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Two-Ball or Croquet-Strokes
The original or "tight" croquet, pictured on p. 169, has now quite gone out, everybody agreeing that it was "unscientific," and did great damage to the lawn, besides giving the strong players an immense advantage over their weaker victims, whom they were wont to croquet away to the utmost limits of the ground. The only croquets now in use are the various "loose" croquets and the take-off. THE STOP STROKE, in which the striker's ball goes a short distance, while the other goes a long way, consists merely in giving a sharp tap, and the sharper the stroke is, the shorter will be the distance run by the striker's ball as compared with that run by the other. THE ROLLING OR FOLLOWING STROKE, in which both balls go about the same distance, is accomplished by following or dwelling on the stroke with the mallet, instead of giving a sharp tap as in the stop stroke. Care must be taken not to make a "double tap," which would make it a "foul stroke." Though this stroke requires a good deal of force, yet it is more the following well on with the mallet that is the secret of success.
IN THE PASSING STROKE, the striker's or rear ball passes and goes a longer distance than the forward or croqueted ball. This result is achieved by following the ball with the mallet even more than in the rolling stroke, and still more care must be taken not to make a "foul." It is a very useful stroke, and should be well practised, as indeed should all the croquet-strokes.
THE SPLITTING STROKE is the most difficult of all the croquet-strokes. In it the two balls do not go in the same direction, but fly off at an angle from each other. The first thing to remember is that in all cases the croqueted ball will go right away almost in the direction of the line passing through the centres of the two balls, that is, towards A in the figure, in which Y is the striker's and X the croqueted ball. The direction in which the striker's own ball goes depends upon the sort of stroke given, and the following simple rules should be noticed :-- If the stroke is to be a stop splitting stroke, aim the mallet halfway between the directions to be taken by the two balls; that is, if X in the figure is to go to A and Y to B, the mallet must be aimed in the direction C; but if Y is to go to B1, then aim towards B.
If the stroke is to be a rolling or passing splitting stroke, aim the mallet in the same direction that your own ball is to take. Thus, if Y is to go to C, aim towards C; if towards B, aim towards B, X in both cases going towards A. The above rules will be sufficient for the beginner : he will after a little practice be able to find out the various angles and distances for himself. THE TAKE-OFF, formerly called "taking two turns off," is a variety of splitting stroke in which the balls are so placed and struck that the striker's ball receives nearly the whole force of the blow, the other only just moving. The principal thing to be noticed is the risk of not moving the croqueted ball, which would make the stroke "foul"; but this may be avoided if the balls be placed as in the figure, in which Y is the striker's ball which goes in the direction B, while X, the croqueted ball, goes only a very little way towards A. To ensure moving X, the mallet should be aimed in the direction C, that is, a little inside B, towards A.