Help me make my polo mallet

Lots of sports people use heavier equipment to train with. Agreed, you should start using your "tournament" mallet before the big day or it might be a bit of a shock? For example: undrilled RV head on Perros compared to drilled RV head on Perros Light, the first setup will strengthen your wrists, the second will improve your ball handling/reaction time for tournaments?

Lighter wheels with the same tyres won't change the feel of your bike by any "real world" degree and again, it's a great way to train (and avid breaking wheels) with a strong/heavy wheelset for throw-ins and then enjoy the benefits of a lighter wheelset for tournaments?

But yeah, getting down the gym would be better still, but people like to buy shit (myself included).

I love buying shit...

I really don't get this nylock nut thing. I've made loads of mallets using the nut and bolt method, never had one come undone.

The nylock will just make it that much harder to remove. For me the fact you can replace the head in seconds is one of the great benefits of it to me.

i switched to a rv head from a 3mph in rouen (not by choice, i forgot my mallet! doh) and i found it very uncomfortabe to use, i would always give it a week (2 or 3 sessions) of changing things before a tournament to get use to it.

however i would always rather play with unfamiliar equipment that not play at all.

Turn up, ask to use a random's mallet and bike, win the tournament, be born a legend.

Always bring a spare mallet to tournaments Luca, maybe take three if you're going to leave one of them at home?

what happened was that we met at the court to pick up our bikes etc and i completely forgot to pick up my mallets, i realised on m25 but luckily josh had made me one!

Anyone have a rule of thumb about mallet length? I'm about 5'9" and I think my current one is something like 92 cm. Feels fine but I'm not sure what I'm missing, eg if I would be better off with something longer/shorted.

Shorter gives you a better shot, more control on the ball, longer will give you better reach.

I use 92cm, but that's pretty short for my height, 98cm would be more normal. I'd say 92cm is about right for you.

I use floor to hip bone length... Start from there and see how you go...

It seems longer gives a more powerful shot, shorter gives more controlled ball handling. 96cm is a good balance for me.

• snoops.
  
  

Ultimately its about your playing style (or how you would like to play).
Main aim for mallet length is to not strike the ground and not to miss the ball.

If you find your self doing one or the other adjust accordingly. Durring games its useful to have a bit more grip/length so you can change up the way you play as and when you need to.

plus snoops is a gangly fucker so his ball reach is fucking good. (ie take into account your body proportions and flexibility)

The important thing is to change your mallet length just before our league game :)

90cm is the magic number, can also be used to regulate goal size

By that logic 180 is also a good size.

by what logic? I never stated the logic behind the 90cm, and said it could also be used to measure goals.

Do you want me to beagle my post?

i use a 90, emmet is in the 70's somewhere and we are about the same height. Its all about your preference and playing style. Jono's are way too long for me but again were are similar heights. Snoops mallet length to height ratio is probs very similar to mine, (he's probs 2 " taller than me) yet when i look at him is physiology seems much more relaxed and upright than me. Depends on many things, for me the main factor i think was that i used to play tennis so a similar body to ball distance is what i likely went towards. And ray for example is a lefty so you have to take a lot of bullshit into account when working out his.

Yeah, I'm 97, I like being able to reach the ball and went for the longest length I could before my shot was affected.

I was at 74cm.
It really helped me develop my dribbling of the ball and I enjoyed being able to pull off shots from really close to my bike.

I did not find reach a problem as I am pretty flexible.
However, recently I did find that constantly pushing my body to just connect with the ball was straining my back (flexibility ≠ core strength).

Consequently I now use 87cm. I like it.

And ray for example is a lefty so you have to take a lot of bullshit into account when working out his.

2cm worth.

However, recently I did find that constantly pushing my body to just connect with the ball was straining my back (flexibility ≠ core strength).

You can be very, very flexible & have a super-strong core.

Conversely, you can be relatively inflexible and have a weak core.

You can be very, very flexible & have a super-strong core.

Is that from your collection of "flexible dudes in nothing but tight shorts"?

Nice ;)

Is that pic from one of your brokeback trips with Erik Zo?

After the initial distraction of tight shorts and scenery. The position is actually incredible. Obviously worked into and pinned in places but strength and balance is important in improving mallet/ball handling.

I can only imagine what advantages that flexibility could offer on a bike.