Practicing on a late winter Saturday....1.29.05.  

Is Good Shooting Better Than Good Break Play?

CROQUET COACHING: Is Good Shooting Better than Good Break Play?
29 January 2005
Kihei, Hawaii, USA
by Leo Nikora

Martin Murray: There is little doubt that the current game gives more credit for good shooting than for good break play.
Stephen Mulliner: The accuracy of the statement rises with the standard of the players. At the bottom end of the ranking scale (i.e. below 2000) good shooting is less important and, where beginners are concerned, it is far less important then skill in break-playing.
Dave Kibble: Think about it like this: if you get the innings almost every time there's a chance but break down occasionally, then you'll probably win more games than if you usually don't get the innings but don't break down very often when you do.
David Maugham: At the top level, the state of the lawn makes the difference. Unfortunately a lot of clubs use watering systems, which means that the speed of the lawns tends to be slow and the ground is soft, so hoops have much more give in them, as a consequence it is rare for good players to break down, and the contest relies more on shooting. In the unfortunately rare instances where there is a top level tournament at a venue which doesn't use (or can be persuaded to stop using) a watering system during a spell of hot, dry weather, the ability to play accurate breaks becomes much more important that the ability to shoot straight.
Jonathan Kirby: for good players in easy conditions it is true. If you assume that the innings changes hands either when the outplayer hits a shot or about three quarters of the time when a player breaks down (the other quarter when they break down but don't leave a short shot) then, provided that the players break down less than about twice a game, increasing your hitting percentage is more important than reducing the number of mistakes.

But this is completely ignoring the mental side of the game which affects both things and which Reg is usually so good at, hence my original comment.

Martin Murray: I'm not sure I understand the maths behind that argument. More relevant, I would suggest, is that, in easy conditions, "good players" don't break down on first breaks or triples very often, so the most important factor is the ability to take the two chances to hit in in each game. The fact that Reg and Robert can do sextuples regularly doesn't help them sufficiently to beat people like Trevor Bassett and Mark McInerney who can do triples nine times out of ten.

Reg's relative lack of success in the last two years can largely be ascribed to indifferent shooting, particularly after a long session reading the paper. A contributory factor to this may be the frustration he feels (and shows) at a missed lift shot followed by a triple by his opponent. That's when he gets enthusiastic about Golf Croquet!

Robert says he's not a good shot either, but he (in NZ at least) seems to be able to get his opponents to miss! A rule change forcing the likes of Bassett, McInerney, Garrison, and Trimmer to attempt sextuples would make indifferent shooting insignificant compared to Reg and Robert's superiority at break play.

Revised WCF Golf Croquet Rules Released

WCF Media Release
28th January 2005

Following the recent deliberation of the WCF Golf Croquet Rules Committee, the revision of the WCF Rules of Golf Croquet (2005 Edition) has been completed.

Gordon Smith, Chairman of the Committee commented:-
“This month has seen the completion of the second major revision of the World Croquet Federation's Rules for playing Golf Croquet. An interim version was released in March 2004 reflecting the progress made to that time. The interim version sparked a large amount of often contradictory comment, all of which was considered, as the Committee balanced the two conflicting aims of removing ambiguity and keeping the game and rules simple. Our success will be judged by the enjoyment players have as the game continues to develop. Words of thanks are necessary for Tony Hall, of Australia who very ably chaired the Committee from its start until late last year, Bill Arliss of England, Amir Ramsis of Egypt, Peter Payne of Switzerland and Dave Bent of the United States all of whom contributed to discussion and our conclusions. Thank you for your efforts. Thank you also to earlier members of the Committee who got the process started and to the many people who made large and small contributions to our deliberations. I hope you all feel the results do justice to all the effort made”.

The Rules will apply to all sanctioned WCF Golf Croquet Championships with immediate effect.

The full Rules can be found at:-
http://wcfcroquet.org/Files/WCFRulesofGolfCroquet(2005Edition).doc Microsoft Word Format
http://wcfcroquet.org/Files/WCFRulesofGolfCroquet(2005Edition).pdf PDF Format

Brian Storey
WCF Secretary General

Late Sunday afternoon. 

Sunday Practice

The croquet year begins slowly and quietly in Sonoma County. After the first two weeks of the year were washed away by rainstorms, there finally came a day to practice. After practicing the corner hoop approach to hoop one and the simultaneous load of hoop two, the court's dew recorded the work done.

Ireland Announces WCF Players

22 January 2005
WCF Media Release
By Brian Storey

The Croquet Association of Ireland has nominated three top class players to represent them in the forthcoming Mitsubishi 2005 World
Croquet Championship.

All three play at the Carrickmines Club, Dublin, Ireland and will present a stern test for any opponent.

Mark McInerney, age 21, is the youngest of the McInerney brothers. He started playing at age 8 under the tutelage of his father.
He was taught well, becoming Irish Champion in 2004 with other honours as Irish Doubles Champion 2003, Irish Silver Medal 2001,
2004, Resort Invitational winner 2003, 2004 European Golf Croquet Champion 1999 & 2003. In the last WCF World Championship he won
his block but lost in the 1st round of the knock-out.

Ronan McInerney, age 25, has played croquet since he was 10 years of age. An ever present Irish team member since 1994, 3-times
Irish Singles Champion & winner of many other Irish tournaments.
This year he has already shown top form by being Runner-up in the 2005 New Zealand Open. In the last WCF World Championship he was a quarter finalist.

Simon Williams, age 42, He began playing the game in 1982. Backbone of the Irish International team since 1987, he has is 4-times Irish Singles Champion, Doubles, Silver Medal several times, European Champion 1996, Chattooga Challenge winner 1995, S. of England
champion 2000. He was a Quarter-finalist in the last two WCF World Championships.

Many observers will fancy a quiet bet on one of the Irishmen to pick up the Wimbledon Cup at the end of the tournament.

The Mitsubishi 2005 World Croquet Championship is being held in Cheltenham, England from 6th - 14th August 2005 with matches also being played at Bristol, Edgbaston (Birmingham), and Nailsea.

Current World Croquet Rankings

Current World Croquet Rankings

Good to see Damon Bidencope, who was the first club pro at Meadowood in St. Helena, back in the upper levels of the ranking list after his win at the eights in Florida.

Resort Invitational Announced

The Resort Invitational is a small invitational that boasts the highest concentration of croquet talent of any tournament held in the United States.

Here is the list of players who will be competing in the Resort Invitational June 8-12, 2005 at The Resort at the Mountain in Welches, Oregon. Current world ranking listed before each name.

1. Robert Fulford - England
2. David Maugham - England
3. Reg Bamford - South Africa
5. Mark McInerney - Ireland
6. Bob Jackson - New Zealand
7. Trevor Bassett - Australia
11. Jonathan Kirby - Scotland
12. Toby Garrison - New Zealand
20. Damon Bidencope - USA

The format is double round robin nines no time limit double banked using Sunshiny balls and Australian CC metal clips! The top two finishers in the block and the 3rd and 4th place finishers play best of three for the prizes. As usual send me your predictions for the final finish with delicious jams and preserves from our farm and art from our art stash as the prize. Send to arkleyta@open.

Tremaine Arkley
Tournament Director

Arizona Open Announcement

Stan Patmor has announced the details of the 2005 Arizona Open. This is one of the longest running croquet tournaments in the United States and has seen many memorable champions and games. Last year the tournament was held in Palm Springs because courts were not available in Arizona. This year the tournament apparently returns to Arizona (Phoenix area), although Stan does not specifically mention the venue site in the announcement. Stan's details:

March 8 through March 12 (Tuesday through Saturday)
American rules, singles and doubles, "A" & "B" flights
$185 fee includes nightly Toast & Tallies, Opening reception, Finals lunch and court side beverages
With only 4 courts the entries are limited
TD Rory Kelley ROT Ren Kraft
Your check in my hand gets you into the tournament
Contact: Stan Patmor (602) 955-1547 or patmor@fastq.com

Wayne Wong, our newest Sonoma-Cutrer member, gets a play-by-play from Reuben Edwards during Reuben's pick-up game with Charles-Eric Vilain. Charles-Eric is the president of the Croquet Federation of Belgium and was passing through northern California on a business trip. Wayne Wong is also a member of the Oakland Croquet Club and is just beginning his journey in the world of croquet. Reuben Edwards is the webmaster of the United States Croquet Association croquet magazine http://www.croquetworld.com/home.asp.

Charles-Eric Vilain at hoop five against Reuben Edwards at Sonoma-Cutrer on January 16. For information about croquet in Belgium, or contact information about the Croquet Federation of Belgium please see http://www.tf-u.com/croquetb/info_en.htm