still, there’s nothing quite as embarrassing as swinging at the ball and watching your mallet arc gracefully through the air to fall 20 feet from your horse.
The Tackeria has some excellent Franklin polo gloves.
Where To Buy:
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