Polo is the most difficult sport ever. No competition. I’m not just talking about equestrian sports. I mean ALL SPORTS. Now, before you come at me, I will preface the reasoning for my claim with the fact that I have not tried every sport on earth. But the sports I have tried (show jumping, skiing, rugby, football, tennis, cricket, boxing, ping pong, snooker, swimming, platform diving, scuba diving) are WAY EASIER.
Today was stick and balling. A day I look forward to, although it usually ends with my ego sat in a pile of mulch on the floor, next to the arena ball I’ve missed for the seventeen-hundredth time. Still, while it was a challenge, it was useful, and I can feel myself improving.
In saying that, I chopped the top off so many times today, Madame Guillotine would’ve been proud.
For those that don’t know, chopping the top off means hitting the ball too high up, so it goes absolutely nowhere on account of being smashed into the floor. It’s also accompanied by a distinctively disgusting clink, rather than the audibly appealing clunk of a well-struck ball. Though it does depend on the ball.
We kept things at a slow walk, focusing on getting the timing and strokes right, just like we did when I learned on foot. Even so, I floundered. I was wrestling with myself to remember “leg on, squeeze, rein on the neck” while trying to hit the ball at the same time. My coach kept on at my form, but keeping the commands right through the shot was hard enough, let alone looking good doing it.
What I found was that as soon as I assumed the position for any of the four strokes, I would lose my balance and either leg yield, turn, or stop completely. All of which, in some form or another, would lead to a foul.
I miss the ease of my early lessons, back before I’d made the weight to ride, when my biggest problem was trying not to get caught in the thorns after chasing a polo ball I’d sent 150 yards into the bush for the third time. Before I could ride the polo pony available to me, I needed to cut around 6kg (around 13lbs, or just under a stone), which I did with a solid calorie deficit, active work and tracking. I’m healthier for it now.
Riding and stick and balling are, independently, quite simple once you get the hang of them. Not easy, but not impossible either. The processes are easy-ish to remember, the focus is there, and once you notice what you’re doing wrong, you can more or less work out how to improve. That doesn’t feel like the case when you put the two together. Unfortunately for yours truly, as soon as we try to bring it all together for the final scene, the lead act collapses, the sun falls out the sky, and somehow the conductor’s stuck in the tuba.
While I love polo, today was another tough day. Being recognised for improving did help, and remembering that everyone finds this stuff hard took some of the pressure off, but it was still slightly disheartening. The big realisation today was just how long it’s going to take me to get to the level I want.
PS. Did you know walk and canter have a similar feel? Nope, neither did I. But it makes total sense why canter is so much more comfortable than trot. Trot’s horrid. Nobody likes trot.
