ON THE CROQUET LAWNS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 249, 20 October 1937, Page 4

ON THE CROQUET LAWNS

(By

“Penultimate.”)

Nearly all the croquet clubs in Wanganui have had their official openings, and the speechifying and tea-drinking having given place to yankees, weekly doubles and Cuthbertson Cup matches, tiie season may be said to be fairly under way.

It should be the ambition of every player to have his or her bisques lowered during the current season, and in the writer’s opinion, systematic study of the game, and planned practice is necessary to achieve this Jesuit.

What is meant by planned practice? If you are weak on the long shot, and unfortunately, a good propoi lion of us are not too strong in this essential of a good game, then a daily practice of even ten minutes will mane a wonderful difference. Commence with, say, a distance of ten feet, and practice that until you feel confident of hitting whenever this shot crops up in the course of a game. Advance the object ball then to tne first hoop and hit from the south boundary, a distance of twenty-one feet; provided the ten feet distance practice has been well and faithfully done, the player will be amazed to find how much improvement has taken place. In playing this practice shot great care should be taken to make certain that the correct stance is adopted, and many players would find it beneficial to ask themselves if they cannot improve on their swing. There is, of course, no universal “correct” swing of the mallet, but in general terms, the more work that is done by the mallet, the more likelihood there is of hitting the object ball.

The body should be held as erect as possible, and the arm and wrist made to do the work. Many players do not swing the mallet back far enough for fear of losing the direction of the resulting forward swing, but we would suggest to those that an attempt should be made to gradually lengthen the swing back, until the maximum value is obtained from the weight of the mallet. The arm and wrist should be free and flexible and, as previously suggested, the body should be fairly taut. On no account should the knees he bent when making the swing through. This swinging practice should be carried out in conjunction with the foregoing suggested croquet shot practice. It is interesting to note that Mr. Cyril Millar of Melbourne (a mius live player), and one of the greatest exponents of croquet in the British Empire, uses the side stroke, and swings his mallet a long way back and a long way forward in the croquet shot. In this connection the play of Mrs. Brass, of the Wanganui Club, is worth special mention. Mrs. Brass makes full use of her mallet, and the seemingly effortless manner in which she can send a ball from one end of the court to the other, by taking advantage of a long swing, is delightful to watch.

Another point that will amply repay attention is concentration on the striker’s ball b?fore hitting. How many hundreds of shots are wasted every season by the player looking up

before the shot is completed? And how many balls fail to go through the hoops for the same reason. No shot should ever be hurried, and if the B player who is ambitious to get into class A, and the plus player ■ who would like to be minus, will only develop a routine of gazing at the spot where the mallet is to make contact with the ball for a couple of seconds before drawing back their mallet, and concentrate on the thought that the mallet must hit that particular spot, a better game will result.

Mrs. C. Watkins, of Hastings, one of the foremost Dominion players always makes a very deliberate pause before playing a shot, and amongst local players, so far as this particular matter is concerned, the style of Mr. F. Harrison, of the Gonville Club, will repay attention. The new player, particularly, is anxious to see if a hit has been made, and fails to keep an eye on the ball, looking up before the shot is completed, with the resulting miss, and many players who get disheartened at not being able to pick up the long shot and feel that they are not making much progress in the game, would be well advised to give more thought to the straight back swing, and the deliberate pause before the hit is made. After ail, the balls are less than four inches across, and the lawn is 105 feet long, so that it requires only a small fraction of deviation from the dead centre to make a miss in a long shot. The writer would be pleased to hear from any player who has any difficulty in this or any other shot, or from anyone who has improved their play by practicing the swing and concentration on the ball. Every twelve bisquer is a potential minus player, and only intelligent understanding and practice stands between them and a Dominion championship.

The Wanganui Club had its opening last Thursday, but only Mrs. Brass and Mr. Jarvie braved the southerly buster to complete a game. Many new members are joining this season, which promises to be the most successful in the club’s long history, and the question being eagerly canvassed is “can the Wanganui Club or the Wanganui Association produce any Dominion champions this year?” Mrs. W. F. Jarvie won the New Zealand open championship in 1930, and is quite capable of winning it again; but since then the Wanganui clubs have taken a back seat in the matter of championships. The big events this year will be fought on our own grounds. The Wanganui Association in proportion to its size, has a fairly large number of low bisqued players, and it will be intensely interesting to watch how they fare at the hands of the Dominion champions who will be here to defend their titles, and to try and gain some new ones. No time should be lost in getting practice gaf.ies commenced, and those who are to play in doubles should get together and work out a routine of strategy and tactics, and arrive at some mutual understanding as to the general principles to be followed.