34 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF POLO. [Chap. II. 



a very capable No. 2, the Back dare not go up into 

 the game ; for he knows that he cannot rely on his 

 No. 3. Interchanging places in a game like this 

 would do more harm than good ; for if No. i gets 

 into No. 2's place, he would probably fail to hit the 

 ball, and if No. 3 takes Back's place, he would very 

 likely make some disastrous blunder. Although we 

 cannot lay down hard and fast rules as to how 

 every game should be played, we may take for 

 granted that the ideal team would be one in which 

 the four players are equally at home in any posi- 

 tion in the game. It is evident that when the 

 members of a team have arrived at this pitch of 

 excellence, it does not matter how often they inter- 

 change, so long as there is one man in each place. 

 As such a team has never yet been seen on any 

 Polo Ground, I am of opinion that, for practical 

 purposes, the interchanging of places should be 

 worked by the Nos. r, 2 and 3 ; and that the 

 Back should only come up into the game when he 

 is certain of having the next hit, and of conse- 

 quently keeping the ball in front of him. 



Though I lay great stress on the fact that Back's 

 chief duty is to defend his goal, it must be borne 

 in mind that the best method of defence is a 

 strong attack, and that the more the Back can 

 force the game with strong forward strokes, the 

 better chance will he have of keeping the ball out 

 of his own half of the ground. So long as Back 

 can keep the ball beyond the half-way line, his 

 position remains an easy and comfortable one : his 

 troubles never begin till he gets near his own goal. 



The polo tactics of defence differ entirely from 



