The traditional sport of polo is played at speed on a large grass field up to 300 yards long by 160 yards wide, the approximate area of nine American football fields.
Each polo team consists of four riders and theirmounts, which can be mixed teams of both men and women.
Each position assigned to a player has certain responsibilities:
NUMBER ONE
This player is the most offense-oriented position on thefield. The Number One position generally covers theopposing team’s Number Four.
NUMBER TWO
This player has an important role in offense, either running through and scoring themselves, or passing to the Number One and getting in behind them. Defensively, they will cover the opposing team’s Number Three, generally the other team’s best player.
NUMBER THREE
This player is the tactical leader and must be a longpowerful hitter to feed balls to Number Two and Number One as well as maintaining a solid defense. The best player on the team is usually the Number Three player, usually wielding the highest handicap.
NUMBER FOUR
This player is the primary defense player. They can move anywhere on the field, but they usually try to prevent scoring. The emphasis on defense by the Number Four allows the Number Three to attempt more offensive plays, since they know that they will be covered is they lose the ball.
