The neck shot is probably the easiest shot to learn on a wooden horse or when going slowly on a pony, but at speed it becomes the most difficult to perform accurately. This is because it has to be struck across the front of the pony’s moving legs and you have to hit very early, to avoid striking them. Hence players often miss the goal or give a bad pass, because they do not swing precisely and slowly with a neck shot.

With the open backhand, you must avoid hitting the head of the pony, while striking the ball very early in order to complete the correct circle. Failure to apply the required circle can result in a straight backhand, which gives the ball to the opposition, because an opponent should be able to meet the ball and gain possession.