Polo Mallets, Hurlingham's Finest. What to buy and what to avoid. Aug 31 '06    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet The Bottom Line Looking for a Polo Mallet. Here's some hints, tips and suggestions from somebody who sounds like he knows more than he actually does. Due to the ghastly peasants at Epinions believing Polo is a trademark of the Ralph Lauren Company rather than a sport, this review needs a home. I mean they have 325 spaces for Racquetball items for heavens sake, which is played by people too unskilled, ungainly and myopic to hit a squash ball, but absolutely nothing in Equestrian. Until then the Sport of Kings can sit under general recreation. As you can imagine, tearing along at 30mph trying to hit a ball not much lager than a tennis ball with a piece of wood the size of a Hot Dog bun is a tad on the tricky side. But once you get the hang of it, the sport is the best thing you can do whilst vertical. This is my uneducated opinion on Polo Mallets which should hopefully make the job a bit easier. The Handle. The handle should be fairly large and teardrop shaped when looked at from above. Nearly all mallets are coated with the extra grip rubber substance that tennis racquets use which, when combined with a gripping glove (baseball gloves are pretty good and have the added advantage of being cheap), mean that the Mallet will not fall out of your hand or whack a spectator. If you’re not in one of the 4 countries in the world that play baseball then you will probably have to order specialist polo gloves which will cost you a lot more money; make friends with a Septic or a Jap and he can post them to you. The Mallet will have a canvas or rope strap between 6-8 inches long when looped attached firmly to the Mallet. This loop must be firmly attached to the mallet as if you are hooked the opponent will try and rip the mallet from your hand. This strap is wrapped round your wrist so when you feel like you are falling off your horse you can snap your mallet by using the stick to support you – and still fall off. The Shaft, (Warning! double entendres ahead) The shaft is made from the root of a cane called the Manau that grows at the astonishing rate of 40ft per year. It is found in Indonesia and Malasia. The cane is cut and the shaft is boiled for 10-15 minutes in Coconut and Diesel oil until yellow. After being exposed to a very warm and moist environment, it is then washed in sand and water. The canes are then heated to straighten them out and cured in an oven and coated with a layer of varnish. There is no one requirement for the flexibility of the cane, but the more “Whippy” it is, the more likely it is going to be a tournament level mallet rather than a club level mallet. Unlike many other activities, a softer more malleable shaft is actually a bonus in Polo. Flexibility of the shaft ie Whippiness Generally the thinner the cane, the better it is for striking the ball further. For stick and ball you want a nice thick shaft for the constant practice, using a thin cane for stick and ball will probably result in you breaking a rather expensive Polo stick. I use a couple of hacking mallets with a very thick cane and practically no droop. This means neck shots (where the ball is situated in front of the horse, and in the action of hitting the ball the shaft strikes the horses neck) tend not to look as good, you don’t have the same control of the ball, and your wrist feels like you’ve got season tickets to an adult theatre. The more flexible the shaft, the further the ball will go; the unfortunate payoff is that you have less control when you are close to the ball. Too whippy and you are just as likely to hit Princess Anne in the Royal Box with the polo ball as you are to score a goal. For a match Mallet the shaft should droop slightly when held horizontal, stick and ball and it should stay fairly rigid. Most high goal players use a slightly stiff shaft, as it is a half waypoint between the whippiness and fragility of a flexible shaft and the unyielding stick and ball shaft. As you use your mallet more the fibres in the cane will break down slightly giving you a more whippy stick so you should buy a mallet slightly stiffer than what you want. Weight of the Mallet. Most mallets weigh between 155-205 grams. The heavier the mallet the further the ball can theoretically be hit. In reality this is not the case as striking the ball well is more to do with balance and timing rather than brute force. The weight of the mallet on its curve downwards is important, as gravity should do most of the work when striking the ball. Your hand should be slightly open to encourage you not to force the shot. Naturally a heavier cigar is more use on wet grounds, but a heavier mallet does not tend to loft the ball as easily. Carbon Fibre/Graphite Models. These polo sticks are for gauche morons who think that it looks cool to have a thin stick made out of a man made material. They will rock up to the match in some ghastly BMW that has a completely unnecessary spoiler and “Go-faster” stripes. They have a blonde trophy wife and more money than sense. There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of behaviour on a polo field. These nouveau riche philistines should not be allowed anywhere near the club house as their booming “I’m so great” voices will weaken the structural integrity of the building and destroy the inner tranquillity of the clubhouse. Those using these mallets say the weight of these mallets is lighter, but if you haven’t got the strength to lift a proper Polo mallet you’re a big girl and you shouldn’t be playing. This may sound harsh but I wish a deeply horrible and traumatic death on anybody who sullies the great traditions of Polo by purchasing such an abomination in the eyes of our Lord. It’s like strapping an outboard to your boat at Henley Royal Regatta, or turning up at Lords with a metal Cricket Bat. I hate these people, hate them, hate them, hate them. Length. Most Polo sticks are in the range of 52-53 Inches long. Naturally you will need several Mallets, as most horses aren’t all the same size Horse Size 15-15.1 hands = 51 inch Mallet 15.2 hands = 52 inch Mallet 15.3-16 hands = 53 inch Mallet A Shire Horse = 54 inch You can get any size Mallet you want, but the only other size you are likely to need is a foot mallet, which means you can practice your shots without the need of a horse. These usually measure between 23-33 inches and if the cigar is resting on the ground you should be almost able to scratch your nuts (gender permitting) with the top. In the old days the British played on small horses with small sticks (thus the reason why Horses are called Ponies in Polo) until the Yanks pointed out that the Limeys looked ridiculous having their feet trailing on the floor whilst they played. The Heads AKA The cigar, this is the part of the mallet that you hit the Polo ball with. Contrary to popular belief the ball is hit with the side of the Mallet, not the small head. The heads measure between 8 ½ to 9 ½ inches long. The back heal of the head should be cut of to an angle of approximately 30 degrees in order that when you take your shot, the heel does not strike the ground by accident and ruin your shot. The head is attached to the cane usually at an angle of 12.5 Degrees. The most common wood they are made out of is the Tipuana Blanca in Argentina, Brazil and parts of Paraguay. This is not due to the unique properties of the wood, but rather the fact that most Polo mallets are made in Hurlingham- Argentina. Tradition dictates that the heads are made from this material, in a similar way that Cricket Bats are made of English Willow. There are various types of heads. The main one is the type that all other heads are also generically known as. Nearly all the world’s Polo players use this head, but there are others, as I will mention below. The Cigar Head, which weighs between 160-260 Grams is about 9 inches long and just under 2 inches in diameter. They are round and the most common form of head. The RNPA (Royal Naval Polo Association) Head is tapered in at both ends rather than the traditional one. They have oval heads but are rarely used. The Cambiaso head named after one of the finest players ever to play Polo – Adolfo Cambiaso is an oval head similar to the RNPA head in shape but taller than it is wider. I’ve seen this guy play, and he would probably still look good playing with a plastic Fisher-Price golf set. They are designed to loft the ball in the air and are not suitable for most Polo players. The Skene Head – named after Bob Skene, another 10-goal player, is a similar shape to the other two, again with both the heel and toe cut at an angle. This company in New Zealand has a great web site and pictures of the various heads for Polo. I haven’t used any of their Mallets but they look pretty good. http://www.woodmallets.com/polo/heads.htm The heads should be shaved flat on the underside for softer fields whilst retaining more of their curvature for hard fields. If the ground is wet you will want to protect the contact side of the cigar by covering it with gaffer tape or hockey stick take. This will mean that the cigar is less likely to split when in contact with the ball. Arena Polo / Snow Polo Derivations of Polo, these games differ slightly in having a smaller playing area and the use of an inflatable ball rather than the solid wood or plastic balls used in Polo. The snow polo ball is usually red rather than the traditional white for incredibly obvious reasons. The mallets for these two derivations of Polo should be lighter than normal mallets with a larger head. Because the wood is less dense, these mallets are as much use as a chocolate teapot when using hard field polo balls. I would recommend getting the heads painted a different colour so that when you change horses between chukkas you don’t grab the wrong mallet. Good Polo Sticks Casa Villami Polo Mallets (the classic mallet from Argentina). http://www.villamil.com/Eng/index_eng.htm Wood Mallets. Impressive site in New Zealand http://www.woodmallets.com/polo/ King’s Game. (These guys make excellent equestrian helmets) http://www.kingsgame.com/homeen.asp La Martina (Great clothing, the shirts to be seen in on the Polo field; and good Saddles. I have one of their helmets too and it’s very comfortable. Unfortunately for tack they’re not so good). I think their Mallet shafts are too weak. http://www.lamartina.com/

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