Stick
See: Mallet.
Stick & Ball, Stick and Ball
Individual, personal practice time, to school player and horse.
Stick Head
Part of the polo stick.
Sticking, Hooking
See: Hook, Hooking.
Straight and Open
Straight hit balls are hit in or opposite to the direction parallel to the horse’s horizontal axis. Open balls are those which are hit at a certain angle to the horse (e.g. its horizontal axis).
String
The group of horses given for a player.
Studs, Shoe Studs Traction devices to prevent the horse from slipping and to support it during turning. Studs are screwed into the bottom of a horse shoe.
T
Sweet Spot
The sweet spot is the spot at the striking surface of the mallet head where the force is completely balanced out by the turning force of the mallet.
Taco
Spanish for stick, mallet.
Taco de Pie
Spanish for walking stick, foot mallet.
Third Man
Referee who is watching the match from outside the field. He decides in the event that the umpires cannot agree.
Throw-In
At the beginning of a game, or if a ball went wide over the sides of the field, one of the umpires throws the ball in hard between the two teams lined up.
Top of the Swing
End of the backswing.
Tournament, Match
Sportive contest.
Tritt In
Spectators are asked during the half-time of a match to go onto the field to participate in a polo tradition called “divot stamping“, which has developed to help flatten the mounds of earth (divots) that are torn up by the horses´ hooves. It also affords spectators the oppor- tunity to walk about and socialize.
U Umpire
W Walking Stick
Referees and umpires are the officials of the sport, and they have the authority to make decisions about the game. There are two mounted referees in polo and one umpire watching the match from the side of the field. A short polo stick for training on the ground. 131
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