May Video: Mohamed Nasr by Bob Kroeger

I find this video to be very interesting for two reasons:

-- The way he opens his feet during the huge back swing
-- Notice during the slo-mo on the first shot that the mallet follows through all twisted, yet the shot is still successful

May Links: Sonoma-Cutrer and Kentucky Nine-Wicket

Sonoma-Cutrer Croquet Club / Club

A beautiful club site designed in WordPress, which allows for an RSS feed that people can subscribe to with their iGoogle, My Yahoo or MSN pages. The feed for Sonoma-Cutrer comes in on the Croquet Network feed below. More croquet sites need to use a blog platform (Squarespace, WordPress, TypePad, Blogger) for their sites. The updating is easy and the RSS feed capability keeps more players and fans in touch with the site.
http://sonomacroquet.org/

Kentucky Croquet Club / Club

A nine-wicket club that plays on clay and claims to be the oldest croquet club in the U.S.

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Loge/9814/

The National Croquet Center / Venue
This is a high quality site with merchandise available.
http://www.croquetnational.com/

April Tournament Winners

4/25 -- Alumni Cup/Leawood, KS -- Kansas State
4/26 -- International Rules Championship Singles/West Palm Beach, FL-- Brian Cumming
4/26 -- International Rules Championship Doubles/West Palm Beach, FL -- Leo McBride & Doug Grimsley

No word on the results from P. Diddy's tournament.

Sources: USCA, Croquet World, PBR Tour

First Shot: Upside/Downside

Well, I'm finding out how difficult it is to manage a blog site, play some croquet, keep the grass under control and spend some time with the family. The downside is nearly another month without getting a post up, but we forge on.

The upside is I've got a couple of tournaments under my belt.
The downside is they've both been wet and cold and dark.

The upside is I played and hosted my first team event for our local club -- Alumni Cup.
The downside -- we lost to K-State. Oh well, the NC and Orange Bowl will have to satisfy me 'til next year.

The upside is my yard is starting to fill in.
The downside is it seems like I spend more time mowing that playing.

The upside is it looks like I've wrangled an invite to play some six-wicket croquet on a real field.
The downside -- there is none, you can't go wrong with that.

The true upside is that the weather is starting to warm up a bit in Kansas and it's time to "swing the wrenches."

Sincerely,
Dylan, Publisher -- Croquet Network

April Croquet Photo of the Month

recursion_see_recursion / flickr creative commons

2008 WCF Golf Croquet Championship Video

April Video of the Month

Last point of a series of videos from YouTube on the final game between Ahmed Nasr and Chris Clark. Could use some play by play, but otherwise, very good.

March Tournament Winners

Available tournament results from March:

03/08 -- Peyton Ballenger/Palm Beach Gardens, FL -- Bob Chilton
03/11 -- Croquet Week Golf Championship/West Palm Beach, FL -- Trevor Herin
03/16 -- 2008 World Golf Croquet Championship/Cape Town, S. Africa -- Ahmed Nasr
03/16 -- Club Championship/West Palm Beach, FL -- NCC/Stewart Jackson & Johnny Mitchell
03/22 -- Mar-a-Lago Singles/Palm Beach, FL -- Sandy Walsh

Sources: USCA, Croquet World

First Shot: The Best Intentions

Wow. I laid out the best of intentions last month in the first edition of this department establishing a minimum target for monthly features/departments. I hit on two of the seven targets for March. So what happened? Well, a little of everything. I picked up that little cold/flu and that held me back a bit. That was followed by a couple of major family birthday celebrations. Throw in that miserable daylight savings switch and it was a rough month.

The good news is that despite a very cold spring here in Kansas, I did get my backyard field set up. The consistency is off a little as we suffered through a pretty good drought last summer, but it seems to be filling in.

So, a new season goal after I got hooked on the WCF Golf Croquet Championships in March was to an attempt to try out the golf version for myself. I've had three occasions to give the game a shot and I have to say I think it's a winner. Under thirty minutes each time and in a backyard setting, it's pretty much a shooters game. Quick and fun. My club will definitely be doing additional testing over the summer.

Up next, I've changed over the field to the nine-wicket set up and it's time for some team play. As for Croquet Network, I have a few improvements in mind and the goal is to at least get a feature and skills story out before the end of April. In general, I want to get two posts in each week. In the meantime, get out and play and if you're in the mood check out the website store at http://www.cafepress.com/croquetnetwork.

Sincerely,
Dylan, Publisher -- Croquet Network

U.S. Tournament Calendar -- April 2008

Apr 3 -- Bald Head Island Singles Tournament
Bald Head Island Croquet Club, Bald Head Island, NC
Contact: j_jknott@bellsouth.net

Apr 4–6 -- National Croquet Center Singles Championship
National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Contact: archiepeck@aol.com

Apr 5–6 -- Croquet Fools
King City and Westmoreland, OR, King City&Westmoreland, OR
Contact: sweeney@pdxlawyer.com

Apr 10–13 -- NC Open Croquet Champ. Flight
Pinehurst Croquet Club, Pinehurst, NC
Contact: ron.lloyd@pinehurst.com

Apr 11–13 -- NCC Association Rules Championship Singles
National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Contact: archiepeck@aol.com

Apr 18–20 -- Sarasota County Spring Singles Invitational
Sarasota County Croquet Club, Venice, FL
Contact: Crokpeople@aol.com

Apr 21–26 -- USCA Association Rules Nationals
NCC, West Palm Beach, FL
Contact: tournamentusca@aol.com

Apr 26–27 -- USCA Collegiate National Championship
Merion Cricket Club, Haverford, PA
Contact: lehanna@aol.com

Source: USCA Calendar Page (click for more details)

Another Great Golf Croquet Video

In honor of the WCF World Golf Croquet championships, I had to post this awesome little segment of great golf croquet shots. I've got to try this game.

USCA 9-Wicket National Tournament

The Missouri Croquet Association has posted dates for the USCA 9-Wicket National Tournament. The event will be held in Shawnee Mission, Kansas (Kansas City Metro Area) October 3-5, 2008.

Ahmed Nasr Continues Egyptian Dominance

It looked like the Egyptians might be in danger of finally losing the WCF Laidlaw Golf Croquet World Championship this past weekend in South Africa. Local favorite Reg Bamford took on Ahmed Nasr in the finals with a home crowd behind him but fell in four games during the best-of-five final.

For Nasr, it was his second world championship with his other title coming in 2004. The Egyptians now have won all eight of the golf croquet championships.

FINAL SCORE

Ahmed Nasr (EGY) bt Reg Bamford (RSA)
7-6, 7-4, 2-7, 7-2

Sources: www.croquetworld.com / www.wcfcroquet.org

March Links: Arizona and Two Extreme Clubs

Today's post will kick off a new monthly series providing links on croquet sites across the internet. The links will also be provided on the Croquet Network User Links page which is a great resource in that it allows anyone to upload a club link. This month's links:

Arizona Croquet Club / Club
This is nice site for one of the major U.S. croquet clubs established in 1975. If you dig deep enough, you'll find a great selection of instruction articles.

Golden Mallet Croquet Society / Extreme Croquet
Beautiful site -- the civil war wicket photos are the best. A lot of the extreme sites have superb presentation.

North Side Croquet / Extreme Croquet
Croquet meets Metallica. Great posters (adult language). Sort of backyard meets extreme.

WCF Golf Championships Down to Eight

Checking in on the WCF website, the Laidlaw Golf Croquet Championships are down to eight players. American Sherif Abdelwahab lost 4-7, 4-7 to Khalid Younis (Egypt) in the second round knockout.

The Egyptians are impressive as they have six players in the final eight. Six-wicket world champion Chris Clarke is still in the mix as well as Reg Bamford.

I will saying following the event has me very interested in the game. I've been checking out the rundown on the USCA site, and I'm convinced I'll be giving this game a try this summer.

WCF Laidlaw GC Championship Update

The WCF Laidlaw Golf Croquet Championships are under way in South Africa and the field is starting to narrow. Sherif Abdelwahab for the United States has played well thus far losing only one match in block play. According to the wcfcroquet.org website results listed below, Abdelwahab has advanced to the final sixteen. A few matchups appear to have been unavailable for the results posting (only 11 matchups are listed). One thing is clear, the Egyptians know this game well, which makes sense based on the YouTube videos I've seen.

Mohammed Nasr (Egypt) bt Carole Jackson (SA) 7-1 7-3
Anton Varnas (Sweden) bt Tony Stephens (NZ) 7-2 7-6
Paolo De Petra(Italy) bt Klaus Gollhoffer(Austria) 7-2 3-7 7-1
Yasser Esmat (Egypt) bt Tony Hall (Australia) 4-7 7-2 7-6
Sherif Nafee (Egypt) bt Jenny Clarke (NZ) 7-5 7-4
Duncan Dixon (NZ) bt David Openshaw (Eng) 7-6 3-7 7-4
Ahmed el Mahdi (Egypt) bt Tim King (Eng) 7-3 7-4
Khalid Younis (Egypt) bt Peter Batchelor (NZ) 7-2 7-1
Sherif Abdelwahab (USA) bt Joe Hogan (NZ) 4-7 7-4 7-1
Kevin Beard (Australia) bt Salah Hassan (Egypt) 7-3 4-7 7-3
Chris Clarke (Eng) bt Owen Edwards (Australia) 7-5 5-7 7-3

February Tournament Winners

Available tournament results from February:

02/03 -- Beach Club Invitational/West Palm Beach, FLA -- Mike Gibbons
02/10 -- WCF World Championships/Christchurch, New Zealand -- Chris Clarke
02/17 -- Mar-A-Lago Doubles/Palm Beach, FLA-- Zoe deRopp/Gwynneth Selinger
02/24 -- Chuck Steuber Invitational/Palm Beach, FLA -- Leo McBride

Sources: USCA, Croquet World

WCF Championships Video 2008

I don't know what's going on in most of these highlights, but still very interesting. There are about three shots that I completely don't understand.

First Shot: The Croquet Network Mission

This month I thought it would be a good idea to discuss the evolving mission of croquetnetwork.com. In one sense it can be summed up pretty easily, I couldn't find another full-time croquet blog out there, so I thought I'd jump in. Of course, a primary focus is to cover news that comes up in a timely fashion. Frankly, there are not a lot of sources out there for croquet news (best sites listed in the right column), which I suppose is both good and bad. The good is that it validates the need for a good croquet blog. The bad is that it's difficult to find information.

Below the main stories on this site, you'll find a consolidated news feed that tracks this site, my club site (pbrtour.net) and another community site that I also built -- kccroquet.com. There is also a feed for the NYCC blog in there, but it hasn't seen too many updates over the winter.

So, beyond the internet news bits and tourney results, I've decided to approach this from a monthly magazine perspective. This "First Shot" column will be a monthly feature that will act like a publisher's letter to kick off each series. I've also targeted a product review, a skills article, a tournament calendar and interview as re-ocurring monthly departments. I'll also throw in at least one video per month and a photo of the month. Those are the goals, but keep in mind this is a one-man show.

Speaking of which, I'll get into my personal croquet story more in the future, but just so you have a base knowledge -- I've been playing backyard croquet since 1998 with a private little social club that hosts a tournament series in the Kansas City area. I usually play one tournament per year on the Missouri Croquet Association circuit. This year I plan to get into a six-wicket game even if it has to happen in my backyard. I'm also hosting the first team nine-wicket event that our club has ever had.

In other words, I've got a little experience around the game but in no way am I a six-wicket pro or do I have deep connections with the established croquet associations. I'm learning as I go and I'm really enjoying it. Hopefully, I can provide some good information and entertainment for the croquet lovers out there.

A final note this month -- the ads you see for T-shirts (or other products) on the site are my creation and do help fund my efforts here. I'll say it straight up -- I'm not here to make a buck, but I'd love to sell 20,000 shirts and focus on this site full-time. The mission laid out above is pretty modest, but I'd like to see some success because I really enjoy this sport and I can envision a lot of ways to expand this site and I see a bright future for the game. So if you like the site and the shirt or other products, jump right in -- it's good for the overall mission.

Sincerely,
Dylan, Publisher -- Croquet Network

Backyard Drills: Four-Ball Break

Time: approx. 30-40 minutes

This is a new feature that I’d like to put out monthly that will focus on skills for the basic backyard game. The strategy and drills are pretty common so experienced players probably won’t find much use in this series, but new players should find some value.

We’ll start with my favorite and most practical drill. This one is most likely to simulate that one chance that will should come up in the nine-wicket backyard game (one ball) for a big run. Ball color does not matter but for instructional purposes place the red ball between wickets one and two (off center is good). Place the black ball four to six feet past wicket two. Place the yellow ball somewhere in the vicinity of wicket number three. Placement of all three balls is not critical at all and you’ll want to vary it somewhat for each session (Figure 1).

Place your blue ball at the starting line and clear wicket one just as you would in a real game. The object here is to make a sixteen wicket run. You’ll contact red (Figure 2) between the wickets then send it roughly halfway between wickets two and three (Figure 3) with a stop shot (meaning blue ball stays between wickets one and two).

Score wicket two then contact the black ball (Figure 4). You’ll want to do a ¼ roll shot that sends black toward wicket four and the blue ball toward red between wickets two and three (Figure 5).

Contact red then, you’ll likely need a ½ or ¾ roll shot to get red out near wicket four and blue closer to wicket three or the yellow ball (Figure 6).

If the yellow is on the near side, you may want to contact it before clearing wicket three. You can then perform a roll shot that sets up an easy hoop shot on wicket three while placing yellow on the far side. If yellow was already on the far side you could skip that step and score wicket three if the shot is makeable (Figure 7).

Once wicket three is cleared, the pattern essentially repeats. Contact yellow (Figure 8), roll shot sending yellow toward five and blue toward red (Figure 9).

Contact red, roll shot sending red toward five and blue toward black (Figure 10).

Roll shot, black to other side of four, blue to set up hoop shot on wicket three (Figure 11). Score wicket three then repeat (Figure 12).

The four-ball break is the ideal situation that every player is looking for in a game, so practicing the sequence will get you experience with those critical roll shots. In practice, the fun part is trying to run all sixteen, but if you miss a shot replay it until you play it successfully. The idea is to ingrain the shots and strategy into your mindset – making it second nature. There’s always tomorrow to try to pull off that pure sixteen wicket run.

U.S. Tournament Calendar -- March 2008

Feb 27 - Mar 2 -- Audobon Invitational
Audobon Croquet Club, Naples, FL
Contact: jnjbalson@aol.com

Mar 3–8 -- 20th Peyton Ballenger Invitational
Crouquet Club at PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Contact: margostinson47@msn.com

Mar 7–9 -- Boca Grande Invitational
Gasparilla Inn & Boca Bay, Boca Grande, FL
Contact: blainedavis@att.net

Mar 9–11 -- USCA Croquet Week Golf Croquet Championship
National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach
Contact: tournamentusca@aol.com

Mar 12–16 -- USCA National Club Teams Championship
National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach
Contact: tournamentusca@aol.com

Mar 20–22 -- Mar-a-Lago Singles Invitational
Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach , FL
Contact: Twenty6to2@aol.com

Mar 27–30 -- NC Open Championship Qualifier, 1st & 2nd Flt.
Pinehurst Croquet Club, Pinehurst, NC
Contact: frank@avmetro.com

Source: USCA Calendar Page (click for more details)

February Croquet Photo of the Month

(flicker/cc -- user: sheilaellen)

The Dream Field
I don't know where this was taken, but it sure says croquet to me. The photo was titled "Rotura Croquet Lawn."

WCF Worlds -- Maui Club Rundown

A little surf across the web this morning revealed this Maui Club breakdown of the World Championships. An excellent bracket that really clarifies how it went down. Good stuff.

Maui Club WCF World Championship Link

England's Chris Clarke is World Champion

Chris Clarke won his second world championship by defeating Stephen Mulliner in four games this past weekend in Christchurch, New Zealand. Clarke last won in 1995.

2008 Finals Scores:
Chris Clarke (England) bt Stephen Mulliner (England) 9-26tp, 26-0tp, 26-17, 26-14

Story Link: press.co.nz

WCF Championships -- Crazy Eight

Five from England advance

RESULTS (number denotes seed)

8-Stephen Mulliner (England) bt Michael Wright (NZ) 26-0 , 22-26, 26-20

Shane Davis (NZ) bt Ian Lines (England) 19-26, 26-13, 26-5

5-David Maugham (England) bt Paddy Chapman (NZ) 26tp-22 26tp-1

Aaron Westerby (NZ) bt 4-Rutger Beijderwellen (Netherlands) 1-26 26tp-9 26-13

3-Robert Fulford (England) bt Paul Skinley (NZ) 26-0 26-9

6-Keith Aiton (Scotland) bt Ian Dumergue (Australia) 26-0 26-10

7-James Death (England) bt Samir Patel (England) 26-7 26tp-22

2-Chris Clarke (England) bt Bob Jackson (NZ) 26-7 26-22

From the Croquet World forum.

Sweet Sixteen

Shane Davis (NZ) bt 1-Reg Bamford (South Africa) 26-18 4-26 26tp-9

Ian Lines (England) bt Greg Bryant (NZ) 26-20 20-19

Michael Wright (NZ) bt Peter Landrebe (Australia) 0-26tp 26-23 26-11

8-Stephen Mulliner (England) bt Robert Lowe (NZ) 18-26, 26-22, 26-18

5-David Maugham (England) bt David Openshaw (England) 1-26 26tp-1 26-9

Paddy Chapman (NZ) bt Leo McBride (Canada) 26tp-16 10-26 26-21

Aaron Westerby (NZ) bt Ian Burridge (England) 26-8 26-4

4-Rutger Beijderwellen (Netherlands) bt Phillip Drew (NZ) 26stp-11 26tp-8

3-Robert Fulford (England) bt AJ Reid (NZ) 26tp-0 26tp-0

6-Keith Aiton (Scotland) bt Toby Garrison (NZ) 12-26 26-4 26-15

7-James Death (England) bt Marcus Evans (England) 26-10 26-4

Samir Patel (England) bt Bruce Fleming (Australia) 26-9, 26-10

Bob Jackson (NZ) bt Jonathan Kirby (Scotland) 26-15 26-14

Ian Dumergue (Australia) bt Jenny Clarke (NZ) 26-21, 10-26, 23-22

Paul Skinley (New Zealand) bt John Gibbons (England) 23-26, 26-18, 11-8

2-Chris Clarke (England) bt Andrew Johnston (Ireland) 26-3, 26-2

Source: http://www.croquetworld.com/Event.asp

World Championships Down to 32 Players

QUALIFIERS FOR THE 32-PLAYER KNOCKOUT
(top four from each block in order):

Block A:
Reg Bamford (South Africa) Jonathan Kirby (Scotland), Ian Lines (England) AJ Reid (NZ)

Block B:
Chris Clarke (England) John Gibbons (England) Robert Lowe (NZ)Andrew Johnston (Ireland)

Block C:
Robert Fulford (England) Ian Dumergue (Australia) Shane Davis (NZ) Marcus Evans (Wales)

Block D:
David Maugham (England) Greg Bryant (NZ) Leo McBride (Canada) Phillip Drew (NZ

Block E:
Rutger Beijderwellen (Netherlands) Aaron Westerby (NZ) Samir Patel (England) Bob Jackson (NZ)

Block F:
Keith Aiton (Scotland) Bruce Fleming Australia) Paul Skinley, Michael Wright (NZ

Block G:
Stephen Mulliner (England) James Death (England) Ian Burridge (Wales) Jenny Clarke (NZ)

Block H:
Peter Landrebe (Australia) Paddy Chapman (NZ) David Openshaw (England) Toby Garrison (NZ)

From the Croquet World website.

Art of the Jump Shot Video

US Calendar -- February

Jan 31 - Feb 3 - - Sarasota County Winter Singles Invitational
Sarasota County Croquet Club, Venice, FL crokpeople@aol.com

Feb 1 - Feb 3 - - USCA Croquet School
National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, FL usca@msn.com

Feb 5 - Feb 9 - - ORAC Invitational
Ocean Reef Club, Key Largo, FL wgcamper@aol.com

Feb 12 - Feb 17 - - Useppa Island Invitational
Gasparilla & Useppa, Useppa Island, FL thecapstonegroup@comcast.net

Feb 15 - Feb 17 - - Mar-a-Lago Doubles Invitational
Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, FL Twenty6to2@aol.com

Feb 19 - Feb 24 - - Charles P. Steuber Invitational
National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, FL archiepeck@aol.com

Feb 27 - Mar 2 - - Audobon Invitational
Audobon Croquet Club, Naples, FL jnjbalson@aol.com

Source: USCA Calendar Page (click for more details)

Family Man: Back in the Game

The Austin Statesman has a nice profile on Jim Bast who took off eight years from competitive croquet to raise two daughters. Bast is back in the game now and will compete in this year's World Championships in New Zealand. As I read the piece, I was wondering if my wife would let me quit the day job and take on competitive croquet. Probably not. Oh well, this quote from Bast is something I think players of all levels can agree with:

"You never forget how to do it. Once it gets hold of you, it pretty much keeps hold of you."

Palm Beach Results: Ben Rothman Wins

The Croquet World site reports that Ben Rothman defeated
John Osborn 26-2 to win the singles Championship flight
at the Palm Beach Invitational in Florida this weekend.

Link to Site

Interview With A Minnesota Pro Player

This is from an Edina, Minnesota promotional show. A pretty good interview on the basics and some nice footage of play at their club.

Resolutions for a New Croquet Year

Okay, so it's 18 days late, but here's a list of ideas for all you malletheads that is sure to enhance your 2008 croquet season:

1) Play in one event outside of your normal circle. If you normally play in a family game, find the nearest club and get in a game. The USCA site has a listing of clubs. If you normally play with a club, try hooking up with another club. Again, check the USCA website for clubs near you. If you normally play in the backyard by yourself, get a game going.

2) Join the USCA Nine wicket association. The provide a great service for croquet player and plus you get a magazine. If you're a nine-wicket member ($15), upgrade to full membership ($60) to recieve all three issues.

3) Go ahead upgrade to that tournament level mallet -- you won't regret it.

4) Try out a new game. One-ball players should try a team game or maybe golf croquet. Six-wicket pros should play a backyard game.

5) Check in with the Croquet Network blog every day.

6) Teach one person to play the game.

7) If you aren't already, organize a tournament or just volunteer to help out with one.

8) Add your club or croquet link to the Croquet Network Links page.

9) Support this site with a purchase from our Croquet Network Official Store at CafePress.com.

A Family Game of Croquet

Product Review: Croquet Store Brighton Mallet

Price: $110 (with aluminum shaft and grip)
Website: www.croquetstore.com (oakley woods)
Phone: 866-364-8895
Other: Rounded or square heads available (tested with round head)

For the casual player this is a great mallet that will get you through the social backyard game or allow you to play in some competitive tournaments. The Croquet Store/Oakley Woods taper-lock system gives the mallet a solid, one-piece feel. For backyard play (longer grass) the rounded head is nice because it is less likely to catch on un-even terrain. Of course, if you are a backyard player, $110 may seem a little excessive. You could easily go with an ash shaft and skip the grip to bring the price down to an affordable $65. The Croquet Store is based in Canada, so the shipping is a little more expensive, but the website ordering is fairly straight-forward. I generally order from this vendor once a year and they are good about shipping out in a timely fashion.

Another note for the casual player. If you are still using the “golf swing” for croquet , there are two things you should know. One, stop it. Two, the Brighton may be too heavy for you to stay consistent on your “Tiger Woods” swing. If you are dedicated to the golf swing, you should probably look into the Extreme Mallet (to be reviewed next week).

Recommendation: If you are playing in more than event per season, this is a great first “real” mallet.

Top Egyptians Video

My current favorite croquet video.

Fall Update -- Midwest

We'll kick this blog off with an update on Missouri Croquet Association action from the Fall. Here's the rundown:

Oct 6 -- Missouri Veterans Home Benefit Tourney
Flight A: Billy Bob BreedenFlight B: Gary Harlan($823 raised for Missouri Veterans Home)

Sept 21 -- Lee's Summit Open
Championship Flight: Billy Bob Breeden
"B" Flight: Dennis Langley

Sept 15 -- Midwest Open Warrensburg, Mo.
Championship Flight: Troy White
B Flight: Jeff Hathsoll