Laugh if you will but I have decided to learn to play croquet. I saw an ad in the local paper where a croquet club was having a “Have a Go” Day. I never played croquet in my life except for the back yard game we played as kids. But I thought, what the hell?
I quickly learned that croquet is a vicious game. And I love that. Imagine if, as part of the game of golf, the other players could knock your ball away from the hole, in fact, clean off the putting green, before you have the opportunity to putt it in. That is croquet in a nutshell. The goal is to get your ball through the hoop before the other side and along the way your job is to make them miserable by knocking their ball as far from the hoop as possible. You are preventing them from scoring while they are preventing you from scoring. There is so much strategy involved and yet, no matter how you decide to proceed, you still have to make the shot. In that sense it is somewhat like curling or perhaps playing pool. You can have a plan but you still have to make it work. As a pool player, understanding the angles helps a lot but getting the right amount of weight on the ball and controlling the direction will take years to master.
I am playing what is called Golf Croquet. This is more for socializing and fun. We have partners, with four players in a game. We chat and laugh and have fun. The serious minded play something called Association Croquet, which I understand has very little socializing. It is just a player and his mallet. I am not in this to become a pro. I am just trying to have some fun so I will stick with Golf Croquet.
I am the youngest play in this group by far. Only retired folks can play croquet in the middle of the day. But no matter their age, they are way better than I am. What is really nice is that even though it is a vicious game, everyone is quite polite about it. Everyone, even opponents, helps me figure out the game and gives me advice on how to hit the ball. New Zealanders are polite as it is and playing this game just emphasizes it. I get a lot of “well played,” and “very nice shot” if I make a good shot, as well as “hard luck” when I miss. At the end, we shake hands and go on to the next round.
I am told I am pretty good given how little I have played. I think I am more lucky than anything. Still, hopefully in a year or so, I will have improved enough to actually know what I am doing.
A Yank Among the Kiwis 