Backyard Croquet Drills: Long Split/Roll

This is my favorite drill to do when I feel like I need to work on my long game. Of course, the best thing to do is to just get as many balls and you can gather, pair them up and work on your long splits at a 25-40 foot range sort of rapid-fire, but this is a little more fun while incorporating some long wicket shots and short game work. If you don't yet have your split shot under control, take a look at the videos on the USCA Nine-wicket site.

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May Video: Mohamed Nasr by Bob Kroeger



I find this video to be very interesting for two reasons:

-- The way he opens his feet during the huge back swing -- Notice during the slo-mo on the first shot that the mallet follows through all twisted, yet the shot is still successful

First Shot: Upside/Downside

Well, I'm finding out how difficult it is to manage a blog site, play some croquet, keep the grass under control and spend some time with the family. The downside is nearly another month without getting a post up, but we forge on.

The upside is I've got a couple of tournaments under my belt. The downside is they've both been wet and cold and dark.

The upside is I played and hosted my first team event for our local club -- Alumni Cup. The downside -- we lost to K-State. Oh well, the NC and Orange Bowl will have to satisfy me 'til next year.

The upside is my yard is starting to fill in. The downside is it seems like I spend more time mowing that playing.

The upside is it looks like I've wrangled an invite to play some six-wicket croquet on a real field. The downside -- there is none, you can't go wrong with that.

The true upside is that the weather is starting to warm up a bit in Kansas and it's time to "swing the wrenches."

Sincerely, Dylan, Publisher -- Croquet Network

March Tournament Winners

Available tournament results from March:

03/08 -- Peyton Ballenger/Palm Beach Gardens, FL -- Bob Chilton
03/11 -- Croquet Week Golf Championship/West Palm Beach, FL -- Trevor Herin
03/16 -- 2008 World Golf Croquet Championship/Cape Town, S. Africa -- Ahmed Nasr
03/16 -- Club Championship/West Palm Beach, FL -- NCC/Stewart Jackson & Johnny Mitchell
03/22 -- Mar-a-Lago Singles/Palm Beach, FL -- Sandy Walsh

Sources: USCA, Croquet World

First Shot: The Best Intentions

Wow. I laid out the best of intentions last month in the first edition of this department establishing a minimum target for monthly features/departments. I hit on two of the seven targets for March. So what happened? Well, a little of everything. I picked up that little cold/flu and that held me back a bit. That was followed by a couple of major family birthday celebrations. Throw in that miserable daylight savings switch and it was a rough month.

The good news is that despite a very cold spring here in Kansas, I did get my backyard field set up. The consistency is off a little as we suffered through a pretty good drought last summer, but it seems to be filling in.

So, a new season goal after I got hooked on the WCF Golf Croquet Championships in March was to an attempt to try out the golf version for myself. I've had three occasions to give the game a shot and I have to say I think it's a winner. Under thirty minutes each time and in a backyard setting, it's pretty much a shooters game. Quick and fun. My club will definitely be doing additional testing over the summer.

Up next, I've changed over the field to the nine-wicket set up and it's time for some team play. As for Croquet Network, I have a few improvements in mind and the goal is to at least get a feature and skills story out before the end of April. In general, I want to get two posts in each week. In the meantime, get out and play and if you're in the mood check out the website store at http://www.cafepress.com/croquetnetwork.

Sincerely,
Dylan, Publisher -- Croquet Network