Tag Archive for Bike polo rules

Lumberbach | December 7, 2012
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Rainy days and Fridays always make me drink

This post is about politics. No, not the politics of pachyderms and jackasses. Nor is it about the governing bodies of hardcore bike polo (<– for you Sabrina). This is about interclub politics. The esteemed Crushman for some reason felt that something should be written about it. Now, if you are one of those polo players who generate, or are magnets for, controversy – be it on court or off, please close this page and go find something else to waste your time. There will be nothing for you here. Likewise if you typically just fly above all the shitstorms in a cloud of blissful ignorance, same deal – go away and enjoy your life.

But if you are like me, and you feel compelled to have people get along within your club, then please read on. In some respects the idea that people should be able to avoid emotional conflicts while playing bike polo is absurd. We are, after all, engaged in a competitive, dangerous and dare I say – potentially violent activity. And to add to this recipe of volatility we have lots of grey areas in the rules which makes for plenty of personal interpretation. Over the few years we’ve been playing I’ve seen arguments over hacking, t-boning, tourney rosters, going too fast, playing too slow, undercutting, tailwhips, checking, too serious, not serious enough and a 100 others including my personal favorite… over-coaching. Read more

Category: Tips | Tags: , , , , , ,
Crusher | November 30, 2012
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The New NAH Tourney Structure: Thoughts and Insights

With the Proposed 2013-14 structure from the NAH for the bike polo season comes a new development in our sport. Let’s not mince words here: I think this is a big step in the direction towards a more recognizable legitimacy. The new structure (for those of you who refuse to use the other polo channels to find this information out) basically comes down to these points:

  • Closed Regions for Regional Qualifiers
  • Weighted allotment of slots (three guaranteed for National championship, other slots determined by the year previous NAHBPC performance of region)
  • Shorter window for qualifiers
  • Players can only play in 1 regional qualifier
  • Regional tourneys to be held mid-April to mid-June, NAHBPC and Worlds in early Autumn or Sept/Oct.

You can read the specifics here on the NAH site, I won’t waste your time repeating them, other than this endorsement:

I think the recommended changes are great, and you should too, polokin.

I am excited by the decision making of the NAH in this, and I can tell by looking over the document that lots of consideration was paid to what would work best for the polo community as a whole – making sure to include regions and people based on merit as well as on fairness.

This is something that can really go south on a sport, and addressing that concern early is a solid way to avoid some big trouble down the line. I recognize of course that this isn’t set in stone (it’s only the proposed structure for the next 2 years after all), but it’s a good starting point for getting where we need to go as a growing, vibrant community.

I did, however, have a few questions about specifics in the document, so I got in touch with Ben Schultz (Regional Board Member, Midwest) and Eric Ransom (Regional Board Member, Eastside) to get some specifics: Read more

Category: Rules | Tags: , , ,
Crusher | August 13, 2012
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Would a Permanent Goalie Work in Bike Polo?

No – I don’t mean the guy who just hangs out back there and waits for the play to come to him, a la this fellow here:

 

I mean having a fourth player on the team – the goalie – enabling there to be three players in constant play on the court with one fellow dedicated to defense.

Ok – before you completely destroy this little hypothetical of mine, let me give you the parameters I see this working with:

1. The “goalie” must stay behind the half (their goal half of the court).

2. The “goalie” can pop out to make a play, as long as one player of the same team goes back to act as the “goalie” – much the same as position swapping in lacrosse and, I imagine, other fun sports.

3. The “goalie” is otherwise subject to all other rules that are currently in the rulebook o’ bike polo.

Reasons I think it’s a good idea: Read more

Category: Rules, Stories | Tags: , , ,
Crusher | July 31, 2012
10 comments

Blood in Bike Polo: The Role of Violence

Bike polo, in its very nature, is a relatively dangerous sport. When I first started playing (and my club was young, and I was scared to lean on my bike, and I didn’t keep my head up nor did anyone else, really) I crashed a lot.

Our club as a whole was pretty rock-um-sock-um when it came to playing. We’d run each other into the fence, we’d T-bone on purpose at times. It was great fun, really.

But as we developed as a club we stopped being so violent (I like to think we were getting more skilled and didn’t need to crash into each other to stop plays, for instance), and that was pretty good, too. There was a general feeling that really good players didn’t need to be violent (and I subscribe to that belief myself), so if you want to become a good player, you need to depend on finesse more than brute strength.

But let’s take a moment to talk about the other side of the coin, here. The scarred up, bruised and tooth spitting side of the coin.

The general rules of bike polo (if you don’t subscribe to reading all of the NAH rulebook) is body to body, bike to bike, and mallet to mallet contact. 2 of these three can lead to some brutal situations, as evidenced by Mr. Do’s lovely video which I will now gratuitously post because it’s that damned good: Read more

Category: Rules, Tips | Tags: , , ,
Crusher | June 20, 2012
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Making Refs Matter: The Future of Tourney Officials

I’ve noticed a lot of scuttlebutt on the LOBP (ALL HAIL) boards about the need to enforce rules and have refs who know what is going on. Most of the conversation (at least this round of it, as it’s always discussed here and there) came after ESPI 7, though in being there I can say that the volunteer refs did a great job.

Read: I was one of the volunteer refs for 7 or 8 games.

But there are some inherent problems in our sport with getting the rules we create applied evenly and fairly in every game at a tourney (or even between tourneys):

1. Refs are only volunteering

2. Refs aren’t completely clear on the rules

3. Players don’t particularly care/understand

4. Refs fear making a wrong call

5. Everyone is drunk

When you look at that list, there are clearly some things that won’t change anytime soon (number 5, for instance, jumps out at me. So does number #1). I don’t want to spend anytime rehashing things I’ve seen others post on the boards, but rather explore three possible future outcomes that I think could happen.

1. Professional/Full-Time Refs

Ok – I hear you. Yes. Yes. Of course. I understand. Uh-huh. I get wha-STOP INTERRUPTING ME WHILE I’M SPEAKING YOU CLOWN.

So one of the possible outcomes in the future is having full-time refs (by this I mean refs who aren’t playing in the tourney at all and are solely there to ref). The benefits are pretty obvious: you’ll actually have refs. Refs who don’t try to scuttle away in between games.

The problem is that no current player is willing to drop their mallet and become a ref – yet. I know that as we all get older, fatter, and less interested in moving, there will probably be a few of us who are still interested in the sport – and then you’ll have your experienced refs, beer guts and all.

Again, we’ll run into the problem of having folks who are volunteering their time, and the idea of paying someone to ref is like oil and water in bike polo currently. However, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for a group of refs to be formed up and paid for services rendered. Read more

Category: Tournaments | Tags: , , , ,
Crusher | February 22, 2012
2 comments

Everything is Going to Change in Bike Polo – And You Shouldn’t Care

It’s hard to think of any other sport like hardcourt bike polo. We have a governing body, tournaments, companies producing specific equipment and a worldwide culture (note I didn’t say subculture – we’re past that point, kids) but we still argue over rules, and we still are apt to go the DIY route for poles and bikes.

We’re at an interesting point – we’re in the Wild West of the sport.

Imagine, if you will, early American Football: the lack of standard equipment, the leather helmets. Think of the scattered padding between players (some choosing to put some extra shirts between the shoulders – some choosing nothing at all). Baseball was the same way – people made their own baseball bats in the beginning of the sport.

I think that happened sometime around 1934 – right after the war between Germany and Columbia ended. I don’t know, I didn’t pay attention in that class.

But now in either of those sports – in virtually all levels of play – people use approved equipment and go by the agreed upon rules. There is arguing, of course, but generally it’s between a lollygagging ref and a coach who has marital problems and can’t seem to win an argument unless it’s with a man at a little league game. Read more

Category: Stories, Tips | Tags: , , ,
Crusher | December 29, 2011
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Rule Highlight: Body-to-Body Contact (Aww Yeah)

Despite what Mr. Barry White will tell you – there can be too much of a good thing.

I’m very open to physical contact in polo. In fact, the more bloody we get games to be, the happier I am as a little polokin. However – much like many of our parole officers have indicated – it has to be like-to-like contact that is understood by both parties.

 

9.1 – Body-to-Body contact:

  • Shoulder-to-shoulder contact and the use of forearms is permitted.

  • Hooking, holding or otherwise restraining another player by grabbing that player, their clothing or any of their equipment using hands, elbows, feet or mallets is not permitted. Hooking is defined as using a mallet to restrain a bike or player. Holding is grabbing a player, their clothing or their bike with your hand or elbow, a.k.a “chicken winging.”

  • Pushing with the hands is not permitted.

  • A “Cheap Shot” defined as excessively pushing or checking someone from behind is not permitted. Physical blows about the neck or head, any punching or kicking will also be penalized.

Let’s look at each of these rules indidually: Read more

Category: Tips | Tags: , , ,
Crusher | December 20, 2011
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Rule Highlight: Goalie Contact

9.8 – Goalie contact: A player may use their mallet to hook, shift, move, etc. the mallet of the player in goal in an effort to get them out of position or prevent them from stopping a shot. Body-to-body contact or any   incidental bike contact with the goalie is permitted only if the contact is between the player with the ball and the goalie.

I think out of all the rules I’ve looked at over the course of starting this little rule highlight feature, this one is my most favorite. Most favoritest, even.

A player may use their mallet to hook, shift, move, etc. the mallet of the player in goal in an effort to get them out of position or prevent them from stopping a shot.

So harassing the goalie is pretty much legitimate. Remember: bike polo really doesn’t have goalies. It has players who are acting as goalies. This means the rules that apply to any player likewise apply to the player defending the goal. something to mention here, however, is that hacking is still not allowed.

HACKING IS STILL NOT ALLOWED

HACKING IS STILL NOT ALLOWED

HACKING IS STILL NOT ALLOWED

Ok then.

I my opinion, hooking and lifting a goalie’s mallet is a better idea than hacking in this case anyway. By maintaining that control over the other player’s mallet, you’re basically taking away their opportunity to control the ball, which is pretty much the best way to incapacitate the goalie. Other than strangulation. Which is not allowed.

STRANGULATION IS NOT ALLOWED

Body-to-body contact or any  incidental bike contact with the goalie is permitted only if the contact is between the player with the ball and the goalie.

This is an interesting bit, as I think this argument has come up a few times within our club. The rule is this: if you are the player with the ball, you can push into the goalie while trying to make a goal and that’s OK. The rule of wrist here is that it can’t be that you’re plowing your bike into the goalie when you have the ball, hence that ever ambiguous “incidental” .

If you’re not the player with the ball, you can’t have body on body or bike contact. You can only hook, shift, or move the mallet.

 

To close this rule highlight out:

Mallet hooking on goalie: OK

Mallet shifting or moving on goalie: OK

Mallet Hacking of goalie: NOT OK

Body on body contact with goalie: OK if you are ball carrier

Body on body contact with goalie: Not OK if you are NOT ball carrier

Strangulation of goalie: NOT OK

 

Category: Tips | Tags: , ,
Crusher | December 12, 2011
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Rule Highlight: Mallet to Mallet Contact

9.2 – Mallet-to-Mallet contact:

  • Incidental contact playing the ball is permitted. 
  • Defensively hooking, lifting or holding another player’s mallet is permitted.
  • “Striking” – hitting another player’s mallet with excessive force – known as “striking” – will result in a warning or a penalty.

Today we look at Mallet-to-Mallet contact – something that in my opinion is the most important rule set to keep in mind. Let’s discuss each bullet point together, shall we?

Incidental contact playing the ball is permitted.

This is pretty self-explanatory in and of itself, but what it’s saying is basically this: if little Tommy Two-Shoes is winding up to whack the ball and Sally Salty-Tears is trying to push that ball away and they smack their mallets together – no harm no foul.

Defensively hooking, lifting or holding another player’s mallet is permitted.

This is something that we at LCBP definitely needs to work on. Generally speaking, we hack. Hack hack hackidy hack, even. The aim of this rule is to make disruptive contact intelligent. You aren’t just swinging your mallet around like the legs and arms of some drunk kid at the Village.

Instead, you’re messing up plays and still maintaining control of the play. Whenever one of us manages to do this, it’s obvious that they aren’t just messing up a play – they are changing the course of the play to benefit themselves.

“Striking” – hitting another player’s mallet with excessive force – known as “striking” – will result in a warning or a penalty.

Ok – I’ll be the first to point out that I am just as guilty as anyone else in this. I strike the hell out of people’s mallets. With excessive force. Known as striking.

but I’ve never gotten a warning or penalty!

I don’t think we need to really go into how much our own club violates this rule, but just as a quick reminder: it’s not Kosher, kids. We as a club need to move closer to not hacking.
Then again, it’s our own club, so I guess it comes down to majority decision. But them’s the rules.

Category: Tips | Tags: , ,
Crusher | October 19, 2011
One comment

Rules is Rules, Hoss: an Introduction to Bike Polo Legal Play.

First, let me get this out of the way:

You play grab-ass, you git the box.

Thanks. Now, LCBP has been experiencing a lot of heated discussion around what is legal and what is dumb. Normally in these conversations I can only go so far before admitting that I am just guessing or saying what I think is right.

This is a lonesome way to live, children.

With this in mind, I’m going to start featuring a rule each week that has either been discussed within our ranks or that I find interesting/otherwise unknown. You may also notice that I’ve put a new page up that list the rules direct from the 2011 NAH Rulebook . Feel free to peruse whenever you are on the can at work trying to get out of a board meeting.

If there is a particular topic you want to have up for discussion, just add a comment and I’ll look up and give my two shekels on the matter at hand.

“

"From hell's heart I stab at thee!"

I’m doing this for a few reasons. 1. Our club is reaching a level of play that we aren’t just happy to slap around like monkeys trying to type out Shakespeare, and 2. We as a club are going to become more active in tourney play, and we’ll be at a disadvantage for not knowing that throwing a mallet Ahab style into someone’s eye isn’t exactly Kosher.

So look for the upcoming series of featured rules and don’t play grab ass.

oh, ok. Grab away, boys.

Category: Tips | Tags: , ,
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