Playing Tips with Rege Ludwig The Small, But Mighty Wrist

Renowned polo coach, Rege Ludwig gives his expert advice on how to get more out of your game

I have heard and read over the years that the wrist adds little to the creation of power within the process of swinging the mallet to hit the polo ball. That assessment is absolutely WRONG, the wrist adds tremendously to the creation and the release of power within the process of swinging the mallet to hit the polo ball.

That is true, because there are multiangles of the wrist to be used when swinging the polo mallet. And, when those angles are used in their proper sequential order, the wrist greatly enhances the power of the swing that was created prior to the wrist engaging at approximately the 9 o’clock position of the downswing of the offside fore shot, and the 3 o’clock position of the downswing of the offside back shot.

From the 9 o’clock position to approximately the 4 o’clock position of that same shot, the wrist is adding power to the swing process. Additionally, starting at the 6 o’clock position, i.e., contact with the ball, the wrist is absolutely essential to the release of power of the swing, while at the same time continuing to generate power from the 6 o’clock position, where the mallet head contacts the ball, to approximately the 4 o’clock positions of the follow through, where the ball has left the mallet head.

The first angle of the wrist to be aware of is the radius distention angle, which is when your wrist and hand have been lifted up and back to where your thumb has been moved back toward your right shoulder.

At about the 9 o’clock position of the downswing of the offside fore shot, the radius distention angle of the wrist moves down to be creating the ulna distention angle. The ulna distention angle has been created when the narrow edge of your forearm and your thumb form a straight line, and are facing out and away from your body at the point of the mallet head contacting the ball, at approximately the 6 o’clock position.

In my first video, Hitting with Power and Accuracy, I point out where within the swing process the mallet is moving so fast that it seems to disappear. That is the point within the swing process to where the first angle of your wrist kicks in, the radius distention angle, which is about at the 9 o’clock point of the downswing. It is at that point that the wrist is driving the wrist down to the ulna distention angle. At approximately the 9 o’clock point within the downswing, the wrist begins driving the mallet down with sufficient power and speed that it causes the mallet to seemingly disappear.

Just after the 8 o’clock position of the downswing has been reached, the second angle of the wrist, the flex angle, is moving down to the extend angle.

The flex angle is when the back side of your hand is folded back toward your elbow. The extend angle is when the back side of your hand, your wrist and forearm are in a straight line, especially at the 6 o’clock position, or point of contact of the mallet head with the ball.

Radius distention angle to the Ulna distention angle

Drawings created by Jean Abernethy (1-519-721-2284) Supinate (6 o’clock) to Pronate (3 o’clock)

3 o’clock

6 o’clock

The third angle of the wrist to be cognizant of is the supinate angle, turning into the pronate angle.

The supinate angle has been created when the palm side of your hand is facing straight forward at the 6 o’clock position when the mallet head initially contacts the ball.

After contact of the mallet head with the polo ball, when hitting an offside fore shot; your mallet hand should be in the process of turning over to where the palm side of your hand is beginning to turn in toward the horse. Your hand turning over is creating the pronate angle of your hand, wrist and forearm to have been created. Your hand should continue to turn over, pronate, to the point that at the 3 o’clock position of the follow through phase, the palm side of your mallet hand is flush against the plane of the swing.

Under those conditions, your hand has moved from the supinate position to the pronate position. Within the process of your wrist, hand and forearm turning over, pronating, power is being created and released into the hit of the polo ball, at the same time.

By the time your hand has turned over to be fully in the pronate position at the 3 o’clock position of the follow through phase, you have pretty much assured that the last bit of power of the swing process has been released into the hit of the ball.

To develop an understanding of the power that the wrist provides to the swing process, experiment as follows:

Practice throwing an imaginary baseball forward with some degree of intensity. Pay particularly close attention to how the wrist is being used just prior to the release of the ball.

There is a form of a snap of the wrist at that point. That snap of the wrist adds tremendously to the creation and the release of the power into the throw of the baseball; as well as, into the swing of the polo mallet. The reality of the polo ball hitting situation is that the wrist should be used in pretty much the same manner when throwing a baseball and/ or swinging a polo mallet to hit the polo ball. The exception to the situation being, in polo you are not throwing forward; you are throwing, or swinging, the mallet head down at the polo ball on the ground.

The third angle of the wrist to be cognizant of when hitting an offside fore shot is that of the wrist moving from the supinate angle to the pronate angle after contact with the polo ball has been made.

The supinate angle of the hand and wrist have been realized when the palm side of your hand is facing straight forward as the mallet head is contacting the ball at the 6 o’clock position of an offside fore shot.

From the 6 o’clock position to just a little after the 5 o’clock position of the follow through, the ball is still most likely on the mallet head. With the ball being on the mallet head as your wrist and hand are turning over from the supinate to the pronate position, your forearm, wrist, and hand are continuing to add power into the swing of the polo mallet.

The supinate angle to the pronate angle of the swing process is a truly significant factor in making sure that all of the power of the swing process has been released into the hit of the ball.

Relative to swinging the polo mallet to hit the polo ball, the fact of the matter is; any degree of incorrect use of the wrist within the process of swinging the mallet to hit the polo ball negatively affects the power created and then released into the hit of the ball. That negative affect is proportionately demonstrated in the hit of the ball.

Probably the biggest culprit related to misuse of the wrist when swinging the polo mallet is that of gripping the mallet handle too tightly with the third finger (ring finger) and the little finger.

When those two fingers are gripping the mallet handle, even a little too tightly, the use of your wrist is proportionately affected, negatively. That negative affect is demonstrated in the hit of the ball, i.e., less distance and greater inaccuracy in the control of the direction of travel of the ball.

The third and little fingers should be gripping the mallet handle much more lightly than the thumb and index finger are gripping the handle, especially from point of contact of the mallet head with the ball to the end of the follow through phase.

I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of using the angles of the wrist correctly within the process of creating and releasing the power of the swing into the hit of the polo ball, as well as, in creating accurate direction control of the ball.