The Hitting Technique We will look at the polo swing technique by taking the fully performed polo swing, called full-swing offside-forward (short “full-swing”), as an example. It is regarded as the very basic shot of polo and should be mastered technically accurately. It is performed at the horse’s offside in its moving direction. The full-swing is a flowing motion with the mallet head creating a complete 360-degree circle.
The Theory of Hitting Every polo player should understand the basic relations between his swing and the flight characteristics of the ball. Among other things, the swinging movement influences: nn nn nn nn
The direction which the stick heads swings in. The angle the mallet head strikes the ball. The impact on the striking surface. The speed of the mallet head.
The basics of hitting and expressions from the sport of polo as well as the anatomy of the human body and that of a horse will be mentioned in the glossary for further reading and information.
Learning the Technique with the Walking Stick As the polo swing is a very complex motion sequence, many mistakes in the movements can creep in here. Following, you will be shown how to acquire and improve the full-swing offside forward with a walking stick.
57
3_Hitting Technique.indd 57
28.11.2010 20:10:27
