366 POLO 



1. Never hang back on the chance of your adversary missing 

 the ball. 



2. Always keep your proper place in the game. 



3. Trust every member of the team in which you are play- 

 ing to do his own work. 



4. Whenever you see that one of your own side will get 

 possession of the ball, turn your pony's head in the direction in 

 which the ball will be hit before it is struck. 



Let the budding player attend to these simple rules, and, 

 even though he may not be a very brilliant horseman or a 

 slashing hitter, his services will be more valued than if he com- 

 bined both these qualities with a disregard for the rules of the 

 game. Discipline and cohesion have before now won great 

 battles, and many a game at polo has been won by a team that 

 observed these rules against one better mounted, and with more 

 brilliant individual players, who disregarded them. 



I do not think I can conclude this chapter move fitly than 

 by quoting an extract from a capital article in ' Hayes' Sporting 

 News,' signed 'An Old Hand,' whose identity all Indian players 

 will be able to establish. The author, after pointing out the 

 duties of the various players (Nos. i, 2, &c.), says : 



I will add here one or two points that apply to all players : 

 i. They should always go as fast as they can when they are 

 riding towards the adversary's goal, even at the risk of missing the 

 ball because it is moving. By hanging a little they may make certain 

 of hitting the ball once though, if they have smart adversaries, 

 they are more likely to lose it but doing so allows all the opposite 

 side to get round and back, and cramps up their own side. Waiting 

 for the ball to settle is one of the commonest faults seen in an 

 ordinary game ; but it is a fatal mistake against good adversaries. 

 A player thinks he has got a ball easily, but before he knows where 

 he is one of the adversaries is upon him, and he finds he never gets 

 to the ball at all. It is a veiy common thing to notice that a 

 player from whom a good deal is expected turns out to be of very 

 little use in a match. The reason is that he is one who is in the 

 habit of dwelling to get his ball settled, and cannot, or will not, 

 give it up. Another common observation is that all the players 



