Hardcourt Bike Polo aka Hardcourt, Urban Polo, Bici Polo, Velo Polo or simply Bike Polo is a fast-paced, gender-inclusive team sport played on a hard, smooth, enclosed court with rounded or angled corners. Three players per team ride bicycles and use mallets to hit a small plastic ball into the opposing team's goal while avoiding physical contact with the ground.
From its emergence in the s, the sport benefited greatly from in the s' bike boom seeing the formation of international clubs [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] and the growth of a strong tournament culture. Typically, the game is played in teams of 3 in an enclosed rectangle with rounded or angled corners, called a "court. At the beginning of the game, the ball is placed in the middle of the court while the players wait behind their own goals, bikes touching the back wall.
Following a countdown or a whistle, a player from each team charges the ball in what is termed the " joust.
A player may hit the ball in two ways: a " shot " or a " shuffle. After scoring, the scoring team must return to their own half. The opposing team has ten seconds to advance the ball past half-court in order to resume play.
A player who " dabs " touches a horizontal surface, i. This usually involves " tapping out ," riding to a designated middle point on the court's walls, and touching it with the mallet. You should avoid affecting the play of the game at all costs after a foot down occurs. In a tournament setting, the game continues until a team reaches either a predetermined number of goals 5 is common or a length of time, depending on the style of play, usually around 10—15 minutes in 3v3.
