One Mallet vs. a Whole Bag Full of Clubs
by Tom Goodspeed
Ok.. so we don’t have sand traps, long grass, angled terrain, and water to contend with like a golf course..,..wait a minute, come to think of it……I have seen some sand traps toward the end of a playing season, and some pretty challenging lies, as well as standing water on a polo field….and I guess most arenas might look like one big sand trap to a golfer….so maybe golf courses and polo fields do have some things in common. I for one, would be in favor of having a “lady’s tee” for #5 penalties.
So why do golfers get around a dozen or so clubs to handle the various shot scenarios, while we only have one. As most of us are aware, their golf clubs have various angles and club sizes to address the particular needs of a shot, depending on lie and distance from the pin, and lets not forget weather conditions.
Does it make any sense to be using the same mallet 295 yards away from the gre….I mean goal, that we will use five feet from the uprights?
What about when our ball is lying in a sandy divot as opposed to sitting up nicely on some healthy blades of grass. Shouldn’t we be pulling out our wedge?
I guess it would be somewhat impractical to carry around a bag of clubs in some kind of modified saddle bag, and the field is cluttered enough without another eight caddies running around with us…..so we are left to the challenge of using the same club for a myriad of shot scenarios. Sure…. we may have a blanket full of mallets of varying lengths, but do any of us have mallets specifically for foul shots, long drives, or approaches on goal?
We as polo players, are forced to adapt our swings as opposed to the club for the desired result. However, it can be helpful to use the analogy of a bag of clubs when you are deciding on shot selection.
I understand that there are a great many players that are happy just to hit a ball and others who believe that the near-side is a side for other players to use, but for those of you that are beginning to hit more consistently, I offer the following thoughts.
When we are looking for distance or our full power shots, we want our drivers or our lower numbered irons. We want to use a full body swing that is hopefully assisted by the power that is generated by a horse in motion. We need good body rotation through the swing as well as making contact with the ball just as our mallet is beginning to start the upward phase of the swing. We are hopefully down under the centerline of the ball to assist in getting loft to help carry the ball.
Then as we get down to the offensive end of the field, we need to decide on more of an approach shot mentality, as the majority of us are looking to get up on the green, or in our case, in the vicinity of the goal.
I need to acknowledge that there are those players that can start looking for a shot on goal, 150 plus yards out, but they are the exception…or should I say exceptional players that we all love to watch.
Back to the rest of us, then we get “on the green” for the not so give me putting that can haunt us as the ball slices right or left of the goal posts while they are already hanging the presumptuous tally on the scoreboard.
We cannot change clubs, but we can change our attitude as they say. Distance requires more focus on full body rotation. Accuracy requires more focus on the position of your mallet head as the ball leaves your mallet. Why do so many of our attempts at a nearside fore hander carry to the right, under our horse’s neck? Why do so many offside fore handers go left? It is because with the natural rotation of our hand and wrist as we swing through the ball, we tend to turn our mallet head across the ball as we are making contact with the ball, causing the ball to go in that direction. We need to learn to be more aware of our follow through, as that is what determines the path or direction of the ball. I suggest you give a few weeks of focus to what a call the “little-little drill”.
A little slower swing and a little more focus on the position of your mallet head as you finish your shot. Are you completing your shot properly? Are you staying with your swing long enough……….or like most of us, are you swinging back into your saddle….incorrectly finishing your swing back in the middle of the saddle? You should be finishing your swing in the follow through position of whichever shot you were attempting.
You, like golf, should be dropping your head a tad as you swing, to insure that you are keeping your body down throughout the swing. Too many of us come up with our head, like golf, and then our club pulls away from the ball at the crucial part of the swing, as the ball is being carried and directed by the mallet head. Our eyes should follow the cane and be looking to the completed shot from underneath the cane. Most player’s eyes and head are above the cane and ahead of the swing. As you finish your stroke, how was your mallet head faced…in the direction that you hoped to send the ball?? Did your ball go left, straight, or right ? How did it relate to the position of your mallet head ?
Try the little/little concept for a few weeks. I think you will find it will take your accuracy up considerably. Then, as you slowly break the old habit and begin to substitute the new approach in your muscle memory, you can then begin to add some additional power in your swing. Be careful though. Often times I will see the little/little exercise show results, but then with too little practice, the players revert right back in to the old swing that now feels comfortable to them.
Remember that definition of insanity? Making the same mistakes over and over, expecting different results. If we want to correct something with our swing, we need to understand that our swing, however broken, feels natural to us now, because it is. So when someone tries to get us to make a correction, it feels abnormal. You have to remind yourself that if it feels wrong, that is a good thing. That means you are making an unfamiliar adjustment. But when you execute that unfamiliar adjustment enough times, it will become the new familiar. Same concept applies to learning how to swing earlier at speed. You just have to start your swing earlier than what your mind and body is telling you.
Like golf, stay aware of your follow through and keep your head down. I promise you increased accuracy. So the next time you pick up a mallet…take a good look at it. You need to realize that in that one club, you are holding your drivers, your irons, and your putter. You need to make that one club do all those different things. When you start your next swing…which club are you using?? I wish you the best of luck in your club or rather………..mallet selection !
Read More Tips …
More about Tom’s Polo Basics DVD Series
Buy the Polo Basics DVD Series
Buy the Horse Basics DVD Series
DVD Testimonials
About Tom Goodspeed