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.
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.
posted by firstchum at 7:15 PM
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