IT’S A SHORT STEP FROM GC TO AC Experience in GC gives players a head start in learning AC, making it enjoyable for them to explore the other code and for coaches to introduce them to it. AC is at heart a very simple game. James Hawkins sums up the key points as follows: 1 You have two balls, and can pick either one or the other for each turn. 2 Both balls have to score all the hoops. The clips show you where you’re going. 3 You can keep your turn going by earning extra shots: Run your hoop and you get another go. Hit another ball and you get another two goes. The first of those is played from anywhere in contact with the ball you’ve just hit. 4 Finish at the peg. That’s it! A simple first step is for GC players to understand that the game is about building a break; all the other balls can be used to help. Set up a simple scenario with Black in a hoop‐running position, Red nearby and to play. The GC player will think, “Danger: how can I remove Black?” The AC player will think, “Opportunity: how can I use Black to help me run the hoop?” Now introduce the core AC sequence of roquet ‐ croquet ‐ continuation, using the simplest croquet shot, the take‐off, to get Red into hoop‐running position. With these minimal tools it’s perfectly possible to go on to play a very simple game of AC, with perhaps a straightforward target at this early stage of first to three hoops. All other rules and moves can wait until later. The go‐to guide for coaches looking for a tried and tested way of introducing AC to GC players is Introducing Association Croquet – Manual for Coaches. It’s freely downloadable from the CqE website: key the title and Croquet England into Google to get straight to it. A special section for coaching GC converters starts at p26. Klim Seabright, Cheltenham CC, has run a number of GC2AC courses and offers several helpful tips to pass on to coaches: • Short Croquet makes the coaching much easier and leads more quickly to success. If half lawns are not available, work towards shorter versions of the game • Underline what both codes have in common, even though they may have different names, eg rush/clearance. • Put new skills in the context of a game, ideally alternate stroke doubles. Change students around so they gain experience across a range of shots. • Use bisques to help students achieve success as quickly as possible. • Build confidence: say you enjoy coaching GC players because they already know so much, for example running hoops, judging distances. • Have measures in place for students to judge self‐improvement. This may simply be the number of bisques needed to set up a break or maintain one. • Try to adapt your coaching style to the person before you. • Remind students that, if they feel they are stagnating or going backwards, they may ask for a short one‐to‐one session with a coach.
NEWLY QUALIFIED COACHES The following nine players have passed all stages of the accreditation process at the appropriate level and have been added to the Croquet England List of Coaches. Congratulations to them all. NEW CLUB‐LEVEL COACHES Lynn Beedle, Ramsgate CC Sue Evans, Compton CC Robert Gregory, Ramsgate CC Cliff Hunter, Surbiton CC Tony McCann, Durham CC Sue Payne, Ramsgate CC Martin Robb, Dunstan CC John Sayce, Mumbles CC NEW GRADE 1 GC COACHES Peter Allan, Blewbury CC Club‐Level Coaches are accredited to coach beginners and high handicap players at their own clubs. Graded Coaches are authorised to coach at more advanced levels at other clubs and at Academies. To find out how to become a coach enter “Become a Coach” into the Croquet England website. BECOMING A COACH Qualified coaches benefit from free Croquet England insurance. Not only that, but coaching others is rewarding for the coaches themselves – and also helps them develop their own game. As a newly‐qualified Club‐Level Coach writes: “I’m very much looking forward to getting more involved in improving my game and the playing skills of those at the club.” Sue Evans, Compton CC
www.croquetengland.org.uk | 50
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease