HOW A POLO MATCH SHOULD BE PLA YED 361 



break through their defence. Much will naturally depend on 

 how the ball is placed, for that is half the battle. It will not be 

 sufficient merely to strike the ball most men can do that but 

 it is the direction in which it is struck that is the important 

 factor ; for if a player strikes the ball in such a direction that it 

 can be reached by one of his own side before one of his oppo- 

 nents can touch it, he will have scored a point towards success 



Putting plenty of powder into a stroke. ' Vires acquirit eundo.' 



This requires nicety of play, far more in the galloping game 

 now in vogue than some years ago, when ' dribbling ' was more 

 common, though there are even now occasions when a dribble 

 of a few yards to dodge an enemy can be used advantageously. 

 At the same time, dribbling should be avoided as much as 

 possible, for it is useless endeavouring to do this in a really hard 

 galloping game. The ball hops too much to enable a player 

 to make anything like a certainty of achieving his object when 



