Handicapping
How does handicapping in polo work?
Players can get a handicap if they are a member of the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) and an HPA affiliated club. To move from beginner with chukka only membership to a handicapped player, a HPA rules test must be passed and deemed safe to play by their club.
Handicaps start at -2 and go up to 10. Most players have a handicap of between -2 and +1.
When teams play each other, the sum of all four players' handicaps are combined. If one team has a higher combined handicap (in polo we call this their 'goals', for example a 4-goal team) then the team with less goals is awarded extra goals on the scoreboard before the game begins.
At university, we play under Schools and Universities Polo Association (SUPA) rules. This splits players into five sections; Beginner, Median, Novice, Lower Intermediate, and Upper Intermediate. When playing in SUPA tournaments, players all play off a minimum handicap of 'S' or their HPA handicap.
For more information about handicapping visit:
https://www.supa.org.uk/universities/supa-rules-for-universities/
http://hpa-polo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Handicapping-Explained.pdf