CROQUET:  Digging Out the 4th Ball

You are playing Yellow, approaching hoop #2 on a three-ball break.  You would like to dig Black out of the NE corner for a four-ball break, if you could.

 Where should you try and rush Blue to after making #2, X1, X2 or X3?

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If you didn't want to improve your three-ball break to a four-ball break, you'd be happy to leave black in NE, and X1 is a good option.  You can croquet Blue to #4, and Yellow will stop near the Red receiver at #3.

If you are going to dig black out, you might go for X2 as a good place to leave Blue as a pivot.  You then take off to Black and send it to hoop #4 while holding for the Red receiver at #3.  Instant four-ball break.  The problem is the take off to NW from X2; it's pretty long, you might go out of bounds, and Red and #3 are in your way.

Better still is to rush Blue to X3 - it's a shorter take off to NW, and there's nothing in the way.  X3 isn't too bad as a pivot (you can always move it nearer the middle with a thick take off).

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