Bike Polo Drills @bikepolodrills - Tumblr Blog

Ball Handling Slalom Drill

This drill comes from Prawzz, make sure you check out some of his other sweet bike polo skills on Instagram!

This ball handling drill is great for beginners and experienced players, alike. It will help you build your bike and ball handling skills.

To practice this drill, you can use pretty much any obstacles, cones, shoes, old tubes and tires, whatever you happen to have around, set these obstacles up in a line. The closer the obstacles are to each other, the more challenging the drill. A good distance between to start is about a bike length. After you have your slalom set up, begin by working the ball around the obstacles. If you’re a beginner, just focus on hanging on to the ball and making it around each obstacle, as you get more confident, you can work on transferring the ball to your off-side (non-mallet side) and back to your mallet side as you ride around the obstacles. As you get better and more confident, pick up the pace, try to make it as smooth as Prawz in this video ;)

If you really wanna make this an advanced drill, add the endo pivot turns at the end of the slalom.

#ballhandling #bikehandling #basic #individualdrill

Duct Tape Ball Handling Drill

Get good at handling the ball with this simple yet effective ball handling drill that will help you train your brain and muscles to put the ball juuuuust where you want it. This drill is great for beginners and advance players alike.

To practice this drill, you’ll need some tape (I prefer duct tape) to create your little obstacle course of sorts. I like a triangle (see diagram 1. below) but you can create any shape you like, play around and get creative if you want.

Mallet side: start simple, and ride in a circle with your mallet on the inside, just try to tap the ball through the squares of tape, work on your timing and the force of your taps.

Off-side: now ride in a circle with your mallet on your off-side (non-mallet side of your bike), again work on timing, force and control of the ball, try to get the ball through the squares of tape as much as possible.

“Pull-push” on mallet side: this is just a variation of the mallet side, to work on different patterns of ball control. Ride in a circle with your mallet on the inside and as you approach one of the squares of tape, pull the ball back then push it forward and try to get it through the tape obstacles. This “pull-push” move should only require two taps of the mallet, one to pull the ball back and one to push it through the tape squares. This particular pattern of ball control is a great one to learn, it simulates pulling the ball back out of reach of another players reach, then pushing it forward again as you try to out run the player :)

Free style: free time! instead of riding in a circle, just ride around and play around with working the ball through the tape obstacles anyway you like, get weird, get awkward, get the mallet on your off-side, hop around, do all the things :)

#individualdrill #basic #ballhandling

Screening Drill

This drill’s teaches players how to properly screen a player with possession of the ball by emphasizing the need to control the ball carrier’s front wheel and to not get beat. It also helps teach the ball carrier how to out maneuver a screener and to deal with stop and go play without t-boning the screener, all super important skills!

This drill is sans ball to help players focus on the bike handling skills needed to execute a proper screen**. After they master the bike handling needed in screening, the ball is added to give additional challenge and real play scenario.

To practice this drill, have one player act as the “ball carrier” (but without a ball) and the other act as the screener. Set up some cones about half court away, the “ball carrier” is going to try to get to these cones while the screener is going to try to prevent them from reaching the cones by blocking their path. Have the screener tripod in front of the “ball carrier”, their back wheel should be positioned in front of the ball carrier’s front wheel with only a few feet between them to start.

On “ready, go!” the “ball carrier” tried to get around the screener while the screener tries to prevent them from getting past and to the cones. The drill ends when the “ball carrier” gets to the cones. If the “ball carrier” t-bones the screener or crashes into them, they must return to the starting line and begin again.

Once this drill starts feeling easier, add a ball to up the challenge, boom! Repeat, practice, become a master!

Tips and tricks:

“Ball carrier” - remember to use the whole court. Don’t just ride in a straight line up court and towards the cones, you can circle back (“reset”) towards the starting line to try to get the screener out of position or just to give yourself more maneuvering room.

Screener - stay in front of the ball carrier and face the same direction as them.

Remember that screening the ball carrier is about getting in tight on their front wheel so you can control where they ride. If they run into you and dab, that is their fault not yours, and technically would be a t-bone foul on them.

When you can, keep both hands on your handle bars so you can get out of the saddle to pedal faster and for better bike control.

Coaches - it might be worthwhile doing a demo of this drill with some experienced players before having newer players try it. Make sure to go over the rules of t-boning, obstruction, etc., so they have context for the drill.

Give feedback after each time the players run this drill to help them improve their technique. Give live feedback as the drills going on, encouraging the “ball carrier” to reset if they get stuck (getting them to think about the whole court and not just moving straight up court), encourage both to get out of the saddle, etc.

**A couple things to refresh your memory about legal screening… You can only actively screen or block the path of the player who has the ball, if you purposely block the path of another player and they don’t have the ball, that’s called obstruction and is a foul. There’s more to obstruction then there’s room to explain here (like momentary stationary screen, etc) but you can go read more on obstruction, here.

#positioning #basic #bikehandling #groupdrill

Close Back Door on Flat Pedals Tutorial

MSU and Lansing Bike Polo put this little video tutorial together to show players who are on flat pedals how to close their back door when sitting in goal. Clipped in players have it easy and can just hop. This move is a great trick for the flat pedal players, watch and learn!

To practice this move, you’ll want to “unweight” your back wheel by engaging your brake so you don’t roll forward, stand up on your pedals, shifting your weight forward over your handle bars and on to your mallet. Then, take your outside leg off your pedal and place it on your back wheel axle, near your drop-outs, and use your foot to push on your rear wheel at the same time you shift your hips sideways to help "scooch” your back wheel towards the goal. You’ll need to make sure you keep your weight forward over your bars so the back wheel is “unweighted” and easier to shift sidways. Boom! New sweet move you can use to protect your back door in goal like a BOSS!

#bikehandling #defense #goalie #basic #turorial

Scoop Juke (Indoor) Drill

This little drill was put together by Rob Wood from Grand Rapids for you poor souls who have winter and snow. Here’s a way you can keep your polo game strong even when you can’t get outside to play!

To practice this drill, start by rolling the ball back towards you and then use that backward momentum to scoop the ball with the open end of your mallet. That backward momentum will help the ball “stick” to your mallet. Curve your mallet around in an arc around your body, the movement should originate from your shoulder not the wrist although you’re wrist is part of the movement. The wrist rotates as you move your shoulder to scoop the ball and your elbow should be up and away from your body. At the end of the arc, slowing the mallet and turn the mallet head around to catch the momentum of the ball and to change directions.

Play around, have fun! When you get a chance, try it while on your bike!

Make sure you check out the basic scoop drill too!

#intermediate #individualdrill #ballhandling #scooping

Front Wheel Ball Control Drill

Get all the ball control! Another good skill to work on, controlling the ball in front of your bike. Watch the pros, Nick McLean, Shitty or Dasha Kornienko, and you’ll see them uses this in their game to quickly weave through players.

To practice this drill, wear a helmet *cough* even though I’m not in this video, just in case you ninja ball yourself. Once you have your helmet on, work on dribbling the ball back and forth ( light taps side-to-side) in front of your bike while riding in a relatively straight line. Start slow and as you get better, pick up your speed and try to pedal the whole time you are dribbling the ball in front of your bike.

Variations:

Try varying the speed of your dribble, work on tapping the ball back and forth slowly and also work on speed, quick taps (as fast as you can), side-to-side in front of your bike

Set up some cones and weave through them as you maintain the ball in front of your bike

Have fun and practice often!

#intermediate #individualdrill #ballhandling

Basic Hop Drill

So, you decided to clip in, welcome to the club! Once you feel comfortable unclipping safely you're gonna want to start learning how to do a basic hop. This basic hop is the foundation of a number of other skills you'll want to learn here on Bike Polo Drills.

To practice this drill, start with a Moving Hop. I found hopping while moving easier then a static hopping when I was first learning. So to get started, coast around the court at a comfortable speed. With your pedals in a neutral position (parallel to the ground), knees slightly bent and your butt out of the saddle, pull up on the handle bars and on your pedals with your feet and see if you can get both wheels off the ground. Repeat.

Once you feel comfy with the moving hop, try a Static Hop. For the static hop, come into a tripod position: mallet on the ground to balance, feet and pedals parallel to the ground, knees slightly bent. From here, hop and pull up on your pedals, you'll need to come out of your saddle as you hop, use your hand on your bars to help guide your front wheel off the ground, but most of the power should come from your feet, not your hands on your bars. Use your mallet to help steady you and keep your balance as you hop. Try to do a number of reps then rest, repeat. Build up those hopping muscles and neural pathways with lots of practice!

Once this gets easy, try taking your mallet off the ground while hopping. BOOM!

Tips from the trenches:

Visualize or imagine you’re on a pogo stick, when you’re trying to get both wheels off the ground. Imagine pushing down on your handle bars and your pedals (bend the elbows and knees, lower your body) then pull up on the pedals and bars, and spring into the air!

Once you’ve mastered the Basic Hop, move on to these drills:

Hop Don’t Dab Drill

Back that A$$ Up in Goal Drill

Hop and Control the Ball Drill

#basic #individualdrill #bikehandling #hopping

Scarecrow Pass Drill

Jenny K here! If this pass isn’t already part of your repertoire, get on this like, now. Mastering this pass is one of the best things I’ve ever done for my polo. It’s quick, simple, and hard for opponents to predict because it doesn’t require a lot of setup (repositioning the ball or your mallet) before execution. This pass is good for cross-court passing when your teammate is directly across from you or slightly behind (see Diagram 1. below). It doesn’t work so well for passing if your teammate is significantly ahead of you, in that case, a forehand shot style pass would work better.

To practice this drill, think about it as a drop pass (when you hit the ball behind you to a teammate) but with your arm repositioned out to the side, elbow up (like a scarecrow!). Keep a couple things in mind as you practice this: elbow up and out away from your body, the palm of your hand should be facing out, from this position attempt to swing at the ball with the broad side of your mallet head.

You can practice this pass by riding along a wall (on your mallet side) and hitting the ball against the boards as you ride. You can also circle next to the boards (see Diagram 2. below).

If you are anything like me, this new movement is going to feel super awkward and half the time you’ll missed the ball, hit the ground instead of the ball, or just not have very good connection, don’t give up! Stick with it! You’ll know what it’s supposed to feel like when you get it right your first time. It will feel magical and powerful ;) Then keep practicing until you no longer have to think about it. It took me a couple months to make this a solid part of my game.

#passing #ballhandling #individualdrill #basic

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The Gate Drill

This little drill created by Danny over at Prague Bike Polo will help you work on your bike handling skills and while most of the people in this video are attempting endo turns and wheelie turns to get out of the tight space, you could have this drill work for any level of player. For example, more beginner players couple work on balance and backing up with the help of the mallet, intermediate players could practice hopping back and around to get out, etc. Great drill, practice it with your club!

How to practice this drill:

Sprint to the gate

Stop before the board

Get out through the gate

Repeat! Have fun!

#basic #bikehandling #individualdrill #groupdrill

Off-side Ball Control Drill

While you wouldn't want to purposely carry the ball in this awkward way during a game, knowing how to handle the ball on the off-side (non-mallet side) of your bike will get you ready to deal with whatever a game throws you.**

To practice this drill, you want to move the ball to your off-side (non-mallet side) of your bike. Try to ride as straight a line as you can (this makes it harder and helps you build control), dribble the ball forward and backward with small taps on the broadside of your mallet. Repeat!

**Figure 8 Drill here’s another drill that will teach you how to carry the ball on your off-side in a strategic and purposeful way during a game. Learn both of these drills and skills and you’ll be a wizard.

#individualdrill #intermediate #ballhandling #bikehandling

Hop on Flat Pedals

If you want to up your bike handling and aren’t clipped in yet (or maybe never want to be) here’s a little tutorial from John on how to hop on flat pedals. Watch and learn from the master!

Directions from John:

Here's how I do it. I'm sure you'll find some better ways for yourself as you practice.

Turn your bars to get your steering arm as close to the middle of your top tube as possible, and firmly plant your mallet on the ground next to your lead foot (cranks should be parallel with the ground).

Simultaneously pull up on your handlebars and push down on your mallet while jumping straight up on your pedals.

Land and repeat if needed.

If you have pulled up enough on your bars, your feet should never leave your pedals. Your mallet serves as a stabilizer as well as offering some extra jumping force.

This technique is mostly for hopping while in goal, but I'm sure as it becomes more natural to do, it will be easy to stay up against the boards or when trapped with no escape route.

#bikehandling #hopping #individualdrill #intermediate

Back That A$$ Up in Goal Drill

Learning how to back up quickly in goal is really important, especially when a players wrapping around goal looking for that backdoor shot. Being able to hop backwards is faster then using just your mallet to push yourself back, so here is a little drill you should practice to get faster and more effective at backing dat a$$ up in goal!

To practice this drill, you should feel pretty confident clipping out of your pedals as you might need to bail from a hop and want to be able to put your foot down so you don't fall.

Start with your back wheel covering the back end of the goal, your "backdoor." Roll forward quickly to cover the front end of the goal, your "frontdoor." Then, to get back to your original position and cover your backdoor again, give yourself a push backwards with your mallet and hop, the backwards momentum that you create with your mallet will help give your hops some direction. Your feet should be parallel to each other. As you start to hop, think about pulling your feet up and backwards then down (making a circle without pedaling with your feet), pulling your bike with your pedals and feet. Use your butt and hips to also help shift your weight (throw it) in the direction you want to go, backwards.Keep using your mallet to help balance and to push yourself backwards as you hop.

This skill takes some time to perfect, just keep practicing it along with all your other skills and pretty soon, you'll be a pro :)

#individualdrill #hopping #intermediate #bikehandling #defense

Hop Don’t Dab Drill

This is a great bike polo drill for players who are learning or want to improve how to use the hop to stay balanced and keep from dabbing during a game. You should make sure you're already pretty comfortable clipping out of your pedals before trying this drill, you want to be able to clip out quickly if you need to bail from a hop.

To practice this drill, start in a tripod position and then lift your mallet and try to balance in one spot. Use your brakes to help you stay in one place. Then, as you start to feel you're going to fall, hop your bike in the direction you feel you're falling. Repeat. When you start to feel unsteady and start to "fall" hop towards the direction you feel you're going. Try to keep your mallet off the ground as much as you can. In the beginning, you might have to use your mallet a bit, but as you get better, you'll be able to stay upright in place with just hopping!

The more comfortable you get with this skill and build the reaction to the “falling” feeling to be hop, not foot down, the quicker you’ll make this part of your regular polo game :)

#intermediate #individualdrill #bikehandling #hopping

Don’t Get Beat Drill

This is a defensive drill inspired by Nico from San Fransisco who is always quietly yelling at Jenny (in a French accent), not to get beat. This drill is meant to help players learn how to not get beat when an offensive player is bringing the ball across the mid-line. It will teach them how to incorporate getting out of their saddle to get speed, timing and how to use their bike to screen and obstruct the ball carrier.

The goal of the defensive player is to not let the offensive player "beat" them and to control the offensive player's line and front wheel as much as possible and ultimately to create less opportunity for them to shoot and to force them to pass (where hopefully their teammate is waiting to pick the pass).

Nico’s reasons for why play the player and not the ball:

In bike polo taking the ball from someone is hard, messing up their shot/blocking their line on the goal is easier and more effective (most of the time), especially for less experienced players

Playing the player and not getting beat often forces the offensive player to pass the ball or taking a difficult shot, giving your team an opportunity to pick the ball

To practice this drill, start on either side of the mid-line, just like you would at the beginning of a play. The offensive player then tries to bring the ball across the line and past the defensive player to shoot on the goal. The defensive player should keep both hands on their handle bars (don't use your mallet) and try to stay ahead and obstructing the offensive player’s line on the goal. As you get better, you'll improve your timing and your ability to get closer to the offensive player to control their front wheel and line.

Nico’s tips for not getting beat:

keep both hands on your handle bars, this way you can get out of your saddle to get more speed if you need to and you’ll have better bike control

keep your bike pointed towards your own goal, don’t face the oncoming ball carrier, otherwise they will ride right around you and beat you!

If the ball carrier is a faster player then you, keep more space between you so they are less likely to get around you. Just make sure you continue to stay in their “shooting line” so they can’t take a shot

Disclaimer: Abe and Jenny aren't very good at this skill yet, so use the video as inspiration but work to do better then them ;)

#basic #defense #groupdrill #bikehandling #positioning

Against the World Drill

This is great group drill to practice goalie skills, defense and offense. A variation of the Happy Threesome Carousel, but instead of the two players working together against the goalie, this drill pits everyone against everyone! It’s kinda like a knife fight but with one goal and a goalie.

To practice this drill, you'll need three people, one sits in goal and fights to keep all the balls out. The other two players play against each other, trying to steal the ball, defend the goal and try to be the one to score on the goalie. Once someone scores, they roll into goal, and the game starts over again.

#groupdrill #defense #offense #basic

Front Wheel Shot Drill

This is a nice simple and basic shot that everyone should make sure they feel comfortable shooting. Once you master this shot, you'll be able to place the ball on a front door, back door or bottom bracket, and at different speeds!

To practice this drill, ride parallel to the goal with the ball "protected" from the goalie on your mallet side. When you are ready to shoot, push the ball forward and past your front wheel and shoot the ball at the goal and in front of your wheel. Practice this at different speeds and try to aim for different spots on the goal.

#shooting #ballhandling #basic #individualdrill

Stale Bread (Forehand) Shot Drill

Here’s the Forehand version of the Stale Bread Shot. Again, this is a great shot to play around with and is a nice gentle shot that can often confuse a goalie.

Much like the Backhand version of this shot, you’ll want to get some momentum going and wait until you’re close to the goal and then gently tap the ball in front of your wheel. This gentle tap will make the ball arc and roll into the goal. For this shot, you’ll want to stay center or to the right of the goal for it to work.Your speed will impact the way the ball response when you tap it to the side, so play around with riding fast and slow while shooting. See how long you can wait before shooting and still make it in, try shooting and getting the ball to arc into someone's backdoor. :)

P.S. A “backhand” shot usually refers to any shot where the back of your hand faces the direction you are shooting, whereas the “forehand” shot refers to any shot where the palm of your hand faces the direction you are shooting.

#basic #shooting #individialdrill #ballhandling

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