| Module 6 | Canberra Croquet
Club |
Croquet Stroke: Straight Line Strokes
Objectives
In this Module you will learn:
To play this place your striker’s ball and the ball you have roqueted together for a croquet stroke. If you then play a shot so that your mallet swings directly through the centres of the balls they will both travel in a straight line in the same direction, as shown in the figure below.
You can vary how far the striker’s ball and the croqueted ball travel relative to each other by varying your stance and how you strike the ball with your mallet.
Stance
Standing closer to the striker’s ball means you will be hitting down on it; standing further back means you will hit up slightly. In a croquet stroke hitting down means your ball will travel further than if you hit through parallel to the ground. And vice versa for hitting up.
The Drive
The croqueted ball will travel about 3–4 times as far as the striker’s ball.
| Stance: | Normal |
| Grip: | Normal |
| Follow through: | Normal |
The Stop Shot
The croqueted ball will travel at least 5 times as far as the striker’s ball. Ratios of over 10 can be achieved but depend upon the type of mallet used.
| Stance: | Feet further back than normal |
| Grip: | Hands right at the top of the mallet, and loosen the grip on impact |
| Follow through: | As little as possible, grounding the mallet on impact |
½ Roll
The croqueted ball will travel twice as far as the striker’s ball.
| Stance: | Slightly closer to the ball than normal |
| Grip: | Lower your bottom hand about 1/3 way down the shaft |
| Follow through: | Normal |
Full Roll
The croqueted ball will travel as far as the striker’s ball.
| Stance: | Feet further forward than for the ½ roll. |
| Grip: | Lower your bottom hand further down the shaft than for the ½ roll, and lower your top hand to grip the mallet properly |
| Follow through: | Normal |
Pass Roll
The striker’s ball will travel further than the croqueted ball (obviously they cannot travel in exactly the same line for this to happen!)
| Stance: | As for a full roll |
| Grip: | Lower than for a full roll |
| Follow through: | Normal |
Practice
All the above shots should be practised (ignoring the pass roll for now), becoming familiar with the feel of all lengths (less than a metre to the full length of the court). You will need to practice to find exactly what stance and mallet grip you need to achieve the different rations. Using a lawn with the hoops set out will help you judge your ratios.
From |
To (your ball and croqueted ball) |
Type |
| West Boundary | Hoops 1 and 4 | drive |
| South Boundary | Hoop 5 and North Boundary | drive |
| South Boundary | Hoop 1 and North Boundary | stop shot |
| West Boundary | Hoops 1 and 5 | ½ roll |
| Hoop 5 | Peg and Hoop 6 | ½ roll |