The MCA held a Virtual Press Conference (VPC) today with MCA President Dylan Goodwin as a follow-up to last Saturday’s Oklahoma Open. This is Part 2 of 4 of the Q&A:
How did the "true croquet courts" affect nine-wicket play?
At this point, I am very encouraged. We had a little practice on Friday and the set up was a bit undersized and only practice wickets were set up. It was incredibly easy to go around and I was in a state of panic most of Friday night. However, we set standard wickets for pro play and I set them very tight―just a sliver of clearance on about 15 of the 18 pro wickets. That seemed to solve it and I am pleased to report ... we had very inter-active play. The wind may have factored in also, but I really thought the experiment was a success.
Conventional croquet wisdom has always been that 9W has to be played on a non-standard surface to create "random misses." The idea being that top players would go around too easily. And I am sure, that the top 100 or 200 in the world would do that, but I'm not looking to watch a 9W championship game between Bamford and Fletcher (well, actually I might try a best of seven). However, after one test, I am feeling more confident it probably works out for 99.5% of the world croquet nation―for the non-super human players.
So, I really didn't see any drawbacks. And I thought it showed a lot of positives―
1) Provides players with a lot of hoop work in a tournament situation
2) The game works well on a 60-minute clock, so a one-day tourney is viable (desperately needed for 20 to 50 age range recruiting in the US)
3) Rushing to the front or the back side of the wicket works fine (because of the extra roquet options), so you spend less time worrying about the cut and more thinking about the distance. Again, this is a negative for elite play, but a great skill development exercise for most players.
4) The rush distances are shorter. Again, a great bonus for development
5) Really, you'd be amazed at how much time messing around with setting the balls up for a takeoff wastes in AC and USCA Rules. The concept of dropping the ball close by the roquet and just shooting was really refreshing ... both while in play and while watching the other player. Again, that makes the game far easier, so I am not proposing changes to 6W, but as a developmental aspect, it was very refreshing to play at a faster pace. I don't know why I haven’t noticed this over the past 9W tournaments, but that aspect really stood out to me on Saturday.
6) The two-ball break short game going through 6-7-stake-9-10 is an invaluable development exercise. In practice and more so under the pressure of an actual tournament game.
Sounds like playing nine-wicket on these courts was a way to mix it up and a benefit to players with less experience. That said, this tournament seemed to be teeming with talent. And there was no silver division. What is your take on the level of talent in Tulsa and how it affected the structure of the Pro and Gold divisions?
I was surprised at our non-success in getting some of the developmental players from Oklahoma to play in the event. Essentially, they seemed fearful of learning a "new" game. So, that was a lesson learned. Brand new players develop well with 9W, but taking players that have already started down the 6W path back to 9W might be challenge. Even though, the game would be excellent for their development.
But even here in KC, the Silver Division concept is new and getting enough players for the first event was a challenge. It looks like the KC Club is going to put together a good supply of new talent for the Silver Division at the Kansas Challenge on July 12, though.
Overall though, this was definitely the highest rated Pro Division the MCA has assembled. And the top end of that talent was on the Oklahoma side. Greg Adams, Ron Millican and myself are all six handicaps. All of the Oklahoma players were lower than that, with Matt Baird as the top man with a -2.5. Last year's Lee's Summit had Paul Miller, Rob Fournier, Matt Smith, Greg Clouse and myself ... that is the only one that could compare.
With all that talent, the final match in the Pro Division was something to see. Was the MCA able to make watching it and following along any easier for spectators? That is something the MCA is working on, right? Can you describe any developments?
Most of the Tulsa players left as they were eliminated and that was because many of them were attending Kevin McQuigg's wedding reception that night. So, we didn't have quite the gallery we had in Lee’s Summit.
But from a spectator development perspective, I want to make one improvement per event For Lee's Summit, we added a bigger tent and I think tents are key because otherwise, you are just sitting out in the middle of a field. Having any structure helps you feel like you are connected to something.
For the Oklahoma Open, Bill Berg took the initiative and sat on the far side of the court (in the sun) and kept time and deadness, so the spectators from KC could stay engaged in the game. It’s pretty common in croquet for the deadness board to be sitting only where the players can see it and not the gallery. So, this was a nice little step forward.
Croquet in my opinion has been very poor at even considering the spectator environment, but we'll hopefully make five incremental improvements this season
The tent at the Silver Division court at the Lee's Summit T-Bone Tournament was a nice addition. It did moor the spectators there. Plus, it gave Nate Benz a shady place to eat his sardines, which helped him stay strong between matches. What other incremental improvements for spectators might we expect? World Cup soccer supporters stay engaged with vuvuzelas and colorful scarves—perhaps not the best for croquet under the summer sun in Kansas City.
A scoreboard is next on the list. It's a really under-valued tool for croquet spectators. Clips just don't cut it for the casual observer. In fact, I am pretty sure I'd like to have all of the time back that I've had to spend counting up wickets at the end of games. And for the record, the new 12x12 tent took considerable damage in Tulsa. We learned a pretty obvious lesson there -- if it's windy, the tents don't go up.