Pre-Tournament Preparation Tips

answering your polo questions polo pony training Mar 13, 2021
 

If you're wondering what pre-tournament preparations you should be doing, this one is for you! 


Pre-Tournament Preparation Tips

Transcription:

Okay Gav, question four. What pre-tournament prep should I be doing? I think that depends so much on a lot of people Rob. For me, I don't want to be doing anything different on the day of the tournament, that I would be doing any other day.

Because I think that you can actually wind yourself up. And you know, you go there and you're so hyped up to play well in the tournament that you get there and you don't play well at all.

Where, if you can just treat it as an everyday event. Okay. And from a pro's point of view, when we playing so many games, it becomes something that you do every day. So, it's not anything different. And you just get out there and you play. That's how I would, you know. You're stick and balling, just practice as you usually practice.

But the biggest thing is how you practice. Get some cones on that field and practice hitting at a target. Not this delicious up and down field, hitting the ball that doesn't go to any particular spot. Because now you and play, and you've got to pass the ball to somebody, or you've got to hit it to the goals. So, you're immediately under pressure.

Just go and practice as you play in any game. Don't make it different, just practice differently. Make sure you targeting all the time. Five or six cones on the field, and every shot you're hitting is going to a different cone, with a different shot. It's an open backhand. It's a neck shot. It's a nearside backhand. It's a nearside neck shot. And you're aiming at cones all the time.

Practice that way. Do not just stick and ball in straight lines, up and down the field at a hand canter. You do not play like that. So, practice like you play. And if you practice like you play, that is your tournament preparation. Just don't do anything different to that.

Because if you really confident with what you're doing, you're starting to hit the ball at the targets. When the tournament day comes along, when the chukka days come along, you already in a better position.