NEWS

Polo is a hugely physical sport. While many outsiders may look on and see a player on top of a horse that is doing all the hard work, anybody who has ridden and stick-and-balled, let alone played a chukker (or six), knows the strain that the sport puts on the body while playing. Not only is it a sport that requires stamina, bursts of speed and impact, it also requires balance, flexibility and strength. Anyone who has stepped off a horse to then walk around like John Wayne for three days knows that polo targets areas that are often neglected in regular fitness. It is an all over body workout with extra strain placed on areas such as the inner legs, back and shoulders.

As polo becomes more professional every season, one of the biggest changes in recent years has been the wide acceptance of the need to physically train for the sport. Although generally fit through years spent in the saddle, more and more players are realizing and relishing in the benefits of fitness programs tailored to their much-loved sport. So much so, that the sight of a team trainer at the tents warming the teams up before a match and stretching them out after has become commonplace. While many players train individually to keep their personal fitness at its peak, warm ups and cool downs that encourage team bonding and well-being have become all the rage on the high-goal scene, as have off the field training sessions throughout the weeks prior to and surrounding tournaments. The USPA spoke with some of these trainers, who keep our favorite players fit, healthy and on the fields to find out what goes in to training at the top level along with what you can do to get in on the fitness action.

Martin Perez, trainer of La Indiana, was one of the first such physical coaches to spy a much-needed change in perspective in polo and has formed a big part of the movement towards a more professional approach to the sport at all levels. So we know that Not everyone can be a high goaler or a high roller, and having a trainer is not accessible to all players, but Martin believes that this should not stop everyone from feeling the benefits of training programs for polo. “While I work primarily with high goalers and polo professionals, through my company Fitness for Polo, my aim is to reach a much wider audience and help share the message of fitness to all levels of the sport from low to high, beginner to professional,” said Perez. “Small changes can make a really big difference and you don’t need a personal trainer or a fully equipped gym to improve your fitness or your polo. There’s tons you can do at home or at the field that will make a big difference and I think it’s important that fitness is not seen as something exclusive to the higher echelons of polo. Not only can it help your game, but it also helps you to avoid injuries and can increase the longevity of your polo playing days,” he continued.

“Polo is changing. When I first started I was one of the only trainers out there working with players, but now you go to any high-goal game and you’ll see the players warming up, stretching and doing proper cool downs and recovery sessions afterwards. This is great progress. Players have seen the benefits of workouts tailor made for them that work around their goals and their lives and I think the sport is better and safer for it. Always bearing in mind everything else that they do, (how many horses they’ve ridden that day, practices, stick-and-ball sessions, when they’re next playing etc.) I work hardest on flexibility. This is one of the cornerstones of polo fitness and its importance to players of all levels cannot be overstated.”

Well-being is an all-encompassing term and in order to get the best from your training program all areas need to be considered and addressed, “There are so many areas to consider in the physical preparation of players and so I work with a team of experts to make sure that every angle is covered by those who know best. I work with a nutritionist who puts together plans based on each player’s measurements and needs. Nutrition is such a huge part of building strength and aiding in recovery, and sometimes it can be neglected, so she works with me to help my players feel their best. I also work with Tolo Gallego, a sports physiotherapist from Argentina who has years of experience working with athletes. While training decreases the risk of injury, polo is a strenuous game and injuries happen and he is there to help with recovery and rehabilitation as well as prevention.”

Speaking of injuries, Leo Jorge the team trainer of Tonkawa spoke about common polo problems and how to avoid them, “Obviously there are unavoidable and accidental injuries due tough ride offs or nasty hooks that can cause problems in the wrist, but with respect to the more chronic injuries, I try to focus on looking after the lumbar (lower back) zone and the hips and pelvis. This area commonly causes problems in many players. I spend a lot of time strengthening the core using balance work to try and help avoid those niggles* that can cause long-term issues in players.”

So how much are these athletes training per week? “There’s a big difference between training amateurs and professionals,” Jorge shared. “The main differences involve time constraints. For the players, it is their life and their career, while for the patrons it is their hobby, even though they are professional about it. With Tonkawa, the professionals train at least four times a week, depending on the matches they have, while the sponsor trains once or twice a week maximum. The weekly routine depends on the team’s schedule. If there is just one match in the week I try to fit in as many sessions as possible. Not every session is a hard-core workout. Many of my sessions are purely stretching, a bit of yoga which is a great tool that I like to use. Some of the poses are perfect for polo to build balance and flexibility. In the other sessions, we work on different areas such as stamina and strength,” Jorge continued.

One of the most important parts of the training process and something that everyone can benefit from with or without a trainer is the pre-game warm up. Leo talked through how he gets his players ready before the first ball is bowled in. “For the warm up I start with articulation and mobility exercises. Then a jog to raise the body temperature. Then some polo specific movements such as replicating the swing action with the medicine ball and basically mirroring the movements that they are about to make in the game. At the end we do activities to help with reactions, forcing them to resolve situations quickly, this helps with concentration, vision and hand-eye coordination.” Working with your teammates promotes team bonding and gets you in the zone before a game as well as making you physically prepared for the challenge ahead. Some players require a chukker or two of warm up before they can compete at their peak. For many, these pregame workouts serve as an effective way to shorten that time frame.

According to Norberto Imas, Mariano Aguerre's personal trainer, the benefits to training for polo are not just physical, “I find that training changes the players’ attitudes. It is quite noticeable that when a player is in good physical condition he feels more confident and secure in himself. They know that they are prepared to take on any situation that they might face in a game. They feel more motivated when they start to notice that they are physically and mentally balanced and start to enjoy every match and challenge even more. There are so many benefits to following a training plan, I could name many more, but I think the most important ones are based in injury prevention and lengthening a player’s career as well as the mental side.”

It would appear that the benefits of specific polo training are many, both physical and mental, and it is easy to get on the fitness for polo train regardless of handicap, budget or time constraints. As polo becomes more and more professional, the advantages trickle down through all levels of the polo pyramid in turn benefitting the sport itself. Special shout out to all the trainers who are working to make polo players nationwide better, faster, stronger, safer, and less likely to be stiff for a week after every match!

*slight but persistent annoyances, discomfort.