Arena: three a side
Three players, a small walled space and a narrow goal. Marking is tighter, the ball is never far away, and there is nowhere to hide.
The key points
- Three a side means one spare man decides most passages of play.
- The walls remove the sideline, so the ball stays live far longer than on grass.
- The 3 covers the whole arena; the 1 stays high because the goal is narrow.
In the app this play is animated, and you can spin the pitch and read the rule behind it.
See it move
See this play animated on the pitch, and test yourself on the rules behind it.
Every rule here is stated in our own words, with short quoted extracts from the HPA Blue Book 2026 and Green Book 2025 and a link to the book itself. Polo Rules Test is an independent study aid and is not affiliated with the Hurlingham Polo Association. In any dispute the published rulebook governs.