Knowledge
Tola Performance
Photograph by Emily Gordon
Jason Warren is a performance coach, helping professional polo players and athletes redefine their season by thinking outside the box through their mental and physical performance on and off the field
Is Fitness Important in Polo? What is being polo fit?
Photography by Jason Warren
Polo is becoming more professional which in turn creates more focus on priming the body
Polo fit is playing polo without physically or mentally fatiguing. In this article I’m discussing the impact of fitness on professional players who will by definition have a base level of fitness particularly ‘polofitness’. Realistically the only way to become fully polo and riding fit, is to play and ride. There is nothing you can do in the gym that will completely prepare you for getting on a 62
Polo Times, May 2021
In polo, the horse is more the athlete than the player
horse and playing well. If you watch a good polo player, they do not use much energy to ride. They are ‘with’ the horse and naturally conserve energy due to the way they ride. Same with any top sports person, they conserve energy because of their increased ability. My point here is how much fitness is required when playing polo. How many professional polo players do
not follow a fitness programme outside of riding and playing? I think quite a lot, polo is far behind other sports in that respect, and many do not feel the need or have the motivation to have one. But there are some reasons for this: Firstly, the horse is more the athlete than the player! Sure, the player is riding and making the plays, but most of the athlete is the horse! Unless you’re riding Usain Bolt www.polotimes.co.uk
