6o THEORY AND PRACTICE OF POLO. [Chap. II. 



a much stronger and more accurate stroke can be 

 made ; the temptation, which I know is strong, should 

 be avoided, because the practice of this habit will 

 probably make a man miss when going fast. Mr. 

 John Watson is the finest exponent I have seen 

 of the art of defending goal by, to use his own 

 expression, " playing close." When hard pressed 

 near goal, he can, by a twist of his wrist, get the ball 

 away at right angles, in front of the fore legs of the 

 No. I's pony, towards the side of the ground, and 

 can place it in such a position, that it will be almost 

 impossible to hit a goal. Ten yards in a direction 

 of this kind will probably be worth more than one 

 hundred yards in front of goal. Finally, the best 

 Back is he who has fewest goals hit against him. A 

 Back who defends his goal consistently and well, will, 

 off his own bat, win far more matches for his side than 

 any other individual member of the team. He must 

 always bear in mind that it is his duty to defend his 

 goal, and to send the ball up to his Forwards, in such 

 a manner that they may be able to hit it through their 

 opponents' goal, and he must therefore try always to 

 keep the ball in front of him. By this I mean, he 

 must not dash in on the chance of hitting the ball, 

 in which case he may find himself on the wrong side 

 of the ball and unable to defend his goal. 



CAPTAINING A SIDE. 



For a Captain of a team to be successful, it is 

 essential that his word should be absolute law. There 

 should be no arguing or quarrelling in the game, even 

 if he makes an error. A good deal of latitude as 

 to speaking should be allowed in a match ; but no one 



