The beginning of the official polo season in Argentina has brought about some changes in the national polo handicap scale by the Argentina Polo Association (AAP, for its acronym in Spanish). Before we go deeper into these changes, let’s see first the importance of a polo handicap.
A handicap is a comparative rating showing the playing skills of a polo player. Each player is awarded an individual handicap depending on their performance, with 10 being the highest value. The handicap of a polo player is based on the number of goals they are worth in their team. Some aspects considered for the calculation include horsemanship, individual and team playing skills, technique, tournaments, goals and the quality of horses.
The handicap scale in Argentina used to range from 0 to 10. As a result of the changes implemented by the AAP, the minimum handicap is now -2 and thus matching the scaled used for instance in the United States. Argentina is the world leader in polo. Currently 8 of the top 10 polo players rated 10-goals come from this country.
These changes in the handicap scales ensures greater access to polo, giving more people the chance to join this amazing sport and form a team.
