Polo Tip #29: Belly Shots – Don’t They Do Those in Mexico?

This shot used to be called the millionaire’s shot. Because swinging into the legs of the horse would usually require getting new horses to replace the ones you lamed up. Well, thankfully, in today’s polo, our intent is to hit the ball, not the legs.

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.