A good lawn well drained, of closely cropped turf in good condition and true, will play faster than where the grass is poor and dampish. Weeds, like plantains and daisies, will quite spoil a stroke if the ball happens to slide upon them, and obviously holes or bare places are still worse. An ordinary lawn can be improved by sifting over it sandy road scrapings, and hollows filled in in this way early in the year and well rolled will become turf later on as the grass will grow through the soil. A poor lawn can be helped by sowing on this top dressing some good lawn seed, which can be had at any good seedsman’s. Birds are partial to it, and it is necessary to either net the lawn or stretch across it black thread at intervals.
A lawn which is weedy can only be improved with trouble and labour. Plantains, the worst pest, must be got up by their roots; there is a lawn weeder sold for the purpose. Dandelions must be carefully extracted or they will spring up again, as will docks. Daisies are a nuisance, and can only be got rid of by weeding; the lawn sand will do something to eradicate them. Constant rolling and cutting with a good lawn mower, provided with a hood to collect the cut grass, is necessary to preserve a lawn in good condition. An impoverished lawn should be dressed with road sweepings and bone dust, and moss in a lawn is a sure indication that this treatment is necessary. A lawn grown from seed will take some two or three years to form a turf; to hasten matters turfs should be put down, as if this be done in the autumn, and the lawn thus formed be top-dressed with sifted road-scrapings in the spring, it will be playable in the summer. If a lawn be damp there is only one cure—drainage, which means having pipes laid some two feet below the surface. A well drained lawn can be played on soon after a shower of rain, whereas a badly drained lawn is nearly always boggy. I give these few details about the lawn itself because, though many of us have to put up with what we have, we might as well make the best of it, and a little care and attention will do much to improve our turf, and the game is so much more enjoyable if the lawn we play upon is fairly good. Nothing is so annoying as having a good stroke spoilt because the ball is given a wrong bias by a weed or hole.
FIG. 3.—SIGHTING THE BALL.
It is not my purpose to give the rules of the game, as a capital shilling handbook by Mr. J. Jeffery is published by Dean and Son, Fleet Street, from which I take the three methods of arranging the hoops, and to which I refer the reader; but a few general hints which come to me through having played the game may not be de trop. It is useless playing a much better player on equal terms, and here comes in the question of handicapping. This can be done by giving the weaker player the start of a hoop or two, or by “bisques,” or extra strokes which can be taken at any period of the game. These extra strokes should be given by an umpire, and where one is not available hoops should be taken, though the weaker player can play to a certain hoop while the stronger player has to go right round the course. This latter arrangement is perhaps preferable. For single games a third ball called a “Jack” can be used, each player having the right of using this extra ball. The Jack can also be used by a player who elects to play two others in partnership. Three players generally play enemies, and can use a “Jack” or not as agreed upon. Where one player plays against two others, he should be the better player, and should play first, as it is an advantage for a weaker player to come after. In a four game the last player is manifestly in a better position than the others, as he has the three other balls to roquet. But there can be no question that double games, i.e., with four players in partnership, is the ideal game; the two stronger players should each take a weaker partner. In the double game generalship is most important, the chief rule to be observed being for the partners to play each other’s game, which means coming to each other’s rescue quite irrespective of getting through hoops. To make this clear, a player should go to the assistance of his partner at all costs, for if partners do not play together their chances of winning are much lessened. This may sound an arbitrary law, but experience will convince anyone that it is founded upon a knowledge of the game, as it is of the greatest help to have your partner’s ball to roquet, and you not only help yourself, but you can often put your partner’s through a hoop as well as your own. I have seen games where two players will each play his own game irrespective of the other, while their opponents play together, and as the game draws to a conclusion the advantage of playing in partnership in deed as well as in name is most marked. It is sometimes worth the while of a stronger player to become a “rover” when a game is well advanced, especially if his partner is a weak player, as then the rover can give more assistance to the partner than he could if he had to trouble about points himself. Another tactic which must not be lost sight of is, when you cannot come to your partner’s assistance, to make for the hoop your partner will go for next, which will materially assist him, as he can roquet your ball and “take two turns off.”
Six players can take part in a game, but it makes it long drawn out and tedious.
There is another point to be observed, and that is to carry the war into the enemies’ camp, especially if your two opponents are getting much ahead. By croqueting them out of position instead of getting through your own hoop you thwart them, thereby giving yourselves a chance. Some players carry this too far, never troubling to make points themselves, and as it is only by making points, that is, getting through hoops, that wins the game, the chief concern should be to make points, at the same time doing your best as occasion serves to prevent your opponents getting ahead.
Always notice where the ball of the player following you is before you make your final stroke, for it is certainly better to hit yourself out of his way (and if possible, to where your partner’s ball is) even at the loss of position than to give your opponent an easy roquet. All these matters come under the head of generalship, and it is well for partners to agree as to the course to be pursued, instead of each asserting his or her ego, and so bringing about divided councils, which can only end in disaster if your opponents play well together. It is to be feared—that is, on this subject of tactics—so much bad temper is shown, but that is not the fault of croquet, for there are players at every game who lose their temper as play goes against them. Play with all the keenness and persistence possible, never giving up trying while the issue is still undecided, but the “rigour of the game” certainly need not lead to ructions. There are days when one is “off” play, and when the easiest strokes are muffed. This is aggravating, of course, and if it annoys you much retire gracefully, but the old hand knows that there are times when one’s play is better than usual, and these occasions should make up for those other days when you are “off.” All match-games and tournaments are apt to try one by inducing a state of nervousness, which makes good play impossible. One knows that this comes from over-desire to win, by playing up to one’s best form. Any counsel is one of perfection on such a matter, but if one could only realise that more is done by quiet steady play, hanging on to your opponent’s heels and realising that the game is not lost until the last point is scored, some of this feverish excitement might be allayed.
I must just say a few words with regard to strokes, and here the illustrations, drawn from some photographs I took of a girl who is a particularly good player, may be helpful.
There are two classes of players, those who score points and pay little heed to the way they do this, and those who study “form,” that is, the way they play: a good style comes partly by practice and partly by an aptitude for the game. It is good form to hold your mallet somewhat like a cricket bat as in Fig. 1, and hit your ball with freedom and from the elbow, but beginners find it difficult to be certain of the direction the ball will travel, and prefer to hold the mallet in front of them as in Fig. 2, letting it swing like a pendulum. This sort of stroke enables the player to gauge the direction with greater certainty, but you can get no force into it, and the tyro should cultivate the freer stroke, if she wish to become a strong instead of a timid player.