Instructors Forum

Gripping detail

The science of hitting in polo

by Devereux Milburn

When making a backhand stroke, place the thumb down the back of the mallet handle (above). For forehand strokes, use a finger grip (below) as opposed to a palm grip.

There is an art in hitting a polo ball and it can best be acquired by study and practice. It has always been a source of wonder to me that polo players in general devote so little time to the improvement of their hitting, as it is the foundation upon which their game must be built. No matter how sound a tactician a man may be, it will avail him little unless he can hit the ball where he wishes, and with reasonable consistency with regard to length.

The grip of the mallet handle is of the first importance in hitting. For the purposes of a discussion of the grip, all polo strokes may be classified as either forehand or backhand strokes.

The forehand strokes are the off-side fore shot and the near-side back shot. The backhand strokes are the near-side fore shot and the off-side back shot. For both backhand and forehand strokes, the correct grip is a finger grip as opposed to a palm grip. If the handle is gripped mainly by and in the fingers, the shaft becomes almost an exact prolongation of the wrist and forearm. This is conducive to ease and facility in hitting. A good many players thrust the handle well into the palm of the hand and wrap their fingers around it. The stick comes out of the hand at almost a right angle to the wrist and forearm, and the result is a cramped and awkward stroke. So far as polo is concerned the finger grip is unquestionably the correct one for the strokes mentioned.

In forehand strokes the balls of the first and second fingers are the driving force in the hand. In backhand strokes, the handle should be shifted slightly in the hand and the thumb extended down the back of the handle to act as a rear brace.

Another important factor in hitting is the brace from which the stroke is made. It consists in hitting from the feet in the stirrups, braced by the knees and the inside of the thighs against the saddle, and the feeling should be that of hitting from the stirrup irons rather than from the seat. The ball should be hit when it is about opposite the toe of the right foot, or a little behind the pony’s shoulder. The place

where the ball is hit with relation to the pony varies slightly, according to the direction in which it is hit, i.e., whether it is cut, pulled, or driven straight ahead, but it is a good policy to hit early rather than late. The best American players hit in this way. A player should ride with long enough stirrups so he can come up into this brace easily when he is about to hit the ball, but not so long that he cannot properly control his pony. The third and last element of good hitting is the action of the body in making the different strokes. This varies with each particular stroke. In all strokes a player should lean out and get well over the ball when he is about to hit it. This is done by pivoting the body from the knees and waist. Lissomeness in the waist is a great asset, as it makes the process of pivoting and lean out fairly easy.

Every stroke should be carried out thoroughly so far as the action of the body is concerned. This is especially true of near-side strokes, which are inherently more difficult because they are made on the side of the pony which is not the natural hitting side. When a player is in a hitting slump, it is a pretty sure sign that there is something the matter with the technique of his stroke. A little care and practice will generally rectify it.

The off-side fore shot is the most common of all the strokes, and is used about 90% of the time, especially by the forwards. Get the right shoulder well back at the start of the stroke and follow through. It is a very common fault not to follow through, and it is a pretty sure sign that you are not doing so if you find yourself hitting your pony under the chin with the shaft of the stick at the finish of the stroke. Hold the stick in a perpendicular position until the arm is brought back to hit.

The off-side back stroke is the hardest stroke in polo. It requires perfect timing, as the direction of the ball has to be reversed. The right shoulder should be brought forward at the start, so as to get it into the stroke as much as possible.

The near-side fore shot is similar to the off-side backshot and is almost as difficult, except the speed and impetus of the pony are behind the shot so it is easier to make the ball travel. The main thing to remember about making this shot is to pivot the body and get the right shoulder well forward.

The near-side back shot is indispensable to the No. 3 and back, the two defensive players. It is more powerful than the offside back stroke and can be better directed. The important part of this shot is the follow through. If it is made with a proper follow through there is very little of the player in the saddle at the finish, except the knee. It must be made with confidence and a certain amount of abandon in order to be a success. The slight feeling of insecurity at the finish, when it is made with a proper follow through is the main reason why it is not properly made more often.

One other shot deserves special mention because it is so rarely made correctly, and that is the off-side fore shot underneath the pony’s neck. It is a difficult shot, especially when the pony is fully extended and is throwing his feet and legs well out in front of him. The mistakes that are commonly made in making it are hitting the ball when it is too far behind and too much to the right of the pony’s fore legs. It should be hit when it is either directly in front of or better still, slightly on the near side of the pony’s fore legs. The player should get well forward in the saddle and hit in front of his pony’s legs.

During the downswing, the mallet head gets into the hitting position, i.e., at a right angle to the direction in which the ball is to be hit at the very last moment. Special care should be taken to carry out this idea, as it means getting the wrist into the stroke. If it is not done, the stroke is a sweep with the arms with little or no wrist work and is very apt to be somewhat ineffective.

I strongly recommend the liberal use of saddle soap on the saddle. There is nothing that can so completely rob a player of confidence in hitting as a slippery saddle and confidence is 90% of the battle. It is as easy to drive a golf ball standing on the ice with no nails in the shoes as it is to hit a polo ball off a slippery saddle.

When a man’s ponies are going nicely, and he is hitting well, the game of polo is hard to beat. When the reverse is true, there is very little joy in the life of the polo player. Therefore, time spent over the ponies and hitting is well spent, and it is wonderful what can be accomplished by a person who is neither a natural horseman nor a natural hitter. The average players takes the game of polo up fairly late in life, so chances are he does not have as natural a stroke as if he had begun when he was young—all the more reason for him to work hard to perfect it. • To start an off-side forward stroke, lean out with your right shoulder well back and hit from the feet in the stirrups braced by the knees. To start a near-side back stroke, lean forward and out while bracing yourself with your legs. SERGIO LLAMERA SERGIO LLAMERA

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