CROQUET COACHING:  Thoughts on the Swing

What follows is a mixture of how I introduce the croquet swing to newcomers, and tips picked up from others. The thoughts are not in any order of importance.

The croquet swing can be likened, biomechanically, to putting in golf. Much science has been applied to the golf swing over the last 30 years. Golfers now keep their hands together (except for one player and his broomstick putter), and so should malleteers.

Golfers address the ball with arms straight, and swing from the shoulders. Malleteers can, too. This leads to a more upright stance, and allows the arms to swing freely from the shoulders (and discourages swinging from the wrists only).

When putting, golfers take the putter back slowly, pause at the top of the swing, let gravity start the down swing, keep moving the putter at a slow steady rate throughout the swing, flatten the swing at the point of contact by moving their wrists parallel to the ground, and then the putter head comes up no higher than the backswing. The croquet swing should be the same, it is also a flattened pendulum swing, from the shoulders.

If the mallet, at the end of the stroke, comes up higher than the backswing, the player has either pushed with their bottom hand or/and pulled back with their top hand (scissoring). Golfers do not do this, so why do croquet players? The first thing to look for when exploring why a player is missing roquets is whether their hands are working together. If one hand is pushing and the other pulling they are not working together i.e. not moving in the same direction.

To establish how to grip the mallet with the standard grip: put hands into a ‘pray’ position, drop until parallel to the ground, then drop the dominant hand (writing hand) until it is almost at right angles to the other hand (keep base of hands together).

To get a player to keep their top elbow in close to their body (i.e. elbow not to stick out) so arms move backwards and forwards only, and to encourage the use of larger, stronger muscles: cup hands so fingers and thumb are parallel, swing arms backwards and forwards like pistons, with elbows just brushing the body and arms parallel to each other. This is the desired angle of, and movement of, the top hand. When the mallet is held with the top hand in this position, the force of the mallet when hitting the ball is taken by the stronger V between thumb and hand instead of the weaker mid-joint in the thumb when the elbow is held out from the body. It also means that the larger muscles of the upper arm do most of the work during the swing instead of the smaller muscles in the wrist area.

Demonstrate that it is the top hand that should control the swing, as with golf. Demonstrate that you can hit a ball over 20 yards using one arm only. For such a long distance you may need to swing sidestyle with your dominant arm. Demonstrate that as you increase the height of the backswing you increase the distance travelled by the ball, without an acceleration component.

Encourage slowing down the forward swing when you want the ball to travel a shorter distance in preference to shortening the backswing. Too short a backswing is one of the four sources of problems when having problems with roqueting.

Encourage a flattened swing by (a) stressing HIT through (vs follow through), and (b) suggesting they think of it as trying to get their mallet to hit the farther side of the ball from the point of contact.

Discourage a stopshot action (requires better timing, harder to correct when things go wrong). Discourage dragging the mallet forward without pausing at the back, and accelerating into the stroke for most strokes. Remember Low, Slow, Flow.

Shooters will tell you it is easier to hit a target using a rifle (long barrel) than a pistol. Stop shots are like pistols (no follow through), flattened swings with follow through are like rifles (i.e. more accurate).

There should be minimal body movement, especially on well maintained courts. Once the ball has been addressed, the shoulders should be kept still. To discourage lifting the head (hence move the shoulders out of position) experiment to find a way you can determine when you can safely look up. I, when swinging well, do not move my head until I see my elbows come past my eyes ( with peripheral vision). Kevin Brereton advocates transference of weight from heels to toes – John Riches does not. Using the maxim that the fewer things a beginner has to consider the better, it is best not to encourage body movement. It is really only necessary in long rolls, or in long single ball strokes on heavy courts.

Some coaches say watch your mallet hit the ball. If I see my mallet hit the ball I have scissored. I watch the desired point of contact until it is obscured as my hands pass over the point (i.e. my mallet shaft is at right angles at point of contact – for a more powerful hit my hands are even slightly ahead of the mallet head at contact). My hands then move parallel to the ground for a few inches (translation). Next my eyes see my elbows moving forward. Once I address the ball I ‘stand tall’ and cannot see my mallet touching the ball.

Encourage players to ‘stand tall’. Addressing the ball with arms straight (or almost straight) maximises the distance of the point of mallet contact from the pivot point (the shoulders). The energy that is imparted is related to this distance – the longer the distance, the greater the energy imparted. ‘Standing tall’ also (a) allows a longer, less cramped swing, and (b) allows the player to see a larger area of the court. Not only will they (hopefully) be more aware of others on the court, but they will be less likely to lift their head to see the outcome of their stroke (eyes can follow the early path of the ball without further head movement).