By Eric Sawyer
Well, I'm here at the fabulous Mission Hills. The sky is blue as the sea. The croquet courts are emerald green. The hoops are freshly painted white and smooth as a baby's butt. This is Day No. 1 of my GC Nationals Odyssey, and my maiden voyage in the Championship flight of a USCA sanctioned event.
The theme of today's e-mail is getting an edge. Since this isn't my first rodeo, I have learned a few tricks of the trade that I hope to share with those who will one day take the plunge into the waters of USCA competition.
1) Be prepared. I've learned the hard way that &*#$ happens. So bring two of everything. Last spring my mallet shaft snapped in half when I was practicing jump shots. So this time I brought my back-up mallet, a spare shaft, and a screw driver. Rain and wind is a possibility, so I brought some extra white over shirts for when it gets cool, a white windbreaker in case the mighty desert wind blows, and a second pair of white shoes in case my first gets wet. There is nothing worse than standing around all day in wet shoes!
2) Know the rules. I'm always shocked over how few people actually read and know the rules. I go over them before every major tournament and I'm sure to have a copy handy for use if a dispute breaks out during a game. People think they know the rules, but they don't. They try to bully you to cover the fact that they don't. If you know the rules, and have access to them, you can prevent that. Knowledge is power. Guess what I'm reading tonight? The rules regarding faults, off-side balls and out-of-turn plays can be especially tricky, so I will be going over them in detail.
3) Sneaky Practice. Every major tournament has an official practice the day before the first matches. Usually this is in the afternoon, leading up to some sort of evening social event or dinner. One of the unwritten rules of tournament play is that you cannot practice shooting the hoops on the official practice day. This rule is designed to prevent the development of "rabbit runs" in the hoops. But there is no such prohibition if you can get out on the courts before the wickets are set for the tournament. In my case, Caren and I and my parents are fortunate enough to own a place in Mission Hills. So I was able to get out on the courts today and shoot the hoops. I made it a point to play on one of the three courts that have been designated for my flight. Today I focused only on shots related to hoop running. Tomorrow, when I won't be able to shoot the hoops, I will focus on practicing lay-ups, stuns, blocks and other shots that will focus on getting used to how the court plays. By the way, I wasn't alone out there today. There were plenty of other folks out there practicing/playing. Tip for the day: if you have time and can do it, contact the tournament director of any event you are playing, and ask if you can have access to practice on the court, especially if an official practice session is not scheduled. In doing that, make sure to ask if you can run hoops. A couple of years ago, when I was out here for the American Rules Nationals (gasp), I specifically asked the great Jeff Soo, who was the event's TD, if I could practice running hoops on a spare court that was not being used for matches. He said, "yes, of course." Later that day an unnamed person of nasty reputation and disposition chided me for running hoops when practicing. I was able to gleefully say, "the great Jeff Soo said I could do this earlier this morning, so I'm fine." I saw that person speaking with Jeff later, and could only see Jeff nodding his head up and down and the person of nasty disposition stalking away.
Tomorrow is the official warm-up day. Topics that may be covered tomorrow include "black bag jobs," "scouting your opposition," and "gossiping with the other croquet hens."