let’stalktactics
Creating a Rush By Jeff Soo
Abbreviations used: blUe, Red, blacK, Yellow In “One rule to ring them all” (Croquet News 2022, Volume 3), I posited a basic concept underlying 6W (and AC) tactics: always try to take croquet near the wicket you intend to score. This is obvious when there’s already a ball at your wicket or you have a rush pointed there, but what if neither is available? In that article, I outlined some basic patterns but only hinted at the more advanced ones, where you use two or three of the other balls to “create” the rush to your wicket.
How would you play it? Think of a sequence before reading on. Details matter, so be specific about each shot. When discussing tactics, players often talk about the risk/reward ratio. The Figure 1 scenario gives a clear example. K’s best play is to rush Y to its wicket. But Y plays next and has no deadness. If K fails the wicket, there’s a good chance Y will have an easy shot at K. K will be three-ball dead (and U is already partner-dead), putting RY into a very strong position. That is, K’s play carries significant risk. But K’s play also offers potential rewards: scoring one or more points, splitting up the opponents and keeping R partner-dead, and a chance to solve the problem of U’s partner-deadness by setting U up with R (or peeling it through 4). The goal is not to eliminate risk, which is impossible, but to balance risk and reward. Risk is inevitable because we don’t have perfect control over the outcome of a shot. This variability is based on several factors, including correctness of aim, accuracy of force and direction when striking the ball, judgment of distance and the effects of wind and unevenness of the court surface. All these factors have something in common: their effects grow with distance. Long shots have more variability than short shots. One of the best ways to reduce risk is to shorten your shots, putting special emphasis on the most critical shots. You can also reduce risk by choosing targets that are more forgiving. The reason it’s generally a bad idea to try to set up inches from the wicket is that a tiny error can result in complete failure; such a target fails to account for the expected variability of the shot.
FIGURE 1: R has just failed 6, with K for 3 and alive on all balls
In Figure 1, R has just failed 6, leaving it dead on Y and out of position to run the wicket next time. Y, also for 6, has a fairly easy play to nudge R back into position, then Irish peel both balls through the wicket on the croquet stroke. Even without that threat, this is still a position K should play aggressively. It’s a good chance to combine offense and defense in one play; a chance U won’t have because of its deadness. Depending on your skill set, you can play this different ways, but in all cases, the immediate goal should be for K to rush Y to 3 (R can’t be rushed to 3 because 6 is in the way).
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Taking croquet near the wicket, especially if you do so from the playing side, reduces risk in both ways. The shot is short, reducing the effect of variability. And, by approaching from the playing side, you make the shot more forgiving: you can underor over-hit it somewhat and still end up in position for a fairly straight wicket shot. We can apply the same principles to rushing. The best way to get into position for a precise rush is to take croquet from another ball near the ball we want to rush. Back to Figure 1, because R is already close to Y, we have an easy play to take croquet close to Y. Just as when approaching a wicket, we want to approach a rush straight on. That is, we want to approach Y along the rush-line. Figure 2 shows how this might look: