Croquet Professional's Blog

Answer to Lift Problem

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 02:41:00 +0800

Here is what Jerry actually did in his match, and in his own words!!

First the furniture was not close enough to be in the way. Lift Yellow about one foot from Blue, roll Blue to rover getting rush on Red to penultimate. Make penultimate with Yellow, getting rush towards Black. Hit Black and roll to peg, going to Blue at rover. Make rover off of Blue, then send Blue wide of 2-back going to Black. Peg-out Black and retire to Yellow. Fairly decent trap if Blue shoots at Red or Yellow.

Thanks again to Jerry for his insight!

Lift Problem

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:34:00 +0800

Semi finals doubles, 2008 US National Association Championships.

Time left is just over an hour. What would you do?

This question posted by Jerry Stark.....

Wrong Ball First Turn: Answer

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:12:00 +0800

The normal answer is to place your ball in corner 3 (or 1). The witty response is for opponent to place a ball in corner 1 (or 3), forcing you to play a difficult cross-diagonal roll to dig both balls out or give them the innings. An alternate continuation on a difficult court is to approach hoop 1 from corner 1 directly and hope to use the ball in C3 as hoop 3 pioneer.

Some better options are:

West end of B Baulk (or east end of A Baulk)
Just outside corner 3 so that the ball can be rushed west. This can be cheekily done in a manner to suggest the ball is actually in corner 3
Just outside corner 1; this can be effective against top players if they make a couple of hoops (auto-pop) but there is the danger they will go round

Again our thanks to Chris Patmore for supplying a great question and answer!

Wrong Ball: 2nd Turn?

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:37:00 +0800

Blue has predictably been placed in C1 (C3 would have been the other alternative)

What should Red now do?

Wrong Ball Played in First Turn!

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 08:47:00 +0800

The court is flat and reasonably quick (12 Plummers).

You now have to place a correct ball in balk. What do you do?

Our thanks to Chris Patmore for this question!

How to continue: Answer

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 08:40:00 +0800

The answer submitted by Samir Patel was excellent, and in particular (c) was our answer of choice. This is where Red croquets Yellow to corner IV (or I) and sets a leave there, with Blue and Black as shown.

Use of a full roll would also give you a chance of wiring Red and Yellow from Blue, which is shown here

How to continue?

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 04:57:00 +0800

Red has just roqueted Yellow

Red is for #2 and Yellow for 4-back

Blue and Black clips are not relevant

What play would you now do?

An Alternative to the Reverse Cannon

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 03:14:00 +0800

Very often when the reverse cannon is played, the newly rushed ball fails to gain good position. This can put a lot of pressure on the following stop shot.

An interesting alternative is to play a little roll cannon, making sure that the back ball does not run into the forward one! From here it is easy to roquet to your preferred position for the stop shot.

An added advantage occurs if you initially created the cannon with your partner ball, as it can be sent to the trap line.

Black Hits the Tice Ball: One Answer of Many

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:02:00 +0800

This situation occurs all the time, and so we all need to be aware of the many alternatives available. The biggest thing is to go out and try these for yourself to see which suits you. Remember that a World Class player will no doubt tackle things a lot differently! You could:

try to make hoop 1?
roll both balls to the west border level with hoop 6 and set your self a rush on the opponent's ball to your east border ball?
send the opponent ball to about 5 yards SW of hoop 2 and set your partner a rush to it?
hit the opponent ball out of court about a yard north of your partner ball while running your striker's ball 3-4 yards past the peg?

The standard method for State Level and higher players would be to play a slightly thick take off moving opponent to the maximum distance spot and about 2 yards in lawn on the Western side and then leave a good rush to just south of this ball for partner at the max distance spot on the East boundary....This ensures:

A higher likelihood of leaving a good rush and not a double
The ability to croquet partner to 2 from closer, moving the strikers ball less than 2 yards
If you succeed, you will leave your oppo with a 19 yard shot

The animated example (NOT a definitive answer!) shows a pass roll where the opponent ball is left several yards from the peg and the striker ball ends up near partner. A rush can be then left which does not leave a double target.

If the pass roll leaves the striker a long way from partner, then the setting of a rush could be problematic. In this case it may well be better to hit out quite close to partner. A true double target may well not be left for yellow due to hoop #3 being in the way, and a miss by Yellow will leave many great options for Blue and Black.

Black hits the tice ball

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 10:00:00 +0800

The Standard Opening has been employed, and Black has hit the tice ball.

There are many options now available, but what do you think is the best line of play to adopt?

Remember, to submit an answer click on the "comment" link at the bottom left of this image!

Question #2 Answer

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:19:00 +0800

Even the very best players in the World successfully roquet at 15 yards less than 50% of the time. How much less the rest of we mortals - especially if the price for missing will be high?!

Therefore, the shots on offer here are NOT as easy as they seem. If you think that (in this example) the chance of an immediate break is less than 50% for you, then probably the best thing to do is to take the shot at Black with Red. If you miss then the pressure is still high for Black, as he knows that Yellow will next go to the A Baulk where partner lies.

If Red hits then there is a great leave here as illustrated, with Red located in a wired position from Black at Yellow's wicket!

An Unusual Opening (US Rules)

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 11:14:00 +0800

I will put the horse before the cart with this posting just because I don't believe anyone who wasn't at the 07 US Rules National Championships has ever seen it. I call this the "Davies" opening, and I personally have never seen it played before. I must say that throughout the evolution of this opening, as Wayne would bounce idea's off me, I was very skeptical to say the least. Well, the proof of the pudding came when Wayne used it at the recent US Rules 07 Nationals taking everyone by surprise with his ability to execute it time and time again. Each opponent basically postured with their location saying, "come ahead if you like". (Well to bad for them. )

I can see this ratcheting up the opening stakes to new levels in the American game! Let us know what you think and have fun trying it.

David

Question #2

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 23:49:00 +0800

Blue had made a long roll to #2, but unfortunately for him Yellow got stuck in the wicket and the break could not continue. Blue then hit back through the dead ball Black (an attempted "saving shot") to the east border.

Red and Black are for 4-back, Yellow is for #4 and Blue of course is still for #2

How would you advise Red/Yellow to proceed?

Question #1a Answer

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 02:17:00 +0800

For most players the chance of an immediate break failing is fairly high. Therefore, it may be wise to consider an ideal leave for yellow.

The rush for yellow could be set to the opponent ball at #6, as well as that shown.

Question #1a

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:07:00 +0800

This question has been well answered if the player is at Championship level. Given the exact same position, what would you recommend for the average 'Club Player'?

Remember, to submit an answer click on the "comment" link at the bottom left of this image!