Polo Rules

Is hopping on the spot stationary?
Is track standing (with a bit of back and forward) stationary?
Is rolling back and forward around a tripod stationary?

Yes, in my view.

I agree, just want to make sure it's clear in the rules.

I agree, just want to make sure it's clear in the rules.

Not sure how to word it, also pretty sure I don't want to ref it at the London Open this year!

^This. Not that I feel qualified to ref but I cant imagine it being easy to keep an eye on what the defence are doing as well as whatever action is happening with the ball. If it was to be a rule maybe the goal refs could issue warnings instead since they'll be closer to the goal and have less to do than the main ref?

Oh and whats the story with an attacker rolling through the goalmouth after they've scored a goal? I can't find anything on it in the LHBPA rules (which is basically what we play in Oslo anyway).

Fewer rules, more goalie fucking.

Some of the suggestions are quite complicated/subjective, and add to the already significant burden on refs.

If your opponents are packing out the goal, just get straight in and start fucking with them. Why wait until 8 minutes into a tight and nervy game, and then get frantic about things?

If everyone started fucking goalies, then double/triple goalie set-ups would soon disappear.

But it's not an elegant solution, it would be better to avoid it in first place, as Jono's solution does. (i'm also in favour of a no contact off the ball rule for keepers).

True, goalie-fucking is inelegant, but so is parking 2/3rds of your team in front of a 180cm goal... Fight ugly with ugly!

I think the aim of both 'solutions' is to discourage it in the first place, but I also think it's best to resolve problems within the game rather than adding rules.

True, goalie-fucking is inelegant, but so is parking 2/3rds of your team in front of a 180cm goal... Fight ugly with ugly!

I think the aim of both 'solutions' is to discourage it in the first place, but I also think it's best to resolve problems within the game rather than adding rules.

Dan, lets try this new rule on Wednesday night.

Re. The reliance on defence and the infractions that result - thinking laterally for a moment, why not try out a rule where each team has to have at least one player in their opponents half at all times? In this way, you'd create a tactical challenge that denies too much defence in numbers/possibly create a much more free flowing game with higher scores for both teams...

Or even simpler, make the goals wider.

Or even simpler, make the goals wider.

Wider goals would be a better solution.

I'm not sure wider goals wouldn't worsen the problem.

I like the sound of only 1 person in the D

another idea will be like in basketball allow a second player only "x" sec in the area

Double goalies is just another defensive strategy, It's not like people don't have any options to overcome this already like "fucking them up" , drawing the players out of the D etc. Is this what will happen with every rule that a minority have a problem with? How long until were not aloud goalies at all? The opinions that have been offered up so far to eradicate this "problem" all seem very floored, like the static rule for instance when does braking & stopping become static? Surely an attacking player could just remain static in the D & wait for the defending player to either roll on by or be called out for stopping & becoming "static?" maybe people should concentrate their attentions on how to overcome this on court rather than try to change the rules off court? It's not like the majority of games are goaless or low scoring is it ? Good teams will always score goals on lesser teams even if you have 3 goalies & when 2 evenly matched teams play each other the score is always going to be tighter.

It's already sorted on court as far as I can tell?

Risk aversion tactics work really well and the counter is to go in and fuck people up (often footing down yourself), generally speaking the team that is stronger on their bikes wins. Many teams are booed into attacking defensive teams when they have a goal lead which seems odd to me.

The above is all fine and good if you enjoy watching people D-up and then try to knock each other off their bikes (or not attack with the ball), but most people find it rather lame, hence this conversation?

The London Open is the perfect test bed for new rules in my opinion, they are discussing a similar thing over on LOBP (having some sort of crease). All of these "up in the air" discussions are why the NAH ruleset was put on hold... so people could see how the season plays out and then write the rules for next year accordingly with video replay examples, etc.

seemed like in paris, a lack of calls let the dirty play escalate leading to a few pretty boring games, including when people were big style dicking goalies and everyone was just falling over. i remember it used to be on form to boo the holy shit out of boring polo. bring back booing.

i don't know too much about it, but at face value, it seems like a lot of the rules are very reactionary. ie. people start using forearms (orapparently punching people in the face in NY if you believe that) so we put a rule in to say its allowed to control its use....
and it seems like a lot of the rules regarding physical contact are reactionary like this.

i just wonder what we want to see polo become. and maybe we could craft the rules to push it that way...whatever it is. i guess whatever makes for a better sport in the end. and i know thats really subjective but im just thinking aloud a bit.....

^we posted at the same time jono, that answers some of my ponderings. :)

I agree with some of the things being discussed but would also like to point out that the Euros 2012 was not a total melé!

I saw a lot of great polo, I would say the physicality was on a par with any other tournament I played this year.

^
what Rupert said

And some of the most intense body-checking came from UK players (according to people I've spoken to)

The Euros were full of awesome (physical) polo, agreed.

I guess in my opinion there were lots of "bad polo" games within the earlier stages? It could have just been people trying to take advantage of the reffing situation? Or it could just be my hatred of "lame" bike polo (two keepers, block, topple, score, repeat)?

I'm possibly just over-reacting. Although fearing this kind of test rule for a tournament like the Open would possibly be over-reacting too. It's good to hear everyone's thoughts, etc.

And some of the most intense body-checking came from UK players (according to people I've spoken to)

Way to make it personal Yorgo! (No-one's saying UK teams/players are angels.)

And some of the most intense body-checking came from UK players (according to people I've spoken to)

Errr. Not sure about that. I would say that we were no better and no worse than any other scene. I saw Manu forearm Hayden in the head twice, seperately, and score a goal off the second.

But it's not about who's the worst. It's about whether it's good for polo to have people pushing each other off their bikes with their fore-arms. Personally, even though I can do it, and do it reasonably well, I don't think it's good for polo.

Bill, I saw you steal three lighters.

Bill, I saw you steal three lighters.

Yeah, but...

I came with 3, bought 2 more, and left with 1. And someone hosed my phone. And I had to wear a pink vest. And I got sunburnt.

So I suffered for my crimes.

People were generally impressed with SuperLuca's willingness to check other (bigger) players. But they seemed less keen on Ryan's version of physical play.
In my opinion both players were clean. Paul from Call Me Daddy however is generally borderline, especially when it comes to mallet hacking.

People were generally impressed with SuperLuca's willingness to check other (bigger) players. But they seemed less keen on Ryan's version of physical play.

I've always thought it unfair that small players get away with more than big players. It's seen as exuberance, whereas bigger players' exuberance comes across as dominance.