Want you back for good
Like many sports, croquet is basically a game of confidence (at least as far as the skill side goes - tactics are another matter). Step onto the court feeling good and you're halfway to victory already. The trouble is that confidence is very hard to engender. As an example, on a handful of occasions in my croquet career I've stepped up to a long shot (which in my book is anything longer than about 10 yards) and felt absolutely certain I was going to hit it. And on every occasion, I have. (And I mean *every* - this isn't a case of selective memory.) But, and it's a big but, I can't create this feeling to order. I can't tell myself that I know I'm going to hit it - that doesn't work. I do find that envisaging the outcome that I want to happen does help, but it still fails pretty often.
This is, of course, the reason why so many top sports team and sportsmen and women employ specialist psychologists to help them to peak mental performance. I have no doubt that this is a good idea. Sadly, it's beyond the reach of an amateur hacker such as myself.
I was a rapid improver on the croquet circuit for most of my career. I started in 1998, and had two years of excellent results, with my handicap falling from 14 to 8. In 2000 I stagnated, and decided as a result to change my style quite radically. Predictably the initial result was negative and in 2001 my handicap rose to 9. But I stuck with my new style, turned the corner and from 2002-2004 was once again back to good results. My handicap fell from 9 to -0.5, and I won the "Most Improved Player" award in my club three years running. Admittedly there are only 20 or so players in my club (!), but that's still quite an achievement. (And I'm so modest with it.) And then came 2005 and 2006.
This is all a preamble (and a lengthy one at that) to a piece about my first croquet tournament of the year, at Hurlingham last weekend (5-7 May). Somehow, and I don't care to speculate too much here on the whys and hows, my confidence was back. And suddenly, my play was right back to 2004, as though the last two years of mediocre results, of grind, grind, grind, of blobbed hoops and having to concentrate like mad to play even the simplest of breaks, had never happened. I won 5/7, came second overall in the tournament, and came very close to beating the eventual winner who won all his games. (I didn't even make a single mistake in that game, but he hit his last long shot to save the game, and I missed mine.)
Why? How? What happened in the last two years? Where did my form go and why did it come back? I have a few ideas about some of these, but ultimately this all remains a mystery. And I guess the next question is what will happen in the next tournament. That is the County Championships on 26-29 May, when I'll be aiming to captain Middlesex back into the first division. The Counties are always the social tournament of the year, and one I eagerly look forward to because of their social aspect. If I can hold my form, I'll enjoy them even more this year. Here's hoping that wherever my form has come back from, it feels like sticking around for a while.
And if any amateur psychologists would like to experiment on me with some free advice, my door is always open...
Nick
Playlist: Magnum - Les Morts Dansants, David Coverdale - Love Is Blind, Def Leppard - Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad, WASP - Dr Rockter
This is, of course, the reason why so many top sports team and sportsmen and women employ specialist psychologists to help them to peak mental performance. I have no doubt that this is a good idea. Sadly, it's beyond the reach of an amateur hacker such as myself.
I was a rapid improver on the croquet circuit for most of my career. I started in 1998, and had two years of excellent results, with my handicap falling from 14 to 8. In 2000 I stagnated, and decided as a result to change my style quite radically. Predictably the initial result was negative and in 2001 my handicap rose to 9. But I stuck with my new style, turned the corner and from 2002-2004 was once again back to good results. My handicap fell from 9 to -0.5, and I won the "Most Improved Player" award in my club three years running. Admittedly there are only 20 or so players in my club (!), but that's still quite an achievement. (And I'm so modest with it.) And then came 2005 and 2006.
This is all a preamble (and a lengthy one at that) to a piece about my first croquet tournament of the year, at Hurlingham last weekend (5-7 May). Somehow, and I don't care to speculate too much here on the whys and hows, my confidence was back. And suddenly, my play was right back to 2004, as though the last two years of mediocre results, of grind, grind, grind, of blobbed hoops and having to concentrate like mad to play even the simplest of breaks, had never happened. I won 5/7, came second overall in the tournament, and came very close to beating the eventual winner who won all his games. (I didn't even make a single mistake in that game, but he hit his last long shot to save the game, and I missed mine.)
Why? How? What happened in the last two years? Where did my form go and why did it come back? I have a few ideas about some of these, but ultimately this all remains a mystery. And I guess the next question is what will happen in the next tournament. That is the County Championships on 26-29 May, when I'll be aiming to captain Middlesex back into the first division. The Counties are always the social tournament of the year, and one I eagerly look forward to because of their social aspect. If I can hold my form, I'll enjoy them even more this year. Here's hoping that wherever my form has come back from, it feels like sticking around for a while.
And if any amateur psychologists would like to experiment on me with some free advice, my door is always open...
Nick
Playlist: Magnum - Les Morts Dansants, David Coverdale - Love Is Blind, Def Leppard - Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad, WASP - Dr Rockter