i didnt knew they played in germany !
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polo? not really.
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Why are we making “shuffle goals not counting” or even any aspect of the rules themselves responsible for new people not wanting to start playing polo?
People want a friendly, exciting and supporting group activity to do in their free time and somewhere that is logistically reachable for them.
People care about having had a good time and having felt supported and welcome when they try polo or when they are a newbie.
They don’t care if the ball they pushed into the goal is counted as goal or not since that, along with many many other skills, is something that comes with practise and people know that.
Let’s not blame shuffle goals for something that deserves our proper consideration and that’s making our sport a friendly space where newcomers are paid attention to.
That said, now speaking of the shuffle itself, I wouldnt change it. I think it would just benefit this scoop up - shuffle hit in the air - goal and not actually traditional goals significantly.
It takes what? A month or even less time for a newbie to learn to use the hit.
If they didn’t stick around for that time it is not because of the goal / no goal rule, it’s because of the above mentioned issues.
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I disagree on that, therefor there are to many people in polo who can’t hit a ball straight after 5 years of playing polo 
And I don’t blame the rule to be the absolute killer for any newbies. I just say that it would make things easier …
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I’ve playing for over ten years and I still can’t hit the ball straight. In fact, I can barely hit the ball at all!
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I also feel that we sould revise this rule. Here are some reasons for you.
- We have many tie games, weakening the shuffle law will permit more goals awarded, thus reducing the frequency of ties. Every sport has laws that mitigate the easy of scoring. I.e. in basketball, many years of play had to happen before they settled on a standard hoops size, hight, backboard size, etc. All of these factors were used to balance the sport.
- Arbitration of shuffle goals is really tough. Steps need to be taken to make reffing more streamlined and approachable.
Proposition
Revise the definition of a shot to permit any elastic collision with mallet Head. Take baby steps to balance the sport. Maybe later we permit the shaft, but not until the addended law settles a bit.
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To mitigate the issue of newbies, we don’t even explain this rule in Bordeaux. When at last they score their first goal (always a shuffle), we explain the rule and award a goal stating the first one is free!
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anyone stoped playing polo after you told them the shuffle rule ? or does it make sense to them ?
if we allow shuffle , do we cap mallet designs too or do we allow a complete re designing?
If a discussion comes back every year, it might be worth developing the considerations further, no? I mean it is important the check their relevance from time to time and be open for changes. The problem here is from my point of view, that we dont have a procedure how to adapt rules (Alejandro confirmed this at Ref Camp Bordeaux), which makes the ‘swallows come back every spring’.
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I think the requirement to shoot with the end of the mallet provides a small but easily achievable skill barrier that keeps the game from looking like a mess. With shuffle goals allowed I think you might have players just flailing to make contact with the ball in the crease, hoping for a lucky bounce into net.
Our club has always allowed shuffle goals for beginners, until they get their first goal. Same goes for dabs. As a beginner you can put your foot down as much as you want til you make your first goal.
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We once played a game amongst reasonably good players where the last goal had to be a shuffle and it was insanely hard to get it done. If the defence of the defensive team is good, it is not an easy task getting in a position, where a shuffle goal is mich easier than a regular shot.
Based on this experience, I am not worried that allowing the shuffle will break the game or make it look like a mess for mid-to-high-level games. If you get in a position where you can easily shuffle the ball in, you definitely deserve the goal!
And for lower level games, I don’t think the game looking messy should be a worry here, but making it more satisfying for newer players will simply benefit them
Legalise shuffles! Try it in you pickups, lets try it at some tournaments and then lets try it at euros and worlds ;)
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So! Who would like to attempt some technical writing to redefine what a “shot” is in the rule set so that shuffles become permissable?
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I don’t have a problem with allowing someone to score by striking the ball with the broadside if they are swinging at the ball. I don’t want to see people stabbing for the ball to score.
The question is how one might define a shot as a swing but exclude all stabs. Maybe a pendulous mallet motion? To allow deflections from a static mallet you could just keep them face only/
i agree on the statement that we dont have a procedure for rule input.
we could do it through poloverse tho with a regional poll and if people were voting in a organized way
i also agree that changing rules in bike polo is good since its such a new discipline , im just not a big fan of the shuffle move and find it easy to ref. i literally dont see any issue with that rule
for exemple its way harder to ref shoulder contact , and for some reason we still have a whole paragraph about it , and how steering arm infraction sometimes is made a “god move” to actually contact people in the ribs… these are way more urgent rules changes , to keep the game clean and clear for everyone , mosr clubs are still confused.
no one is confused about the shuffle rule.
now lets say we vote yes to shuffle , whats is next ?
1/ do we allow changes in mallet designs ? if yes they will change a lot imo to take advantage of the new rule.
2/do we count everything ? i feel like its not only shuffle , but shafts too is often brought up. it would make sense to allow shaft for sure but i can see 2 particular situations that might be an issue:
a/ i scoop pass the ball to a team mate directly into the crease and he taps it shuffle side into the goal. that play might become so efficient at high level it might be very disruptive, the fact that we have this weird rule about the way to tap the ball in force the teams to build that opportunity , wich is very hard timing and precision.
b/ sometimes a goal is canceled when a player smart shot in a motion that the open side of the mallet will act more like a ball joint or a scoop , thats traditionally a no goal ( no elastic collision , scooping effect the ball is lifted ) , so there will still be this case to watch out for. or do we legalize everything ?
and finally my last question to the pro shufflers , is it really that hard to not shuffle for beginners ? when is the last time you saw a ref shuffle call upset the outcome of a game ?
to me its the least of my concern to make the game “better” , but i say all this respectfully and not trying to deny anyones feelings , i actually never played a tournament where shuffles are allowed. i just recently played all my newbie pick up trying to shuffle tho and one thing i noticed is that taping the ball in the air is way more easily achievable and its pretty accurate !
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That’s why the easy way would be to accept any goal if the mallet head, the shaft or any bike part “hit” the ball (= everything we use but the body) Simple. Whatever happens before : if there’s a hit, there’s a goal.
Also, we saw the french championships of vélo polo (the origin of our sport) some weeks ago and they count any goal. You just have to hit it. (They do weird stuff too)
Polo vélo is so ahead of us. They already are an official UCI sport and they are doing even quicker than Hardcourt BP
sarcasm doesnt translate well
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super easy to legalize carrying in basket ball , why they keep it ?
