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Playing tips with Rege Ludwig Stability of Hitting Platform
The foundation for hitting the polo ball accurately Renowned polo coach, Rege Ludwig gives his expert advice on how to get more out of your game Instability of the hitting platform is a common negative factor associated with not hitting the polo ball accurately. To highlight that point, I recall an article I read many years ago that referenced a hitting analysis conducted by the Canadian Polo Association. If I remember correctly, the study included eight players ranging in handicap from 1 to 8 goals, with two participants having an 8 goal handicap. An interesting discovery of that study was, of the 200 balls hit by those eight players, approximately 90% demonstrated an identifiable degree of instability within the players hitting platform. Within this article I address two factors directly related to instability of the hitting platform. The first is feet, or the foundation upon which your hitting platform is constructed. One of the more important factors to be aware of is, turning your toes up facilitates having your heels down. Your heels down causes the muscles, tendons and ligaments on the back of your legs to stretch down; creating what I refer to as the, Bungee Affect. The significance of the Bungee Affect is, it increases the gripping strength of your upper legs, which allows for a more secure hitting platform to be created. From that more secure hitting platform, greater stability can be realized. Another result of heels down is that your hips are pulled down, causing your center of balance to have been lowered. At the same time, your upper body is beginning to move
back and over your hips, which increases control of upper body balance. That, in turn, helps in the creation of increased stability of your hitting platform. Unfortunately, in polo toes down/heels up is the more commonly seen way of positioning the feet. The negative affect of toes down and heels up is that your hips are rolling forward, which causes your upper body to begin falling forward. Your upper body falling forward renders upper body balance and stability difficult to control. Additionally, as related to your feet, the majority of the weight in the stirrups should be on the medial, or inner, side of your feet (big ball). To accomplish that, turn your heels slightly out and away from your horse’s sides and push them ever so slightly further out and away. At the same time, turn your little toes up toward the sky to where the soles of your boots are beginning to face out and away from your horse’s sides.
Pyramid Affect
Heels Out/Knees In
Heels Down/Torso Back for increased balance control and greater stability
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Polo Times, May 2021
Doing all three causes your feet to be wider apart than your knees, creating what I refer to as the Pyramid Affect, i.e., a wide foundation.
Majority of weight in Stirrups on inner side of Foot (big ball)
The Pyramid Affect, in turn, pushes your upper legs more strongly onto your horse’s shoulders, facilitating an even stronger connection of you to your horse. With that strong connection of you to your horse, you have created a most crucial aspect of establishing a stable hitting platform. To stress strong upper leg contact, I use the analogy of Bolt Thru Knees. The imaginary bolt is to keep your knees from softening their gripping effort into your horse’s shoulders when rotating in preparation of hitting the ball. That is important because, strong upper leg contact enhances upper body balance control, which lends itself to a stable hitting platform. Conversely, a softer upper leg grip by way of your knee turning out and away from your horse’s shoulder during the swing preparation process allows for a proportionate degree of instability to set in. Another analogy I use relative to gripping with your upper legs is, Nut Cracker Affect. I use that analogy to point out that the strongest point with which you can grip with your upper legs is at the top of your legs where they meet at the hips. www.polotimes.co.uk
