Hardcourt Bike Polo. - General

This is the the logo for my city, it's in illinois. Hence the lincoln hat, and IL state shape. [img]http://gyazo.com/5a8dd8817bd95e3db1acc04b2adbe685.png[/img] So a few months ago my uncle (who's heavy into mountian biking and whatnot) invited me to some thing called bike polo. I had no clue what it was. he had made me a legit bike with crazy european tires and whatnot, so I decided to stop by and watch and see if I might play. When I got there I saw this. [img]http://okcbikepolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/okc-bike-polo.jpg[/img] A bunch people playing this weird sport. Some even had pimped out wheel covers. I drove home, grabbed my bike and my fingerless gloves and gave a whirl. After I got my first goal I was hooked. Bike polo is kind of like street hockey. You pay with a street hockey ball, and you make mallets out whatever you want. Broom handle, ski pole, golf club. My two mallets are made from a golf club, and a cane. The cane is good for guarding the goal. You can lean on it and whatnot. [img]http://gyazo.com/88060c7b801f2e9b8f4294d1bb4ac81b.png[/img] some bike polo action [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSmor1IHCvk[/media] How to make a mallet. I'm amazing how well this spread, I've not read anything on bike polo until tonight, but this guys information is exactly the same as what gets spread around here by word of mouth.[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvXMtEI0KBw&feature=related[/media] Here's the rules we play by here. [quote]North American Hardcourt Bike Polo. Rules will vary by club. 7 - Start of a game: 7.1 - Each team will begin behind his/her own goal line. 7.2 - The ball will be positioned at center court. 7.3 - Play will begin with a "3 - 2 - 1 - Go" from the sideline. 8 - Scoring a goal must be made with what started as a "shot" 8.1 - a "shot" is defined as a ball that is struck with the end of the players mallet. wrist shots, or scoop shots are not considered a "shot" 8.2 - "Ball dragging" is allowed, however the ball must be passed before a goal can be scored. 8.2 - a "shuffle" is defined as a ball that is striked with the side of the mallet. 8.3 - a ball that is "shuffled" into the goal does not count as a goal. 8.4 - if a ball is "shuffled" into the goal the defending team will get possession of the ball. 8.5 - if a player scores on his own goal in any fashion (shot or shuffle) it will count as a goal for the opposition. 8.6 - If the ball becomes lodged against a player, bicycle, or spokes in such a way that it cannot be dropped immediately, the play will be stopped. The ball will be placed on the ground. The person it was lodged on will get possession, and play will resume. 9 - After a goal is scored: 9.1 - The team that scored returns to their half of the court. 9.2 - The team that was scored upon gets possession of the ball. 9.3 - Play will not resume until both teams have returned to their half of court. 9.4 - The defending team may not attack until the ball or an offensive player has crossed half court. 10 - Players must not touch the ground, or "Dab" 10.1 - A "dab" is if the player puts his foot on any horizontal surface. (the ground, his mallethead, a bike, the ball, another player.) 10.2 - The ball cannot be played with the feet, kicking the ball will be counted as a "dab" 10.3 - Each time a player "dabs" That player is out of play, and may not interfere with the ball or other players until they "tap in" 10.4 - If a dabbed player stops a shot from going into the net at the ref's discretion it may be ruled a goal. This means if there is no doubt in the ref's mind that the ball would have went in, it will be ruled a goal. If the ref is not sure if it would have went in or not, it will not be ruled a goal. 10.5 - The "Tap in" area will be at center along either side of the court. 10.6 - If a player crashes or falls off his bike the play will continue unless the referee is of the opinion that the player is injured. 11 - Games are played to five points 11.1 - If there are time constraints games may be timed. In this case the game will stop at a set time, or five points whichever comes first. 11.2 - The minimum time for a timed game will be 12 minutes. 11.3 - In a timed game the clock will stop when there is a goal and restart when play resumes. (to prevent a team from running down the clock to maintain a lead) 11.4 - In a timed game if the game is tied at the end of the time, the ball will be reset (as in Rule 7) and the game will become sudden death (first goal wins) Contact Rules 12 - Body contact is allowed. 12.1 - holding (with hands, elbows, or mallets) is not allowed 12.2 - Pushing with the hands is not allowed. 12.3 - Mallet to mallet contact is allowed. (however it is poor etiquite to hit another players mallet if he is not playing the ball or in front of the goal.) 12.4 - Mallet to body contact is not allowed. 12.5 - Mallet to bike contact is not allowed. 12.6 - Body to bike contact is not allowed. 12.7 - Bike to bike contact is not allowed. (incidental contact/blocking is fine. deliberate hitting or T-boning is not) 12.8 - Intent to injure another player is not allowed. 13 - Throwing of mallets is not allowed at any time, in any situation. 13.1 - If a thrown mallet stops a ball from going through the goal the referee may use his discretion to call the play a goal. (see 10.3) 14 - Kicking is not allowed. 15 - Trash talking is allowed. Trash on the courts is not allowed[/quote] Sometimes we get people who wanna come by and watch. Tonight we had fire jugglers and unicyclers stop by. This thread is lacking on content, but it's been a long night, and I even suffered an injury today and I'm typing all this with one hand. I'll spice it up later with more content. [QUOTE=MedicWine;25580942]Guys. I have an inured finger and cannot play minecraft. want a picture? [editline]23rd October 2010[/editline] [img_thumb]http://gyazo.com/5b15bd9bba42a8b71af08938ac4ae82b.png[/img_thumb] It's hard to photograph with my cell phone, but you can see the bone. I got it caught in a bike gear. All the blood isnt from the incident. That blood occured from the time it took to remove it from the water and click the button on my phone. but this isnt blogpunch.[/QUOTE] Oh and sidenote: Hardcourt means you play on a hard court, not grass. It's not a play on words or anything.

I could never do this, I'd just find myself bludgeoning my opponents to death and sticking the stick in the spokes.

Great, now do this with a bunch of GSXR1300s and sledgehammers

[QUOTE=Tyler_Durden;25581710]I could never do this, I'd just find myself bludgeoning my opponents to death and sticking the stick in the spokes.[/QUOTE] That's why we have wheel covers :c00lbert:

From the images though I noticed some people do not.

[QUOTE=Tyler_Durden;25581737]From the images though I noticed some people do not.[/QUOTE] Yea. some people just scrape together what they can and play. The better players that play in competitions and stuff mostly do. There's a guy I play with who has velcro so he can take his off. Mine is just posterboard and zip ties.

That gear injury looks like it hurt a fuckton Looks like a fun sport though.

I'm gunna go to bed now, I'll fix up the thread sometime soon.

I look forward to it, this is a fantastic sport.

I saw this somewhere and at first I thought it was cool but now it's kinda just meh. It seems, and don't flame me, like a lot of it's for attention. There's no way that it's THAT fun.

Real men use motorcycles and sledgehammers.

Bike polo is a hipster sport.

[QUOTE=spacedooky;25582580]Bike polo is a hipster sport.[/QUOTE] I got that feeling when I watched the videos, however, I find it to be similar to murderball, just with bikes and polo, instead of armored wheelchair basketball.

Informative.

Not sure if ya got my thread a little while back but anyways. Great sport anyone looking for a fun sport should go out and try it. I'll upload some pics. A few games from my town. [img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs172.snc4/37948_479810476158_593541158_6925879_1830873_n.jpg[/img] [img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs392.ash2/67037_479812436158_593541158_6925927_7776308_n.jpg[/img] [img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs770.snc4/67037_479812441158_593541158_6925928_2790428_n.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=Kai-ryuu;25581714]Great, now do this with a bunch of GSXR1300s and sledgehammers[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/mabravan/Picardshame.gif[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Pred4tor;25581848]I saw this somewhere and at first I thought it was cool but now it's kinda just meh. It seems, and don't flame me, like a lot of it's for attention. There's no way that it's THAT fun.[/QUOTE] I would say football, or basketball is done for attention. [QUOTE=spacedooky;25582580]Bike polo is a hipster sport.[/QUOTE] Yea, I didn't think I'd get into it because all they guys looked like complete hipsters, but hipsters can be nice people too. I try not to be intolerant of others for no reason.

Seems like a sport for people who can't afford a horse.

This looks like something I would actually watch (only other sport I seem to enjoy is hockey), but would be horrible at playing.

Looks pretty fun

I like the idea of his sport, but it seems you could get hurt very easily.

[QUOTE=dengeL;25590424]I like the idea of his sport, but it seems you could get hurt very easily.[/QUOTE] I was scared as hell my first day, but aside from my finger, which happened in my house while I was doing something simple, refilling the air in my tires, I've never gotten hurt, and I haven't seen any injuries. We dont go very fast. The courts are small.

Do you live in Springfield, if you do I'm joining you.

I'm making a mallet as we speak, although my electric drill is dead so alas, I cannot drill the required holes. Saw the exact same video in the op a few days ago.

wow this is one middle-class sport