CROQUET COACHING: Teaching the Swing CROQUET COACHING: Teaching the Swing | Stalk the ball | take your Stance | swing Slowly back | Stay down | Swing through | ||||
| Why stalk? To get your shoulders at right angles to the line of swing. Because it is easier to see a line if you have two points further apart than a pace or two. To find a spot on the court (e.g. a hoop) or outside the court (e.g. a gate) that can be used to swing towards. Gives you time to think about the stroke (you should already have thought out the next few moves, and then you concentrate on the stroke only), to visualise the stroke to assist with working out the height of backswing needed e.g. |
ACA guidelines specified a staggered stance. This gives more room for the bottom arm/elbow to move backwards than the square stance. Watch that players do not move forward with the stroke and start walking before the stroke is finished. This can be countered by emphasising that their weight should be on their heels during the swing and not change until after contact with the ball, if at all. Remember, the forward foot is that on the same side as the top hand. The forward foot (and the other foot if possible) should be placed parallel to the desired line of swing. The forward foot should be placed so that it is about 10 cm (4”) behind the back of the mallet when the mallet is in the desired position. Show that if when addressing the ball you are not happy with its position, you must re-stalk the ball. If you change the position of the mallet and not your feet the mallet will swing through parallel to your feet regardless. Remember the big difference between Golf Croquet and Association Croquet when addressing the ball. In GC, if you touch the ball when lining up then that is your turn (this because they did not want to define the striking period). In AC, if you move the ball when addressing it, you move the ball back into position and start again. If you touch it then you still have to start your turn – it is actually better to just touch the ball with your mallet as the brain registers that as the point at which the mallet should contact the ball. |
Most of us are impatient and tend to pull the mallet back down and push it through, happy is the player who has a languid laid back style. One top coach is getting his squad to count 1 to 5 while taking the mallet back (remember big swings are better than abbreviated swings), 1 to 3 while holding it in the cocked position, and 1 to 10 while swinging the mallet from the top of the back swing (5 at the bottom of the swing) to the top of the follow through (no ball involved). Waltz time seems OK for most players, 1 to 3 to take the mallet back, and 1 to 3 while bringing the mallet back down, only hitting once they get to ‘3’. Many players develop a ‘rubber band’ swing – as if there is an elastic band around the ball and mallet, and when the mallet is taken back a short way they force the mallet forward using their wrists – these players tend to stop shot which is not encouraged. |
This is to counter the most common cause of inaccurate stroking, lifting the head to see where the ball goes. As an aside, you can lift your head all you like, so long as you do not move your shoulders! Some teach that you should keep your eyes on the spot where the ball was until you can see the grass upon which the ball was resting. Some say watch the mallet hit the ball. I say that I do not see the mallet hit the ball as my hands are in the way. This because I contact the ball with my mallet at right angles to the ground so the mallet head can move parallel to the ground. Those who see the mallet hit the ball tend to come upon the ball closer to 4 o’clock than to the desired 3 o’clock point. They tend to ‘scissor’. They tend to speed into the swing using their wrists and do not have a pendulum swing from the shoulders. |
The whole emphasis should be on keeping the mallet head moving at the same speed once it starts on the downward swing, using gravity and not deliberately pulled down before the mallet has cocked. Liken the swing to a golf swing, a mixture of a drive and a putt – and not the chip shot. In a drive in golf, the ball is addressed with straight (or almost straight) arms, As the club is swung back the elbows bend, and the wrists cock. There is a pause at the top of the swing. The arms come back into the no-bend position at the point of contact. Then our swing becomes like the putt – there is a definite flattening of the stroke in the swing through before the head of the putter comes up again. In our swing, this flattening is achieved be keeping the wrists parallel to the ground for a few inches before they swing up (no higher than at the back of the swing – if there is an exaggerated forward swing then the player is pushing with the bottom hand and/or pulling back with the top hand). Robert Fulford, world number 1 for many years, says Hit through, not Follow through. I try and reach the forward ball in a croquet stroke (or the far side in a single ball stroke), and concentrate on making sure I keep up the forward movement of my hands and do not loosen them until the swing is almost completed. Explain that you gain greater accuracy if you hit/follow through. Most would know that a rifle is more accurate than a pistol because of its longer barrel. Similarly you gain greater accuracy with a well time (long follow through) swing than with a stop shot (no follow through). |
| Hands Not Working Together | Back Swing Too Short | No Pause at the Back of the Swing | No Translation | |||
| Usually because the hands are apart. If players are not prepared to have a go at getting their hands closer together (6” apart is OK if they start off with lower hand half way down the mallet) then I would suggest that I cannot help them. As yet I have not had to do this. Usually the bottom hand pushes and the top hands pulls back – scissoring – even when hands are together. Encourage them to try and move everything backwards and forwards, no swinging out of elbows (they should brush the sides of the body), and hands moving parallel to the ground for a few inches at point of contact. Players with a parted grip should be encouraged to go cold turkey, or to gradually move the bottom hand up a bit for a week, then the top hand down a bit, etc until they meet. You need to check that the player is using the correct size mallet – some are told to hold the mallet at the top of the shaft no matter what the height of the mallet. Players should select a mallet whose shaft comes up to the top of their wrist bone when standing upright when starting to play. |
This is the elastic band shot – it looks as if the mallet has stretched the elastic band just past the player’s ankles and the elastic band twangs the mallet back at the ball. The player uses their wrists to pull the mallet forward, and does not swing from the shoulders and then let the mallet head do the work. Even for short shots the mallet should be swung back a reasonable distance – how far? – I would suggest it is to a point where gravity starts the downswing and not the player. If the distance the ball has to move is short then the downswing should be slowed down. Still follow through as this helps with maintaining the desired direction. |
Let the mallet do the work!!! You should not pull the shaft forward before the mallet has naturally reached the back of its swing. Liken the croquet swing to the golf swing (both drives and putts) where there is a distinct pause when changing direction. If counting, suggest 1 to 3 to get the mallet to the top of its backswing, then 1, 2 for the pause, then 1 to 6 (counting ‘3’ at point of hit) as the mallet swings back through, flattens at the bottom of the swing, and comes up no higher than it was swung back. The discipline of pausing at the back of the swing assists with hoop running – so many players slam at hoops as they are impatient and want to get on with the game. An exaggerated pause is not encouraged. This puts a lot of strain on arm muscles and nerves. |
Translation is moving the mallet head parallel to the ground for a few inches after the mallet head has contacted the ball. Translation is achieved by straightening the arms fully after contacting the ball. It helps to concentrate on trying to reach the other side of the ball with the mallet face. In a rush it helps if you try to reach towards the roqueted ball as if you want to hit that ball with your mallet. When running a hoop, concentrate on trying to get the mallet head into the hoop (of course, be aware of the possibility of double tapping, etc). There is little or no translation in a stop shot action. It is considered to be a more difficult shot than a drive as it requires accurate timing not related to position of feet or length of swing. Translation is more easily achieved if the player is not told to keep their eye on the ball and actually see the mallet hit the ball. To see the mallet contact the ball most players have to pull their hands back and/or push with their bottom hand so the mallet shaft is not vertical at the point of contact. Suggest that they watch the point on the ball and bring their hands forward so they pass directly over the point – this will mean the mallet shaft is vertical at the point of contact and translation is obtained by keeping the wrists the same distance above the ground for a few inches (and by straightening the arms if there is a bend at the elbows when addressing the ball). |