POLOCROSSE
© 1998 Francis J. Wolfe
78 Little York Road
Warwick, NY 10990

Training the Trainers

General Teaching Concepts

• Teaching vs. Telling
• Cause and effect approach
• Preparation
• Public speaking
• Presentation skills
• Giving effective examples
• How to demonstrate something
• Balancing talk and practice

Gearing towards the Audience

• Level of students (beginner, intermediate, advanced)
• Age of students (adults, teenagers, pre-teens)
• Location (classroom, on foot, indoor arena, outside)
• Goals/expectation of audience (find out first !)
• Teacher - student ratio (one on one, small or large group)

Subjects to cover

• Riding Skills
  (We should not get into teaching riding, these skills should be a prerequisite.)
  • Horse requirements
    • Neck reining
    • Conditioning
    • Turning
    • Stop/Start
    • Riding off
    • Lineup
    • Racquet
    • Balance
  • How to get there
    • Training the horse
    • Helpful Equipment
  • Rider requirements
    • Exercises to help skills
    • Equivalent skills from other equine sports
      • English
        • Foxhunting (control in company)
        • Eventing (all around skills)
        • Dressage (balance, turning, obedience)
        • Show Jumping (balance, quickness)
        • Polo (closest thing)
      • Western
        • Barrel Racing (speed, balance, turning)
        • Pole Bending (same)
        • Other speed events
      • Miscellaneous
        • Endurance Riding (condition, company)
        • Trail rides (control in company)
• Racquet Skills
  • Basics
    • How to hold racquet
    • Choking up correctly
    • Why it is designed the way it is
  • Pickup
    • Basics
      • Holding racquet
      • Getting out of saddle
      • Racquet on ground before ball
      • Pickup
      • Follow through (cradle)
    • Near side

    • Off side
  • Carrying the Ball
    • Craddling
    • Evading opponent
  • Throwing the Ball
    • Basics
      • Racquet head level
      • Follow through
      • Wrist suppleness
      • Forearm
      • Elbow
      • Weight on throwing side foot
      • Look at target
    • Straight throw
    • Side throw
    • Over horse
    • At goal
    • Passing
  • Catching the Ball
    • Basics
      • Make a target for passer
      • Best place to catch (in front and shoulder high)
      • Attack ball
      • Once it's in racquet
    • Near side in front of rider
    • Near side behind rider
    • Off side in front of rider
    • Off side behind rider
  • Bouncing the Ball
    • Basics
      • Adaptation of overhand throw
      • Eye on the ball
      • Sufficient lead for speed
    • Overhand throw vs underhand throw
    • Penalty throw vs bounce on line
    • Specialty bounces (ie., over/under horse's neck)
• Strategy
  • Individual
    • Keeping opponent away from you
      • On pickups
      • While carrying the ball
      • Avoiding being ridden off
  • Section
    • Blocking opponents
    • Using skills to your advantage
    • Communicating on field
  • Positions
    • Job of each player
    • How to adapt to opponen
    • Rules (adaptation of umpire clinics)
    • Team Work
      • Practicing
      • During match
      • Using team mates to your advantage

How do we accomplish this ?

• Committee/Individual to work on each area
  • General Skills: teacher or instructor
  • Gearing towards Audience: Someone who does presentations
  • Riding skills: Riding instructor and trainer, english and western
  • Racquet skills: Experienced polocrosse player
  • Strategy: Experienced polocrosse player
  • Rules: Certified Umpire
  • Team Work: Experience polocrosse player
• Identify resources needed
  • Each topic has different requirements
  • Considerations
    • Classroom needs visual and written aids
    • New players may need sticks and balls
    • Time allotted will limit material covered
    • Everything in Gearing towards Audience
  • Who is organizer (APA, local group, club, individual) ?
  • Is there a charge (fees bring increased expectations) ?
  • What is available ?
    • APA Rules Book
    • Lee Brownson's Practice Manual
    • Frank Wolfe's Strategy Manual
    • APA Introduction Video
    • Norm Clasen's Video
    • Australian Videos
• Certification/Training Process
  • Clinics for coaches
  • Testing of coaches
    • Written
    • Practical
      • Ability to play at level they are teaching
      • Observation of them teaching at that level
      • How should certification be organized ?
        • Certified to teach a particular skill
        • Certified to teach up to a specific grade

Please send your comments to polocrosse@wolfsbane.com