Did you get roped into playing a croquet tourney with your new girlfriend’s family? Maybe you have to attend a backyard croquet party that your boss is throwing. Don’t sweat it. Here are 15 tips to make sure you dominate that casual backyard game of double-diamond cutthroat croquet (six players, one ball each).
1. Choose the mallet with the heaviest head and the longest shaft. Adult-sized mallet shafts are roughly 36 inches, so you are looking for something in that range, keeping in mind that most of the commercial sets sold are basically equipped with children’s mallets.
2. Due to the long grass, the harder you hit it — the straighter it goes. Hence, the heavy mallet.
3. Avoid toy croquet sets if you can, but the odds are against you. Walmart and Target move a ton of those $30 sets. However, if you happen to be planning the event, good starter sets are between $300 and $500. Oakley Woods and Jaques London offer quality croquet sets.
4. Swing between the legs. It’s simple physics and this isn’t the game Tiger Woods plays.
Exception: On long grass, you can swing Tiger Woods (golf) style if you’ve got to cover a lot of distance, accuracy isn’t important and you feel that the lawn is dreadfully slow.
5. Use a grip that feels natural to you. Hit a few balls around before the game starts just to see what feels right. You can see the standard grips here. If you do end up with a kid’s mallet (32” shaft or smaller), a lot of long grass players go for a really low grip.
6. When you are ready to shoot, the ball should be just in front of your chin (or under your nose). Feet should be parallel with your target line and just a little over one foot apart. These are guidelines — make sure you feel comfortable.
7. KEY TIP: This is a common pitfall for beginners. When setting up your next shot to score a wicket, aim two or more feet from the target wicket (on the shooting side). Novices frequently aim for an area about three inches in front of the wicket. That takes a touch reserved for the pros and most often results in landing on the wrong side of the wicket or leaving a shot with an impossible angle since you looking to land exactly on a what is about a 4" target. The target zone is much more forgiving at two to three feet. Remember, you can score a wicket from 5 feet, 10 feet and beyond, but you cannot score it from the wrong side or a ludicrous angle.
8. The game is about running several wickets in one turn; therefore, the game is about bonus shots. You get one for scoring a wicket and two for hitting a live ball (a roquet). You decide which is more valuable. It breaks down like this -- set up an opponent ball to be picked up after your target wicket. Score the wicket, hit the opponent ball, repeat.
9. In case you nodded off during step eight, every time you take the court, you are scanning for opponent balls to play off. Two bonus shots are better than one. Take the sure wicket if you can, but the idea is to score several wickets. People love croquet’s famous defensive foot on the ball shot, but winning in croquet is about offense.
10. KEY TIP: I know you are dying to send your buddy into the bushes with the famous croquet foot shot. This makes experienced croquet players cringe. There is a time and place for that, but you don’t know that time, yet. In most cases, think of that scenario as the equivalent of punting on first down after an interception. Actually, more like punting after you get an interception on your opponent's 30-yard line. Instead, use your two shots and score your wicket. Better yet, try to split your shot so the opponent ball goes near your target wicket and your ball lands in position to score the wicket. Score it, hit the same opponent again. Then, get those two bonus shots and score the next wicket (like we mentioned in Step 8).
11. Never end your turn by leaving your ball near an opponent's ball. Never give the opponents a ball to play off of. If you shoot at a ball to get bonus strokes, shoot hard. This way you will not leave your ball nearby in case of a miss — one of the cardinal sins of the sport. In fact, shoot hard enough to send your ball to the boundary. The boundary is quite often your best defense.
12. Carefully think about ending your turn set up in front of your target wicket. Very carefully. Is another player going on a run? If so, you’re just helping them score at your wicket and they will certainly leave you on the wrong side of your wicket at a minimum. Remember, in the cutthroat game with six players and six balls, five more players will shoot before you have your next turn, so think very carefully about setting up on the court.
13. Stalk your ball. Most top players approach the shot from at least six feet from behind the ball to get a proper line of site. This means envisioning a straight line through your ball all the way to your target. Focus on that target once you have your line during the preshot routine. Once you do put your head down to hit the ball, keep your head down and see your mallet hit the ball.
14. Follow though. Swing through the ball and let your mallet head continue through its arc until off the ground one foot or more. Your mallet head should be pointing exactly where you were aiming after the shot.
15. Be a gracious winner. Five people now want to strangle you.
Next month: We’ll talk about the rush shot — a key shot for all forms of croquet including the backyard game. If you are a backyard player and you’ve mastered the concepts above, it might be time to try partner ball croquet. Golf croquet is the quickest way to get exposed to that principle and can be learned in less than five minutes. The USCA site has a great overview on golf croquet to get you started.