Dunking Tips

• Practice bending as low as possible down the side of the pony. Advanced riders should be able to put their hands inside the bucket at a canter while dunking.

• Practice leaning off your pony and having him move in a straight line towards a bucket or cone first at a walk and then a trot.

• Lean down for the dunk early. Don’t wait until the last moment. This allows the rider to prepare for the dunk early and also allows the pony to adjust his balance before the rider needs to dunk.

• Practice dunking different items such as tennis balls, socks, fruits and vegetables, etc. Each item bounces differently and should be handled carefully.

• For dunking drills, use smaller and smaller buckets for dunking items. This will improve a rider’s dunking accuracy.

• Bounce every item either off the inside front of the bucket using a technique where the ball rolls off the fingertips with palms up OR bounce the ball off the back of the bucket with the palms down. By bouncing the item off the bucket front or back, the item will tend to stay in the bucket and not bounce out. If you toss the item in the bucket from up too high or bounce the item on the bottom of the bucket, it is very likely that the item will bounce out.

• When playing a game with a double dunk (the last rider dunks an item on the way down and also on the way back), make sure the rider who dunks the best is the last rider.