I must confess, the only golf croquet tactic I’m fully conversant with is where I put myself offside at precisely 2.58pm on a Friday afternoon going for either hoop 2 or hoop 8 on Lawn 2. That way, I am inevitably sent to the penalty area immediately opposite the clubhouse door and will thus be in the perfect position when that teatime bell clangs to be first in the queue for a Croft Cake.
But I understand that golf croquet tactics are much more than this and so this is why I will be first in the queue to join John Guy’s course on ‘Tactics And The Use of Marbles’ being held on Thursday 8th August at 10.00am.
John held a successful teaching session recently at the club and such was the positive feedback that he is holding it again for anyone who wishes to improve their skills in ‘thinking tactically’ when playing GC. The course will be useful to ANY member wishing to improve their game and very valuable to members of the club’s various representative teams at all levels of experience, who play in the South West or West Midlands Federation leagues.
As well as covering tactical play, John will also be covering the use of extra strokes in handicap games – as were used in the club’s recent Veteran’s Tournament. John will cover the use of marbles as part of his course. This aspect of John’s course may be particularly useful to newer members of the High Handicap squad. The effective use of extra strokes can help turn a game.
John’s course ‘Tactics And The Use Of Marbles’ will be held on Thursday August 8th at 10.00 am. Please contact John by email to secure a place on the course.
Many thanks to John for running the course again.
Broadwas High Handicap squad member Vivien Ellis attended the recent course taught by John and she reflects here on the benefits of joining the teaching session:
“On Saturday, July 20th I attended an enjoyable & excellent training for high handicappers (8+) on “Tactics & the use of Marbles”. It was the brainchild of John Guy and should John offer this course again I would urge members to take advantage of it.
Having belonged to other Sports’ Clubs, I realise how fortunate we are at Broadwas to be invited to attend free courses to improve our game. Also, the team captains are inclusive and encourage anyone who wants to play in a league match to sign up to represent Broadwas during the season.
The croquet handicap system works well and gives all players an equal chance but each club team player has a responsibility to seek constant improvement in their play. It was with the latter in mind that I chose to attend today’s course.
The greater part of the course was to improve our tactical play. We were blessed with dry weather and were led out to the first hoop on Lawn 1.
John began by asking us where we wanted that important first ball to be positioned after our shot from the corner. Then we progressed to the second hoop and numerous examples of ball positions were created, discussed , played out and reviewed. We were encouraged to think “What would happen if…..?” and we understood more and more how important it is to think five shots ahead.
As with any good teacher, John had come with a plan but occasionally strayed from it as he recognised points where greater understanding or skill revision was needed.
After a short break in the clubhouse, John illustrated how to use our marbles to our advantage acknowledging that marbles are being phased out for Advantage golf. He also demonstrated how to approach the game when your opposition has marbles.
No sooner was I home & the promised Bullet Points arrived from John. The Bullet Points will be a prompt to recall the training – you need to attend the training to benefit from the Bullet Points!”
I was unable to join John’s previous course, so will see you there. Get on to that email now!
Paul Felton