A polo ball is made out of wood, and it must be within the limits of three to three and a half inches and diameter, and three and a half to four and a half ounces in weight. Learn about plastic polo balls with help from the secretary of a polo club in this free video on polo balls.
Hi I'm Cyrus Confectioner, secretary of Calcutta Polo Club. The word polo is derived from the Tibetan word pulu which means ball. These are polo balls, made out of wood. A polo ball must be within the limits of three to three and a half inches in diameter and about three and a half to four and a half ounces in weight. There are very few manufacturers who have the art of making this from a particular type of wood and obviously got to get it round and to a particular weight and particular size. It is very nice to play with and has been replaced by plastic balls. The ball has been made from solid hard plastic. Plastic balls are machine made. You have the mold, everything weighed, everything ready and they just mass produce it. When you hit a plastic ball it moves and it flies much faster, makes the sport more exciting also. The most common polo balls in use are TEC smooth polo balls, Texas polo balls, Argentina polo ball and various other names. Wooden polo balls made a whistling sound as the moved through the air. Because of this one could actually hear a ball coming and thus avoid getting hit also. However, wooden balls used to split apart very often when being hit by the strong players. A gentleman by the name of Bernard Cohen invented the modern day plastic polo ball in around mid 70's. After testing was completed at Palm Beach Polo Club in Wellington, Florida, Vesaka was so pleased with Bernie's new plastic ball that he switched the club from polo balls to plastic and never looked back. The new ball had a historical impact on the level of play and changed the speed of the game dramatically. A polo ball becomes misshapen every time it is struck by a polo mallet. Umpires and flagmen therefore replace the ball as and when necessary during the game. Each polo match requires approximately two dozen polo balls. The mounted umpires, two umpires, use a pick up stick to retrieve a polo ball from the field without having to dismount when they replace a ball. This saves time during the game and keeps the game moving without any stops. As you will also see from this ball there is absolutely no stitch nor dent on it like you have in other you know cricket balls, hockey balls which are stitched down the center. This is absolutely simply one piece made by hand. The color as you will see as you can observe is also white making the ball easily distinguishable on lush green turf. The plastic ball sometimes may be yellow or fluorescent yellow in color but any color which is very very clear on the playing field, generally white is the best. Thank you.
