What do you think makes a good player? I think we put so much pressure on ourselves and hold ourselves to such high standards of what we think a polo player should be.
Attributes of a Successful Polo Player
Transcription:
What I wanted to just chat a bit about today, especially for all you guys that are just starting, is just to discuss a little bit about what, in your mind, makes a good polo player. Okay.
Because we put such pressure on ourselves to be this fantastic player, you know And as in any sport, you will be good at some parts of it and maybe not as good in other parts.
So, you have to figure out what your strengths are. Obviously, if we looking at a rounded polo player and a good polo player, in that sense, we talking about somebody that really rides well. Okay. Number one, we're talking about somebody that hits the ball well. Might not be your penalty taker, but he hits the ball well. Somebody that can play at speed.
Okay. This game is about speed. It's not about a hand canter. So, you have to think about how you practicing. Okay. If you want to become a good polo player, you cannot practice in a way that you don't play.
You can't hand canter on the field and then get on the field and suddenly decide that you, you now are going to play fast. It just doesn't work because you're not ready for it.
So, that's the next thing you have to learn to play at speed and hit the ball at speed. If you're wanting to be this all around good polo player. Okay.
And then you really have to know the rules of the game. If you are unsure about the rules and unsure about what you can and can't do, you are certainly never going to really work at optimum efficiency because you always hesitant and you causing fouls where you're giving away penalties, maybe a 60 yard penalty here and there, that costs your team a goal. And all of that works against you. Okay.
Now on top of that, you also need to really figure out what the tactical rules in polo are. You've got to figure out how to do the right things on the field that are going to bring you good success with what you're doing. Okay.
There's no point in only turning when a backhand, after the backhands hit for example. There are lots of these videos up there on the, that I've sent to you already, about the tactical rules of the game. About only inside of the field, about man focus, about all of that kind of stuff.
Because I see so many of you running around and getting hooked. That means you're not marking. Okay? Because if you mark away from the ball, you own the ball when you get there.
So, all of those things go to make a really good polo player and there're parts of all of that, that can, can really work for you. Okay? Because any of you can sit down and really start to learn the rules.
That is point 1. If you are really serious about getting out and learning this game, don't drift along and not watch, there're some fantastic videos are out there now. The USPA's done on the HPA, it's done one on, on and videos explaining the rules. Okay.
You've got to get out there, read that rule book and then watch the videos so that you can actually put movement into what you're reading.
But Learn the playing rules. You don't need to know all of the rest of this, if you're just starting out. You don't need to know how to, you know, how the draw works and that kind of stuff.
But if you not safe out there, then you really are putting yourself in a world of hurt, number one. And secondly, you're not playing it optimum efficiency as I have said to you.
So, please guys, you've got to get out there and learn the rules if you want to be a good polo player. And also paid real attention to the tactical rules, because that means you starting to play as a team. Okay. And that is so important.
So, now let's just kind of backtrack a little bit because for you guys starting out, I think you pressurize yourselves in such a way that you, you feel that you've got to be this complete polo player all the time.
Now some of you really ride well, but maybe you don't hit the ball as well as some of the, the better strikers, but there's nothing to say you can't become a good polo player on the field and a team, man, if your marking is really exceptional And if you are a good striker, if you would just pay attention to man focus, it ups that percentage by so far where you now, are dominating a man and then making use of your strengths.
And also there's a part of that, being a good polo player, is becoming a good team player. Okay. Because obviously you would like to play in the position that you're strongest in.
Some people, and again, guys, when you are figuring out which position you want to play in, have a look at your character, you know. If you've got a 50/50 situation in life, what is your, what are you apt to do? Are you going to take the chance or are you going to play it safe?
For me? I play it safe all the time. I'm a firstborn, you know, one of those careful first children. And if there's a 50/50 situation, I will definitely, definitely be conservative in that.
Where my youngest brother would have taken a chance in a heartbeat and, and gone. So, he would be much better playing in front, at one or two, and far, far better playing it back because that's my natural inclination.
But I can remember when an Argentinian team came to play the South African team. That the team they brought had with them, a guy called Andino Gran and Dino was the most marvelous man and a great polo player, but he was a back, but that team needed a number one.
And with all of the team, the other three in the team being really good in their positions, he'd just put his hand up and said, I'll go and play one. And let me tell you, he was a really good back. Okay.
But because he was such a good back, he also knew what he hated the other number one doing. So, he set himself up to be that one, that number one, that was a nightmare to a back.
And I can tell you that the back and the South African team had the most horrid time, with a guy that used to play back, and naturally played back, playing at number one.
So, are you going to be a team player and put your hand up and say, yep, I'll, I'll do what's necessary. Also, I think, I think that to become a really good polo player, you need to play for the team because I see so often where players are so ball focused, that all they think about is where to get the ball, where to run next, to get a pass. They never work for the team.
They've got a player in front, with the ball free, one of their own players. And instead of checking up and cleaning out behind them and giving him a chance to get to goal, they're hearing off in front as well.
Now what happens is, let's say that player with the ball gets hooked. Now there're two of your players pass the ball and they are four players behind you going the other way, only marked by two of your team.
So, you've become a real team player in all of this and work for the team, if you want to be a good polo player. So, there's so many aspects to this becoming a good polo player.
But I think for all of you that are starting out, that are in our academy, that are in this polo like a pro group. Very few of you are sort of five, six, seven, eight goals, okay. And that's a whole different kettle of fish. And we'll talk about team selections and things like that in a little while, but in that kind of situation, look at what your strong points are. Okay?
Because if you are a really good ball striker, what you need to work on is your riding. So, in a game, in a match situation, you need to put yourself, as I'm saying, if you really become man focused, you utilize that ball striking to the best of your ability.
But if you're not a great ball striker, just really get out there and do the man marking, okay, you will get the ball. And as time goes on, you will become better at hitting it. But unless you stop this chasing around after this little white magnet, you will never get better than you are. Okay.
So, just really focus on that kind of stuff as well. And don't pressurize yourself all the time to feel you've got to be this rounded polo player straight off. It doesn't happen that way. It's not that easy. Okay.
It takes time to get into this game and learn to play it well. And I think the other thing for me that a good polo player is really happy to look at himself and say, what are my weaknesses, where am I weak and really work at practicing and getting good in the areas you're weak at.
And that comes back to how you practice. Okay. Don't run around, practicing the things you're good at. Put cones on the field, hit at cones. Don't just stick and ball in straight lines and think, oh, I'm hitting the ball well, and suddenly you've got to hit it in a direction or to someone and you can't do it.
So, really, really try and practice as you play. And also don't practice at, you know, yes, if you're starting out and you needing to build up a stroke, you need to do that kind of stuff. Okay.
And you need to perhaps, just stick and ball at a hand canter to work out the stroke. But once you've done that, you need to be sticking balling at three quarter pace, all right. Start, warm your horse up and then stick and ball going much faster.
Because this is how this game is played. You've got to stop, turn, check, don't burn your horses out going flat out, because your horses then have a very short lifespan. Okay. But if, you've got to stick and ball going faster than a hand canter, so half speed or more for at least 20% of that practice and hitting at targets.
As I'm saying, if you can just put a few cones out on the field and you stick and balling and hitting a ball at those cones, and not always just the same shot either you're playing a tail shot, an away backhand, the near side backhand and neck shot, a cut shot forwards, and all of this kind of stuff. And it will really help you to become a better polo player.
So, those in my mind, the things that will make you a good polo player is your, your way of practicing. Because if you are out there and really focused on practicing correctly, that will make you a lot better. Okay.
And if you really learn the rules, as I'm saying, that will help you enormously. Another of my little friends here, pitch black, beautiful horse. So, that will really, really help you learn the rules. There's no excuse not to know the rules. Okay.
If you can get your games filmed and spend a little money and perhaps buy the film and sit with a player that really knows what he's talking about. Okay. And go through the game, because that will teach you.
I've just done that this morning with our academy group. And it's so enlightening, because number one, they looking and saying, oh my goodness, okay, that's the rule, I didn't get that. Because they suddenly doing what's wrong. And they, they, you know, were unaware that, that was the interpretation.
And slowly, slowly, you build up a memory of what you can and can't do and what is right and what isn't. So, that's another way that you could help yourself to become a better polo player, a good polo player, alright. With a good understanding of the rules.
And also as we go through those videos, we talk about the tactics and you can see eight players just scattered around the field. Oh my goodness. It looks like dog's breakfast out there. It's not four pairs, it's eight players.
And when you're watching that, you know, you know that nobody's marking and when nobody's marking, guess what? All the fouls happen. And when nobody's marking, guess what? You get hooked. That doesn't make you a good polo player. Okay?
So, you need to get out there and focus on the basics for me, that will make you a good polo player. And if you look at all the really good players, at whatever level, okay, if you look at number one, the passing, man to man, if you look at the basic strategy of man marking, of not going to negative plays.
In other words, if you're already beaten, don't go to that ball. Don't go to that play. Put pressure on the man to release the ball, but be quick to the next play.
Don't keep going to a negative play. You're beaten in a ride off, don't stay there. You so easy to mark that way. All right, that doesn't make you a good polo player. If you beaten in a ride off, get out of it.
And there's lots of lovely videos out there talking about what you can do to turn a negative situation into a positive situation. Now, if you want to become a good polo player, you have to, you have to figure out how to turn negative into positive, because there's no player in the world that is going to win every play.
But what do you do when you're beaten? Okay. That is going to determine how good you are. Not necessarily how well you hit the ball. Not necessarily, how well you ride, those things are important, obviously, as I've said, but if you are anticipating, because if you always going to where ball is, you always late, all right?
Because you get in the balls moves. So, now you go to where the ball is and it's moved. So, you, again, you late, you need to be anticipating and knowing where it's going to go to.
You need to be putting yourself in areas where the ball can get to you. The other day we were playing and I was playing with the academy group and a guy shouting, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here.
Now I've got the ball facing across the field. I've got a player on my left and he's the other side of that player. I cannot hit the ball through the player. I can't get the ball to him, even though he's free. He needs to put himself somewhere that I can put the ball with him because I can't hit it through a horse.
So, all these little things you've got to actually do really start to figure them out, the videos are there to help you. Okay. And you've got to go and watch those videos and watch them, and watch them, and watch them.
How to play better when you end up at the back, because often you guys that are at number one, when you're starting end up at the back of the field and you play at number four often.
So, what do you do when you get there? Now there's really good advice out there and a good video talking about how to do that, those kinds of things. Okay.
How do you hook correctly, so that 'A' you're a safe, because so many of you are riding with your horse directly over the line, and you put yourself at such risk of a mallet hitting either you or your horse, instead of knowing, you have to be directly behind, where you can hook or, to the right-hand side where the mallet has a channel to swing.
Now, all these little things you need to know them. You don't even have to think about them. You need to know when do I have to move over and play the ball on the off side? And when can I protect the ball and play it on the near side.
You need to understand that the right of way says, that the man that has the right of way is the man with the least angle to the ball. And he must play the ball on his off side to claim the right of way.
All these tiny little things they basic rules all for your safety, but also make it that you know, where you can and can't go. Without that knowledge of the rules, guys, you are dead meat, okay?
Because you never going to become a good polo player. And I know I'm harping on about this, but I coach so many people, and people that have been playing for years, and they are completely hazy about what they can and can't do on the field.
You got to jack up guys, you've got to get that sorted out in your head, okay. And know what you can and can't do, because if you are going to the wrong places, you know, not only putting yourself at risk, but in you putting these beautiful horses that you own at risk as well, because remember that ball it hurts when it hits you, but it hurts when it hits the horse as well.
So, you know, we all really love these animals. We play on, pardon me. And we really want to protect them. And we mollycoddle them in the stables and we feed them correctly and we exercise them correctly. And our tack is good and the saddles sit in the right place and the boots and the tendon boots.
And then we're going to put them right in the path of somewhere that they're going to be hit by a polo ball. I mean, it's just, it doesn't make any kind of logical sense in my head. So, I'm talking about what makes a good polo player. Okay.
I'm talking about somebody that is looking to become a rounded player, not just good in one aspect of the game, because yes, great, you might be the greatest penalty hitter in the world, but I, you know what, you probably not that much good to the team unless you focusing on all the rest of this stuff.
And I also think that becoming a team player is so important to you. Because, you know, I've seen so often at a lower handicap team of people that really, really get on well and, and play together, beat a higher handicapped team of players that are stronger than them, but who aren't a team and play for themselves all the time.
They don't pass the ball. They dink around with it. They get caught with it. They start yelling at each other because they, they putting themselves under pressure and they get beaten by a lesser team, because the team is playing well. And they're playing around a central strong figure.
That's something else that will make you a really good polo player in my book that you understand that you have a role, that if you look at who you're going to play around, who's going to be your play-maker and really work for him to make it easy for him to make it easy for you to get the ball, to pass you the ball, that kind of stuff. Okay.
We've got a young professional at the moment that comes and plays with us here. A young man called Segundo. Who's playing a Chantilly at the moment with two seven goals and they are playing so well and doing so well because he is unbelievably quick on the field.
He rides beautifully and trust me, he can hit the ball and do all of that. But he's working so hard for those seven goalers, that they, they loving playing with them. And because of that, they really, really doing well. So, again, are you a team player? Are you really up there working for the team?
Now, just a last thing we obviously talking at at a lower level here, but if you're getting into an area where you can choose the teams, you want to choose. Just a small word of advice here, have a look at who's available and look at who the zero goaler is.
That is like zero and a half going to one goal, not one goal yet, but he's playing more than zero. Ditto, one goal, two goal, three goal, four goal. And pretty soon if you choosing those players that are playing a half a goal higher in handicap, then they actual handicap you two goals better off before you start, and then not on the board, okay. Against you or, you know, whatever you can play in, in, in a lower league with a very strong team.
So, again, just how you choose the teams. Look for players in the right positions if you can. Try and find a really good play-maker. But above all choose people that are team players, that are a pleasure to play with.
We talked last week about playing and enjoying this amazing game we play. So, do not go out there, I don't care how good the man is. If you're going to go out there and choose a professional that you hate playing with, even if you win, man, really.
And the other thing is be a good sportsman on the field. I've yet to see a good polo player that is not a good sportsman. And like I said, last week, you know, if you are beaten in a play and you can turn around to the, your opponent, that's beaten you and say, 'Well done mate, good job'.
You know, you come off, everybody's happy. Everybody's had a good time. And it just makes the polo so fun to play. But above all, it makes you a better polo player in my opinion, because it just, you've got to be rounded in everything you think about.
So, guys hope that really helps a bit. Just again, don't put pressure on yourself to try and be brilliant at everything straight away. It takes time. Trust me the best polo players, the most rounded polo players......How many years have I played this game? I don't know. And I'm still out there trying to find better ways of doing things.
So, keep your mind open. Look, be somebody that searches for knowledge all the time. I want to be a better horseman. I'm always searching the internet for ideas on how to improve what I'm doing. Okay. So, just be an open book and really, really just look and see how you can make yourself a better. So, hope you have a great day guys.
And I hope this has helped. Okay. All from me, Gav saying cheers.
