Let’s Talk Tactics

One Rule to Ring Them All

By Jeff Soo

Abbreviations used: blUe, Red, blacK, Yellow

American Six-Wicket croquet challenges us with a seemingly endless variety of possible scenarios and a short time in which to choose a play. We have tactical principles, theories and rules of thumb to guide us, but that’s little help if we don’t know which ones to apply and when. Fortunately, one rule of thumb applies to all situations, at any level of play, from beginner to expert: The best way to get wicket-scoring position is to take croquet near that wicket, preferably on the playing side. Scoring is what wins games, so we can add this corollary: The side that most often takes croquet from good position near the wicket will usually win. Good scoring plays aren’t usually just for the taking; each side tries to deny such opportunities to the opponent. This suggests a second corollary: Any time you have a reasonable opportunity to take croquet near your wicket, go for it. This simple rule and its corollaries are at the heart of every tactical concept in the game. It is why we prefer 4-ball breaks to 3-ball breaks and 3-ball breaks to 2-ball breaks: to increase our chances of taking croquet near the wicket, many times during a single turn. It is why we try to end turns with no deadness: to preserve our ability to take croquet near the wicket in a future turn. It is why it is sometimes worth taking on deadness to remove a dead opponent ball from scoring position: to make it harder for the opponent to take croquet near the wicket. It is why we so often play to the boundary: leaving balls on court makes it too easy for the opponent to take croquet near the wicket. And it is a simple framework for comparing tactics. A good scoring play is one with a reasonable chance to take croquet near the wicket. Without a plan for that, you don’t have a good scoring play (unless you are already in position at the wicket). If you have a choice of good plays, pick the one with the best chance of taking croquet near the wicket. If your skills are up to it, choose the play that gives you a 4-ball or 3-ball break. What counts as a reasonable play depends on the player’s skills. Let’s look at a position with different options for each level of play. In Figure 1 it is K to play. K is alive on all balls and is for 2. Opportunities to take croquet near the wicket don’t come much better than this.

For a beginner, not yet comfortable with longer cut-rushes and big split shots, it’s fine to treat this as a one-wicket play: roquet U, perhaps rushing it to point 1, and take off to Y. For an intermediate player, this is an excellent chance for a 3-ball break. Rush U to point 2. From here, a straight drive shot sends U to 3 and K to Y.

Figure 1, K to play, for 2, alive on all balls. Points 1, 2 and 3 are options for where K can rush U.

An advanced player should attempt a 4-ball pickup. Point 3 is a safe target for the rush. Send U to point 4 while approaching R (using a split shot or a takeoff, depending on how the rush went). The goal is to have U where K can roquet it first after scoring the wicket, and where it doesn’t interfere with the croquet stroke K is about to play from the corner (a partial roll shot sending R to 3 and K to Y). Several basic patterns allow you to take croquet at a wicket without needing a long hit-in. The one we’ve just examined starts with one ball you can roquet easily and another ball at the wicket: you use the first ball to approach the second. An even simpler pattern is when you are already near the ball at your wicket. This can happen when you and the opponent are for the same wicket and the opponent uses your ball to approach the wicket but then fails the wicket shot, leaving you an easy roquet. A variation on the first two patterns has you already in position to score a wicket. A classic example is when you are in the jaws of an odd-numbered wicket, ready to play through all the way to the next wicket, where one or more balls are waiting. The final three patterns involve rushing a ball to the wicket. In the simplest of these patterns, you already have a rush pointed at the wicket, most often because your partner ball set you that rush on its last turn. That leaves two patterns where you start with an easy roquet, but no direct rush to the wicket and no ball already waiting there. I’ll have much to say about these patterns in future columns.

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