My first lesson back after taking a week off was humbling to say the least. I found getting going super difficult, and not having been doing my stretches was more noticeable than I would have expected. I’m glad to be most of the way back to full health.
The lesson itself was focused on balance in the shots. We do these without mallets to protect my elbows, which is both useful and frustrating. While in the open, practicing my swings going up and down the same line — nearside, offside, over and over again — I also found my fitness has dropped. The knees weren’t holding and I couldn’t keep the pressure on.
I was getting super frustrated with myself and the horse today, which I know is terrible of me. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and to expect that I would pick up this skill in a short period of time was foolish. I envisioned it clicking much easier than it is. Sometimes, as I’ve written about, I have great lessons where everything goes well, but today was not one of those days.
Today was a tough one. I even thought to myself, “Why am I doing this?” A sad thought, because in previous hobbies, learnings, and similar what-nots, it was around this time that I would lose my motivation. But that’s not happening here. Yes, it’s expensive, tiring, humbling, painful, and terrible for my ego (or good, depending on how you look at things). I had to remind myself why I do this.
I feel like I have to.
When I think about polo I don’t see the prestige, the class, the status, or the elitism. I see the best game in the world. A perfect mixture of power, speed, balance, and strategy. That and there’s horses.
Altogether I’m glad I got back in the saddle today, but it was a highlight day. A day to tell me just how much work there is to do if I’m going to achieve my aims of playing pro.
By the way, I’ve been working on a game review piece. It’s not quite ready yet, but I’m excited to get it out when it’s done.
