Well good morning gang, and this is a welcome from the King's Polo club in
Egypt where I work. And I've just changed settings so that you can see a little
bit of it. And I'm in the courtyard. It's a work in
progress at the moment. A bit of a construction site, but you can see the
stables behind us you, can see the palm trees that have just been planted, and
this place very soon is going to actually look completely stunning.
There's the courtyard between these two blocks of stables and they're two more
blocks behind that we've got nearly a hundred horses here so really a lovely
place to be, and an interesting place to work in. But what I wanted to really
touch on today is the subject that is very near and dear to my heart of how
one treats your fellow players on the field. Because to be honest I hear so
often this game is a game of adrenaline okay and and this you keep your emotions
under control you often do things on the field that
are that they'd leave a very bad taste in your mouth you know. The best player
in the world back when I was playing Juan Carlitos Harriet always said to me this
game is played with hot blood and a cold head, and that is such great advice
because to be honest you know I see the high goal players yelling at their
teammates when they make mistakes and, I got back to a story of myself
when I first started and I went to Argentina and remember I really wanted
to do this. I'd gone and worked for a year underground in a gold mine to make
enough money to afford to go to Argentina, and try and start this amazing
journey. So it wasn't that I wasn't trying but back then in Polo in South Africa
was very simplistic. We knew nothing about playing anti-clockwise and
because of that my tail shots were terrible and my neck shots were bad, and
I went on to play, and in a game, in a club called Coronel Suárez, and I
couldn't hit the neck shots. I was yelled at by a player on the field
for the whole game to a point that I came off actually absolutely in tears
and I was so demoralized, and wondered if I'd made the right decision
to actually come to Argentina and if I could do this thing. Luckily I actually
stuck to it and and we we eventually got there but the point is this that having
had that done to me I've done exactly the same to other players on the field
when I got good and I can remember a case with family friends of ours and
their son playing with me and I was playing like a fool. And getting
frustrated and I really took it out on him and started yelling and screaming
and behaving in a totally inappropriate way. The problem is
you then come off the field and you feel like an idiot you know, this kid is a
friend of yours and and he's a protege, and now you've gotta try and justify to
him you know sorry mate you know I was just a bit up you know uptight and this
and that, there's no excuse for that... get yourself under control okay. And the
big thing for me is if you are that higher goal player, suss out two things:
Is the player just being lazy and not doing what you've told them to do? Or is
he unable to do what you're asking him to do? Because if he's unable to do what
you're asking to do all the yelling in the world is not going to help him, but
guys for you out there that are part of teams and things, just remember also that
this is a team game and you've got to be doing your part. And if you're being a
little bit slack and lazy out there and your man marking is not good, and
you are actually not paying attention to a game plan I have no problem with the
captain of the team getting a bit strong with you and jacking you up and getting
you to do what you should be doing on the field, and you've got to toughen up a
little bit also and be honest with yourself about the fact of that maybe
you're not doing your part for the team. And in that case I have no problem
with being a little bit strong, but don't yell
and scream it doesn't help, okay? And I find these days when I'm playing with
teams that guys really love playing with me because I'm looking for the best in
them. I always see people as they can be not as they are at that point and I love
to help people on that field to get better and I find that that approach
really pays dividends. So really just have a think about it if you're the
player being shouted at, and I would love to hear from you guys,
out there if you've had similar experiences and please tell me about them, these are
things that help everybody and what your feelings are about this. So would love to hear
from you and I've obviously expanded as much as I want to on the subject but be
great to get your feedback as well. So see you in the next lesson...