Horse & Hound – 22 August 2019

Polo performance coach

WinstonSquireonchangingfitnessperceptionsinthe

sport—andbeinga willinggopherfortheEnglandplayers

Stablemanager

Bryan Elliott

NEXT

WEEK

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

Idon’thavea polobackground

butI havea degreeinsport

scienceandpsychology.About

10 yearsagoI wasworkingasa

personaltrainerwhenI started

traininga poloplayerandumpire

calledMarcusHancock.Through

Marcus,I wasintroducedtoJohn

Horswell,whowasEnglandpolo

teamcoachatthetime.

A coupleofmonthslaterJohn

saidtome,“I’vegota jobforyou

andit’snotgoingtobeeasy.I’d

likeyoutobeperformance trainer

fortheEnglandboys.”

I hadworkedwithhigh-

performancerugbyandfootball

teams,andI wassurprisedto

findtherewasn’ta pre-andpost-

matchtrainingstructureforpolo

teams.Someplayerswarmedup

independently,butothersweren’t

doinganypre-matchpreparation.

OneofthefirstthingsI didwas

todevisea structured,bespoke

programmeforthepoloplayers

todoasa team, before and after

agame.

ThekeyareasI focusonforpolo

playersareflexibilityandcore

strength,and my longer-term

objectivefortheEnglandplayers

atfirstwastoreduceinjuryrates.

Pre-matchtraining

incorporatesdynamicstretching,

whichincreasesthesupply

ofbloodandnutrientstothe

muscles,helpspreventmuscle

strain,promotesflexibilityand

keepsthebodylimberbyreleasing

muscletension.

After a match it’s essential to

warmdownproperlyandstretch

tomaintainflexibility and reduce

musclesoreness.

Warmingupasa teamalsohelps

preparethempsychologically

forthematch,supportingreal

teamcohesionandsending

outa positivemessagetothe

opposition,aswellaseveryone

elsearoundthepitch.Their

warm-upexercisescanlookfunny,

butit putstheplayersinthezone.

Lotsofplayersdidn’ttakemy

trainingseriouslyatfirst,and

somegavemea hardtime.

Thosewhogotonboardearly

were those who had friends who Picture

by

imagesofpolo.com

competedindifferentsports,

andtheyunderstoodwhatI was

tryingtodo.

Then,whenfewerplayerswere

gettinginjured,andtheteamwas

winningmoregames,morepeople

startedtobuyintotheidea.

WhenI firstcameintopolo,

NachoGonzálezputmeup

on a horse, and I had to learn

toride.I hadbeenputtingthe

playersthroughhardworkand

theywantedtogivemethesame

treatmentback—I felloffonce

andtheyalllaughed! But I love

ridingnow.

Poloisexactlylikeother

sportsinthatlotsofplayers

generallyonlycallmewhen

theyalreadyhaveaninjury.I tell

themthatif theyareconsistent

withtheirtrainingtheywon’tget

theseproblems.

Timeis alwaysoftheessence,

especiallyfora poloplayer,and

it’stoughtoseea player—or

horse—sustainaninjury.But

then again, it is so rewarding

whenwemanagetogetaninjured

playergame-ready in time for a

bigmatch.

I reallylovepolo,andworking

withtheplayersisfun,

especiallywhenwewin.Atevery

EnglandgameI’montheedgeof

myseat,bitingmynails.

PeoplethinkI’mjusta trainer

butit’smorethanthat—the

playerscallmethegopherbecause

I’malwaysonhandtomakesure

theyhaveeverythingtheyneed,

whetherthat’swater,iceortowels.

Everytopplayerhastheir

idiosyncrasies,andsomeperform

particularroutinesreligiously

beforegames.Everythinghasto

beintherightplaceattheright

time,butthey’renotbeingdivas—

it putsthemintheright mindset

toplay,andtowin.

I’mproudthatthere’sbeen

realprogressioninallthe

thingsI’vedonewiththe

Englandteam.My“Chukka

Fit”programme,whichalso

coversthingslikehydrationand

nutrition,hasbeenusedatpolo

clubsacrossthecountry,andsome

individualplayers,particularly

patrons,trainwithmenowat

BrownsHotelinLondon.

Thepoloworldis likea family;

I havesomanyfriendsinthe

sport.WhenI leaveLondonand

headtothepolo,it’slikea home

fromhome.H&H

l As told to Polly Bryan

‘Theexercisesmaylookfunny,but

they put players in the zone’

16 Horse& Hound22 August 2019