GC – HOOP CIRCUITS AND DECIDING HOOPS
lawn, from one or other of the two middle hoops to an opposite corner‐hoop. From Hoop 12 at the ‘southern’ end of the lawn, this could mean aiming for either Hoop 7 or Hoop 3 at the ‘northern’ end. From the pattern described above, the more consistent choice for the Deciding Hoop after 12 hoops had been played would be the one in Corner II. So, then the complete pattern of Deciding Hoops would become: • best‐of‐7‐hoops (one circuit): DH = Hoop 1 again • best‐of‐13‐hoops (two circuits): DH = Hoop 2 played as Hoop 7 (i.e. ‘southwards’) • best‐of‐19‐hoops (three circuits): DH = Hoop 3 again (= Hoop 13) • best‐of‐25‐hoops (four circuits): DH = Hoop 4 played as Hoop 19 (i.e. ‘northwards’) Thus, the corner in which the Deciding Hoop is located corresponds to the number of complete circuits the game has taken. And the hoop to be run as the Deciding Hoop is a re‐run of the first hoop of the circuit just completed. Of course, ‘memorability’ is a key aspect of any game. One example of the consequences of losing track of the progress of a game is when a wrong ball is played (i.e. forgetting which ball had just been struck), perhaps because Red promoted Yellow and so Blue was mistakenly played next to follow the last ball seen moving. I am often asked, when Hoop 8 or Hoop 10 has been run, for confirmation about where the next hoop is – thinking in complete six‐hoop circuits should help cement this aspect of the game. AC’s traditional hoop‐counting system is also helpful – its second circuit can be followed by counting hoops from the beginning again but in a new way: ‘1‐back’, ‘2‐back’ and so on … something that could be useful in GC too? In my early experiences as a croquet player, I took part in an internally‐organised club league. We played best‐of‐7‐hoops games and we all played a route from Hoop 1 to Hoop 7, i.e. Hoop 7 was the Deciding Hoop. This felt similar to the best‐ of‐13 hoops game where the tie‐break hoop is currently Hoop 13, i.e. the next hoop in order (Rule 7.4). So, Hoop 7 being the next hoop in order, this seemed to everyone to be the right hoop to use to decide a tie‐break. I was corrected on this only recently when it was pointed out to me that Rule 1.4.2 says it is Hoop 1 again. Using Hoop 7 in Corner II as the last hoop for best‐of‐13‐hoops games would help to avoid this mistaken thinking. All of the above is relevant to Level Play and to Handicap (Extra Strokes) Play. Games played under either of these stipulations will last a minimum of 4, 7 or 10 hoops, i.e. games which are won to ‘love’.
CHRISTOPHER MABLEY Croquet Sports Journalist Rother Valley Croquet Club Duncton, West Sussex
The two formats of the game of croquet – AC and GC – overlap in various ways, including the route taken around the lawn during a contest. The shorter versions of both formats use one circuit of the six hoops, starting with the hoop at Corner I and proceeding clockwise around the lawn following an inward‐turning spiral. AC players complete their game by ‘pegging out’ while, if necessary, GC players decide their game by playing Hoop 1 a second time. The standard version of both formats adds a second circuit of the six hoops to the first; this new circuit starts with the hoop at Corner II and proceeds anticlockwise around the lawn, again following an inward‐turning spiral. AC players still complete their game by ‘pegging out’ while, if necessary, GC players are currently instructed to decide their game by playing Hoop 3 again. The AC mode of play makes for a long‐enough game as it is, but GC allows for the possibility of a longer version played through 19 hoops. This is achieved by adding another circuit of the six hoops, and this third circuit starts with the hoop in Corner III and proceeds clockwise again. If necessary, GC players decide this game by playing Hoop 3 once more. There is clearly a pattern behind this, though it is not quite consistent. The picture that is developing here would be completed by adding a fourth circuit of the hoops. Following the patterning above, this circuit would start with the hoop in Corner IV and proceed anticlockwise, so that each of the four circuits of this 25‐hoop game would have started with a different corner‐hoop and would have alternated in the direction taken around the lawn. But which hoop would be the ‘Deciding Hoop’ in the event of a tie at 12:12? Following the pattern of the one‐circuit game of 7 hoops and the three‐circuit game of 19 hoops which start and finish with Hoop 1 and Hoop 3 respectively, then the four‐circuit 25‐ hoop game being considered here would end in Corner IV once again by contesting Hoop 4 (run outside–in, as Hoop 19). This leads me to wonder why the Deciding Hoop for the most common version of the GC game – 13 hoops – is the one in Corner III? All Deciding Hoops present the extra challenge of the longest transition between hoops, diagonally across the
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