Sun City Croquet Club

Schedule, Great Croquet Book, , Brief History & Error Correction

W E L C O M E NEW GUESTS & MEMBERS
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SUN CITY GREENSWARD SCHEDULE
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Schedule for Sun City Croquet Greensward
POSTED ON OUR BULLETIN BOARD ON THE LAWN

Saturday and Sunday Open Play

NOTE: THE LAWN IS GROOMED MONDAY, WED, & FRIDAY (AROUND 9AM). PLEASE LET OUR
MAINTENANCE PEOPLE DO THEIR WORK.

GREAT CROQUET BOOK!
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CROQUET The Sport by Jack R. Osborn
----------------- Founder,U.S. Croquet Association
with John C. Osborn

KEEP IN MIND:
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"First Commandment" - THOU SHALT LET THE MALLET DO THE WORK.

Additional proverbs:
Keep your head down
Keep your shoulders still
Watch the back of the ball
Always stalk the ball
Take a long, slow backswing

BRIEF HISTORY:
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OVERVIEW OF CROQUET IN AMERICA
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FROM BACKYARD GAME TO WORLDCLASS SPORT

THE SPORT OF CROQUET was born in the British isles in the mid 19th century and soon migrated to most other English-speaking countries. In the United States, manufacturers popularized a version of the sport that could be played on rough turf with lightweight, inexpensive equipment. It is this lightweight, scaled-down, toy version of croquet which most Americans have either seen or played.

Croquet as a public sport suffered a setback in the 1890's when
the Boston clergy spoke out against the drinking, gambling, and
licentious behavior associated with it on the Common.

The game of Backyard Croquet has maintained its popularity in America for more than a hundred years as the ideal complement of garden parties, family gatherings, outdoor fund-raisers, and social events both raucus and elegant.

The more sophisticated sport of 6-wicket croquet, requiring heavier equipment, good lawns, and a more intense sporting attitude, though widely played in England and most Commonwealth countries, was rarely seen by Americans until the late 1970's.

The United States Croquet Association was organized by Jack Osborn in 1977 with a nucleus of six east coast clubs. Osborn hammered out a codified set of rules for a uniquely American variety of 6-wicket croquet and tirelessly promoted formation of local clubs and tournaments throughout the country. Today, as many as 10,000 men and women play this elegant and exacting sport on more than 600 greens in the U.S. and Canada.

As a new generation of players have learned to play 6-wicket croquet with good equipment and on properly manicured greens, the standards of American play have risen to near the level of the traditional masters of the game in the British Commonwealth countries of Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The top American players have become adept not just in the American Rules sport but in International Rules as well. Americans are now competing successfully internationally, having finished as high as second and third in recent years in the World Croquet Federation Championship and in the equally prestigious World Croquet Championship at Sonoma-Cutrer.

The sport resurfaced in the 20's, 30's, and 40's as a
favorite pastime of famous entertainment and literary
figures, including the Algonquin Roundtable.

The American Croquet Association was organized in 1987 in Phoenix to promote interest in "Association" or International Rules croquet, currently sanctioning four or five tournaments a year, mostly in the West. Most of the several hundred members are high-ranking players who also have membership in the USCA. The USCA itself now promotes and sanctions most of the International Rules events in this country, many of which serve to qualify American teams to compete overseas.

Croquet Canada, with about 100 members, sanctions tournaments at a growing number of Canadian clubs, many of which share space with lawn bowlers. The USCA is active in Canada as well, and many Canadians belong to both associations. The game most often played at Canadian clubs is USCA American Rules 6-wicket croquet.

The USCA American Rules version of croquet, though no more difficult to master than any other sport, is probably the most misunderstood of them all. Perhaps the biggest reason USCA croquet is still a small sport is that most people can't follow the game at first exposure in the way that one can quickly figure out the basics of golf, tennis, and bowling. Playing it well calls for the kind of physical skills developed in billiards and golf and the tactical thinking of board games like chess and Parcheesi. Although the rules are simple enough--as are the rules of chess--mastering the tactics and strategy require, for most people, diligent practice and study.

A much-publicized challenge match between the Westhampton Mallet
Club on Long Island and London's Hurlingham Club in 1960 is credited
with sparking the resurgence of the sport of croquet in America.

In recent years, however, a number of excellent books and tapes have been produced by the USCA and the Croquet Foundation of America, and some of the larger clubs have organized instruction programs to help new players. Also, some clubs are encouraging the play of easy-to-learn varieties of croquet, such as Golf Croquet and traditional varieties of 9-wicket Backyard Croquet.

Recently two sets of revised rules for Backyard Croquet have been developed and recommended by the USCA to the manufacturers of backyard equipment: BASIC RULES, reflecting the traditional values of the 9-wicket game, and BACKYARD TOURNAMENT RULES, a simplified form of the USCA American Rules croquet adapted for a 9-wicket setting. These new rules portend a new cycle of growth in croquet's popularity, by encouraging people to play the forms of the game most appropriate to their interests and skill levels on the playing surfaces and with the equipment available to them.

In the PUBLICATIONS section of this GUIDE are listed books which, taken together, cover the entire variety of croquet rules variations.

The new USCA-approved BASIC RULES for Backyard Croquet are the best all-purpose rules available for casual social play, as it is suitable for people at all skill levels and does not require expensive equipment, precise boundary settings and lawns of putting green quality, and winning tactics are fairly easy to understand.

GOLF CROQUET is the best game for beginning players at big events, such as charity fund-raisers, where many people are encouraged to play croquet in a short period of time.

For those who are truly captured by the sport, USCA 6-WICKET CROQUET is well worth the commitment required to master the shot-making skills and to gain an understanding of winning strategy. For those elite few, finding an existing croquet lawn or building one is the key to embarking on the sporting adventure of a lifetime--USCA Croquet.

CROQUET ERROR CORRECTION:

"MY MALLET KEEPS TWISTING IN MY HAND"
PROBLEM: The player is not hitting the ball in the middle of the mallet face. He is hitting it off centre to one side. It is the force of impact on the ball that is causing the mallet to twist in his hands.
CORRECTION: Line up the shot more carefully, keep the shoulders still, swing smoothly from the shoulders watching the exact point on the ball where the mallet will contact it, and REACH FORWARD along the ground in the follow-through to keep the mallet head moving along the line of aim. Getting these things right will usually result in fewer off-centre hits.

THE STOP SHOT:

"MY STOP-SHOTS ARE NOWHERE NEAR AS GOOD AS THE ONES I SEE OTHER PLAYERS DOING. MY STRIKER'S BALL ALWAYS SEEMS TO GO TOO FAR"

PROBLEM: Too much force from the mallet is finishing with the striker's ball instead of the roqueted ball. The forward movement is not being sufficiently checked. This can be caused by one of the following -
1. Mallet face not square.
2. Swing not exactly in line through the centres of the two balls.
3. The method used for stopping the forward movement of the mallet is not working satisfactorily.
4. Type of mallet.

CORRECTION: 1 & 2 can be checked by observing from the rear, and can easily be corrected by stalking the ball, etc.
3 is more difficult to correct, as perfect timing is needed to achieve a really good stop-shot. It may be that the player is using one hand low on the handle to produce a flat forward jab with the mallet head horizontal. Stop-shots can be played this way, but it is difficult to stop the forward movement instantly, especially with a heavy mallet. Alternatively, he may be using a very light grip and swinging from the wrists only, contracting the striker's ball at the botton of the swing and allowing the combined weight of the two balls to stop the forward movement. This is also a reasonable way of playing a stop-shot, but again good timing and a light mallet are needed.

Consistently good stop-shots can best be achieved with a very firm grip, lifting the front end of the mallet head ONLY SLIGHTLY and swinging downward. The ball is contacted AFTER the mallet head reaches the bottom of the swing, when it is starting on its way up, and at this instant the hands are moved vertically downward, or backward toward the body, in order to jam the rear end of the mallet head onto the ground and 'stop it dead'. The hands should preferable be together, but need not be at the top of the handle.

THE BREAK.

"I PLAY SEVERAL GOOD GHOTS TO GET A BREAK STARTED, THEN WHEN I HAVE ALL THE BALLS SET UP WHERE I WANT THEM, I DO SOMETHING STUPID LIKE STICKING IN AN EASY HOOP OR MISSING A SHORT ROQUET."

PROBLEM: The player is relaxing mentally as well as physically. There is a strong natural tendency to do this. In croquet physical relaxation is important, but mental relaxation can be dangerous.

CORRECTION: Be aware of the danger. The mental relaxation ("It should be easier from now on") can lead to failure to check all of the things necessary to ensure the sucess of the next shot. For example, the player may fail to check the squareness of the mallet face before playing a three-yard roquet, whereas on the previous more difficult shots he would have taken great care to check everything. He should develop the habit of taking the time to check EVERYTHING (body alignment, stalking, stance, grip, squareness, line of aim, shoulders still, etc.) before playing EVERY shot, even a gentle six-inch roquet. This is not because there is any likelihood of missing the six-inch roquet if he fails to check everything, but in order to develop an ingrained and automatic habit of getting it all correct, so that he is not so likely to inadvertently omit something when his mind is suddenly relaxed or distracted. In effect, he is using the six-inch roquet to practise for future shots.

"SOMETIMES MY BALL JUMPS WHEN I PLAY A RUSH SHOT. AT TIMES IT HAS JUMPED RIGHT OVER THE OTHER BALL"

PROBLEM: Unless the striker's ball is lying in a hole or just behind a tuft of hard grass, this can only be caused by the mallet head still being in its downward movement, with the handle tilted forward, when it contacts the ball. The player may be using a double-action pedulum swing in which the mallet swings mainly from the wrists, while the hands swing from the shoulders. The two pendulums thus created can easily get out of time (synchronisation) with each other so that the hands reach their desired contact position directly above the ball while the mallet head is still travelling downward.

CORRECTION: Stand a little further back from the ball and SLIGHTLY raise the front end of the mallet head. Swing smoothly from the shoulders with wrists locked and a firm grip with the top hand. This should produce a single pendulum with a long, flat swing in which the mallet head has passed the bottom of its swing and is just starting to move upward as the ball is contacted.


"AT TIMES I HIT THE GROUND WITH MY MALLET ON ROQUETS, OR MORE ESPECIALLY ON LONG RUSHES AND CANNONS."

PROBLEM: This is always caused by the player 'dipping' his shoulders as he swings, usually in an effort to impart more force to the ball.

CORRECTION: The player needs to concentrate on keeping his shoulders absolutely still on EVERY swing. It is important to do this even on shots where some shoulder movement would not seem to matter, so that it becomes an ingrained habit and will not be forgotten when he has to consider other factors as well. He must be convinced that shoulder movement will certainly not result in any additonal force being imparted to the ball, and instead he could be encouraged to use a tighter grip (top hand only) on shots which require greater than usual force.

Croquet: Finer Points & Bob Kroeger web site

Bob Kroeger web site:
http://www.members.aol.com/bobkroeger/index.htm

CROQUET: FINER POINTS
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MAKING SIDEY HOOPS
When teaching a player to make sidey hops it is common to teach him to make sure that his ball misses the near hoop-let. We (John Riches) believe that concentration on the hear hoop-leg is counter-productive, and suggest that instead he aim the centre of the ball at the inside edge of the far leg and swing straight in this line.

As players we have been training ourselves for years to look at the target and swing the mallet toward it. It will now be very difficult for us to look at something and swing correctly in some other direction. If you fix your eyes on the near hoop leg in order to ensure that you miss it, you are actually increasing the chance that you will hit it. For all sidey hoops shots, and also when attempting to roquet a ball which is partly hidden behind a hoop, you should avoid looking at the hoop leg. Instead, work out exactly where you want the centre (not the edge) of your striker's ball to go, and concentrate on that point, rather than on the hoop.

Perhaps this is a good place to emphasise again the fact that for the coach, the main difficulty in teaching a player to run hoops well from any position is usually the problem of getting him to avoid shortening the backswing, and use a relaxed and unhurried forward swing.

PRINCIPLES OF RISK-TAKING
The most difficult part of teaching and learning correct tactical play is that which deals with the type of risk which should, and should not, be taken during a game. All such decisions should ideally be based on the estimation and calculation of percentages, but there are some principles which can offen prove helpful:

1. THE STRONGER YOUR OPPONENT, THE MORE RISKS YOU SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE. For example, suppose that I am offered the possibility of playing a shot which I would expect to hit 4 times out of 10, and if successful would give me an all-round break, but if unsuccessful would give the same break to my opponent. I would take the shot and grab the 40% chance against an international player, because in general play his superior shots and greater experience would assure him of a much better than 60% chance of beating me. But if the opponent is weaker I would not want to allow him a 60% chance, and would wait hopefully for a better chance later on. This is in direct contrast to the common and incorrect idea that when you play a strong opponent you cannot afford to give them any chances, so must play safe. Such negative play will perhaps make the game longer and more boring, but will guarantee that the stronger player will eventually win.

2. BE PREPARED TO TAKE REASONABLE RISKS AT THE START OF A GAME, especially if it is the first game of the day for both you and your opponent. Some players have a habit of "playing dry", which involves (in their opinion) playing safe and refusing to take any risks, until they have "got the feel of the lawn and played themselves in". In fact, there is nothing "safe" about the adoption of such tactics, except that on percentages it is a safe way of allowing your opponent to get a long way ahead before you get started. The best time to take risks is when your opponent also does not have the "feel of the lawn", so is less likely to be able to profit if anything goes wrong. In addition, if the risk happens to come off, then it will give you a valuable boost in confidence.

3. TAKE ANY RISK WHICH OFFERS YOU A 60% OR BETTER CHANCE OF SETTING UP (OR CONTINUING) A BREAK. You do not need to be certain of succeeding before attempting a hoop or roquet which, if unsuccessful, will let your opponent in and (even) give him a break. You should chance it, provided you estimate that you would expect to succeed more than 6 times out of 10. Refusing to take such chances is not playing safe; it is simply reducing your chance of winning the game. However, in most situations there is no point in taking even a much smaller risk if, when it comes off, it allows you to make only one hoop with nothing much set up ahead.

4. WHEN YOU ARE THE OUT-PAYER, TAKE ANY RISK WHICH GIVES YOU A 40% OR BETTER CHANCE OF GAINING THE INNINGS. This means that you should attempt a roquet which you would expect to hit only 4 times out of 10, even though a miss will allow your opponent to set up an easy break. Both this principle and the previous one follow from the fact that the player with the innings has at least a 60% chance of getting the next break, regardless of where the balls are. By (for example) hitting a ball out of play without attempting a roquet, you give yourself no better than a 40% chance of getting a break extablished before your opponent does, and are immediately conceding him at least a 60% chance of getting the next break. Therefore any 40% chance of making a roquet is preferable.

SHOOTING AT A BALL IS ALMOST ALWAYS SAFER THAN NOT SHOOTING. The percentages greatly favour aggressive play. In most situations hitting away into a corner will allow your opponent much better than the minimum 60% chance of getting the next break mentioned in the previous paragraph. It is usually closer to 70% or 80%. Therefore you should attempt a roquet when you give yourself only 20% or 30% chance of making it, even if a miss will give the opponent an immediate easy break. I sometimes lie awake at night trying to think up positions where shooting at a ball may not give the best percentage chance of getting a break established before the opponent does, and so may not be the safest thing to do. Such positions are very rare, and almost always involve a situation where you are wired from one or more of the balls, and the ball you have to move is already around, so you do not particularly want to roquet with it anyway. If there are three balls you could shoot at, then where should be at least on of them which you would expect to hit 3 times out of 10, or which if you miss will require the opponent to play some accurate and not-so-straight-forward shots in order to set up his break.

The player who is prepared to take such risks will not expect to win every game, but will certainly win more games than if he refused to take them. Occasionally the risk will not come off, and after losing the game you are tempted to say to yourself (or more likely have someone else say to you) "I should have played safe!" But it is important to remember that there is nothing safe about 'playing safe' in the way that most people mean it. What reason could you give for supposing that you would have won the game if you had not taken the risk which failed to come off? In actual fact, you would have been even more likely to end up losing. Of course, if you knew you were going to miss, that would be a different thing; but you could well have made the roquet and ended up winning. That is what makes the study of croquet tactics, and playing the game, so fascinating: there are no certainties or guarantees. All you can ever do is maximise your chances and hope they come off.



INSIDE THE RECTANGLE by John Riches

Australia's chief coach makes the case for updating the traditional wisdom on how and where to load the corner pioneer in your three-ball break. To get the benefit, you have to learn to make a reliable wide-angle split.
When I learned the game, I was taught to play a three-ball break by keeping the balls within the rectangle formed by the four corner hoops. This involved sending the croqueted ball about a yard short of the hoop when using a split or stop-shot to load your next hoop. After making hoop 1, you would send the croqueted ball to position 2 behind hoop 3, instead of position 1, which is in front of the hoop.

Now we place less emphasis on this idea, and instead prefer to send the croqueted ball in front of the hoop to position 1. The reasons for this change are: (1) there is a much bigger (circular) area into which you can get your red striker's ball after making Hoop 2 and still be able to easily make hoop 3, compared with the smaller wedge-shaped area for position 2. (2) Loading the hoop within the rectangle often meant making the hoop from behind. (3) It is easier to get a useful forward rush when approaching the hoop from the front.

Against this we must weight the fact that some players will find the wider angle split harder to control.

The moral is: Learn to play wide-angle splits confidently, then load your hoops in front rather than behind. One exception in a three-ball break is the 1-back hoop which should still be loaded with a ball placed inside the rectangle and behind the hoop; if you do not understand why, ask your coach to explain it.


CROQUET: Getting Boundary Balls Into Play
Coaching Notes
University of Oxford Croquet Club
The aim once you have hit in is to gradually get control of all the balls. The first task is usually to move balls off boundaries when you are scrabbling around trying to get any sort of a break going. Subsequently you can bring any remaining balls on boundaries into play. There are three main methods involved in getting boundary balls into the break.

Levering balls off boundaries. This is generally done at the start of a turn when trying to establish a break. Whenever possible attempt to lever a ball which is on a boundary a little further off the boundary, e.g. if you take-off from a boundary ball make it a thickish take-off so that the ball ends up say 1ft. in from the yard line; if you roquet one of two adjacent balls on the boundary, play a little stop-shot or roll (rather than a take-off) to get a rush on the second ball thus moving the croqueted ball a little more into the lawn. The result of this is that when you next get the opportunity to rush a ball off the boundary close to such a ball, you then have more space to play a stronger stop-shot to get a ball well into the lawn whilst getting a rush on the 'levered' ball.

Substituting a ball in the break with one on the boundary. The second method is to leave a ball near the centre of the lawn and take-off to a boundary ball. The aim, as always, is to keep all of the strokes simple. If the critical stroke in your method relies on a 9:1 pass-roll at an 87½° split angle it may fail!

Cannons and Promotions. These are dealt with elsewhere.


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Levering Balls off Boundaries
Any time you have an interaction with a ball on a boundary you want to move it slightly more into the lawn. Hence if you come out of a hoop and have a rush to a boundary ball, you rush your reception ball to within a few feet of the boundary ball, then play a stop-shot to get a rush on the boundary ball to your next hoop whilst pushing the croqueted ball out into court. Do not be too ambitious - nothing is gained if you fail to get your rush on the boundary ball. Choose narrow croquet strokes, they are easiest. If necessary move the ball into the lawn in two bites. In the example below the striker hits one of a pair of balls on the boundary.
Yellow, for hoop #1, decides to shoot at Blue and Black at the start of a turn, and hits Blue.
Given that Black is close to Blue it is straightforward to get a rush on Black towards hoop #1. Rather than do a take-off however a small roll or, better, a stop-shot is used to put Blue out into the lawn. A stop-shot is preferable as you can place the striker's ball accurately with this stroke.
(Had Black been hit first, a small stop-shot would be played feeding Black out from the boundary whilst getting the rush on Blue. It would not matter if Black were played South down the lawn. What is required is space between the boundary and the ball).

Yellow can now rush Black to hoop #1...
(picking up Red is an exercise described later)

... and croquet Black so that it can be rushed near to Blue after running hoop #1.
After running the hoop, Black is rushed near to Blue - not so close that there is no room to play a shot which will allow Black to be sent towards hoop three. Ideally it will be to a position close to the rush line on Blue towards hoop #2. This means that subsequentlyYellow will be approaching Blue along its rush line.
In the subsequent croquet stroke, Black is aimed in the direction of hoop #3, but the priority in the stroke is to get a good rush on Blue. If Black only goes halfway but you get your rush on Blue you will get your hoop and the opportunity to rush Blue close to Black after the hoop to keep things going. If however Black is wonderfully placed as a three-ball break pioneer on hoop #3, but you fail to get the rush towards hoop two and so break down...
As always the basic priorities, in order, are:

Make your next hoop
Keep the break going
Do fancy stuff (peeling etc.)

We now have the start of a three-ball break; Blue is rushed to hoop #2, and a rush is set after the hoop to a position where Blue can be sent to hoop #3 and Black approached down its rush line to the hoop in the subsequent croquet stroke.


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Swapping a Boundary Ball with one in the Lawn
This is generally used once you have a 3-ball break in progress, whereas the levering technique is used when you are scrabbling around trying to get any sort of a break going.
Normally if you have a 3-ball break you would choose to pick up a boundary ball as you made hoops near it.
[Continuing the above example.]
Yellow is the striker's ball and it has just made hoop #3 off Black, and roqueted it after the hoop. Blue is a good pioneer at hoop #4, but Red is on South boundary. How should Red be brought into play?

Conceivably, it could be mooted that Yellow could take-off down to Red and then croquet Red to #5 whilst getting the rush on Blue. This however is a pass-roll and getting to rushing position on Blue is hindered by hoop #4 and Blue itself. Also we would not be playing down rush lines towards our pioneers.

More straightforward is to just continue playing a three-ball break. Hence Black is croqueted to hoop #5, and Yellow attempts to get the rush on Blue into hoop #4.
For reasons to become apparent later, Black is placed between Red and hoop #5.

Yellow rushes Blue to hoop #4.
Blue is placed beside the hoop so that once Yellow has run the hoop ...
.. it can be rushed somewhat towards the centre of the lawn.
It is not necessary to move it far, indeed it does not want to be moved too far, otherwise ...

... the subsequent take-off to the boundary ball, Red, becomes more difficult. Red is roqueted, possibly moving it to a more advantageous position.
Note it is not essential to get Yellow on the yard line - just within hitting distance of Red.

We are once again are in a three-ball break position; Red is sent to hoop #6 as a pioneer, and Yellow approaches Black along its rush line in the croquet stroke.
The placing of Black between the boundary ball (Red) and the hoop means that we can approach it up the rush line. This is the most difficult stroke in the process.

At this stage all of the work is done. Black is rushed to hoop #5, and is then positioned such that, after running the hoop, Yellow can rush either Blue or Black South down the lawn.
The subsequent stop-shot loads #1-back, and hopefully gets a rush on the new pivot towards the pioneer on hoop #6. It depends on the exact positions of balls as to which order they are struck.

For example, Yellow has run the hoop and rushed Blue to the side and slightly South. From here #1-back is loaded with Blue, and Yellow gets a position to rush the new pivot (Black) closer to Red.

Result: a four-ball break with no particularly difficult shots.

M.O.U.C.R's & USCA Croquet News

MOST OFTEN USED CROQUET RULES
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In starting a game, once a ball has cleared the first wicket, it may not hit or interfere with any ball that has not cleared the first wicket. Likewise, any ball that has not cleared the first wicket may not hit or interfere with any ball that has cleared the wicket.
Until the first wicket has been made, there are no extra shots. You may hit other balls that also have not made the first wicket, but you do not earn any extra shots.
When a strikers ball hits another ball upon which it is alive, this is called a ROQUET. The Strikers ball is then Ball-in-Hand on that ball and must go to that ball and play it's next shot, a CROQUET, from that ball with balls in contact with each other. The Roqueted ball should visibly shake during the croquet stroke. The striker is now DEAD on that ball and may not hit it again until he has gone through his/her next wicket. After the CROQUET shot, the striker takes a continuation shot.
When a ball crosses an OUT OF BOUNDS line, it is replaced one mallets head inside the line and turn ends. An exception to this rule is when the Strikers ball crosses the line following a Roquet! This is because strikers ball is ball-in-hand after a roquet and nothing this ball does counts for anything.
When a ball hits a ball upon which it is DEAD, both balls are replaced to their original position and the turn ends.
When a ball clears it's wicket, the striker may take one additional shot; any deadness on that ball is now cleared from the board. Any ball it hits on the stroke that sends the ball through it's wicket has to be hit again if you wish to roquet it.
When a player finishes his turn, he should immediately place his clip on his next wicket. If anyone notices a misplaced clip, this should be called to the attention of the player who misplaced it and it should be placed on the correct wicket. A boardkeeper or referree may also ask for it to be replace. Spectators may not correct anything.
When a player finishes his turn, he should leave the playing field so as not to interfere with the next players turn. Also, it is courtesy to not converse audibly within earshot of the players on the court, or move around within his/her view.
If an opponent laeves the striker's ball in a position from which he is unable to roquet at least one ball upon which he is alive, this is a WIRE and the Striker may lift his ball and go BALL-IN-HAND to any ball upon which he is alive and take CROQUET. He is now dead on that ball. There must be at least a balls width for clearance on all sides of the ball you wich to hit. Also, there should be no interference with your backswing. If an oponent leaves your ball in a wicket you may call a WIRE.
When any ball clears through the ONE-BACK wicket, the oponents get to clear one of their ball of ALL-DEADNESS. However, this must be called for before you strike your ball on the sides next turn. You may wait until the ball in play finishes it's turn.

USCA CROQUET NEWS: RULES COMMITTEE OPINIONS
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(CLARIFICATION OF DOUBLE TAPS)
Question: Is a double tap a fault under Rule 46a(7) when it occurs in one of the situations listed in Rules Committee Opinion No. 2-2001, but not as a result of hitting another ball?

Answer: Yes-although the opinion says "Rule 46a(7) does not apply to any of the situations listed above," the rule still applies when a double tap occurs in one of these situations but is not caused by hitting another ball.

Discussion: The clarification of the rule was meant to apply only to a double tap that results from the rebound of the striker's ball off another ball legally hit in a single ball shot. It does not remove the double-tap penalty from double-tap faults caused by, for example, a striker ball that rebounds off an upright, or a hampered or improper swing or follow-through.

(BALLS NOT TOUCHING IN A CROQUET SHOT)

Question: Is it a fault if the striker ball is not in contact with the roqueted ball at the time that the striker plays a croquet shot?

Answer: It is a fault if, following a roquet, the striker lifts his ball to the roqueted ball and thereafter plays a croquet shot while the striker ball is not in contact with the roqueted ball. The applicable penalty is Rule 52a. If, following a roquet, the striker lifts his ball to another ball other than the roqueted ball or fails to lift his ball to any ball, it is playing from a misplaced position.

Discussion: Rule 29a requires that to take croquet, the striker ball shall be placed in contact with the roqueted ball. Rule 51b(2) and (3) provide that taking croquet from a wrong ball or lifting to an incorrect position constitute misplaced position. However, Rule 51c(1) provides that the striker ball not remaining in contact with the roqueted ball does not constitute misplaced position and the rule futher provides that nothing in Rule 51 supersedes any part of Rule 29. The only alternative to treating a failure to comply with Rule 29a as misplaced position is to treat it as a fault. Thus, if the striker has correctly lifted his ball to the roqueted ball and thereafter plays a croquet shot without the balls touching, it is a fault. This interpretation is consistent with the fact that customarily, a fault has been called in this situation. Conversely, if a striker has lifted his ball to another ball other than the roqueted ball or to some other position it is playing from a misplaced position. Failing to lift the striker ball at all following a roquet is the equivalent of lifting to an incorrect position and constitutes playing from a misplaced position.

ATTEMPTED ROQUETED BALL GOES OUT OF BOUNDS
Question: If a striker ball hits another ball it is alive on, which then goes out of bounds, may it thereafter in the same shot score a wicket or cause another ball to move?

Answer: Yes, because in this situation, no roquet has occurred.

Discussion: A roquet only occurs when a striker ball hits another ball on which it is alive AND is thereafter entitled to take croquet or, in the event of a roquet that stakes out a rover, two continuation shots under rule 43e.
In the event of a roquet, as defined above, the striker's ball is deemed to have immediately become ball in hand at the time of the roquet. The rules treat anything done by a striker ball after a successful roquet as "invalid play." Any third or fourth balls moved following the shot are replaced as governed by Rule 27b. Responsibility for the position of the third or fourth balls so moved does not change as a result of the movement and replacement, as stated in Rule 40b (corrected by Rules Committee Opinion 5-2001). Further, the striker cannot score a wicket or stake out following a roquet, as provided in Rule 27d.
In the event that a roquet, as defined above, dowes not occur because the ball hit by the striker's ball goes out of bounds or cannons another ball out of bounds, the striker's ball remains in play. All balls moved remain where they end up or are marked in bounds. A wicket scored by the striker's ball counts. Further, the striker is responsible for the position of any ball moved. If the striker's ball hits another ball that it is dead on, that ball and the striker's ball are replaced.

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