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Basic types of shot in GC. The drive, the stop shot, the top spin and the jump shot.
The basic shot types in golf croquet are few, and can be mastered quite easily. This is not the case for association croquet - which requires very deft touches and careful assessment of angles.
So in golf croquet ..
The drive is the basic shot - you hit the ball with the centre of the horizontal mallet head and drive it forward. Your feet are about 1 foot behind the ball, which is exactly on a line running forward from a point midway between your feet; the line running forward is from the middle of your body to the centre of the target. There is a follow through. The drive is used to position a ball, run a hoop, or hit another ball away. Walk, stalk, line-up, eyes on the ball, hit while keeping eyes on the ball, follow through with the mallet. Don't lift the eyes until you have completed the follow through. It is a mistake for beginners not to go through this full procedure for the majority of shots.
Stop shot. You hit the ball slightly upwards with a tilted mallet head. There is no follow through and the rear of the mallet head stuns the grass. Feet are a couple of inches backwards from the normal stance. This shot is used to clear an adjacent opponent ball while leaving your ball in the close vicinity of the shot. A very powerful stroke in which the ball lifts off the lawn ever so slightly, and does not pick up top spin since it is not in close contact with the grass. If the opponent ball is hit dead centre, your ball will drop dead on the lawn and only move forward a few inches at most. Some advanced players increase the power by putting in a bit of wrist action into this shot.
Top spin. You hit the ball very slightly above centre with the mallet pointing ever so slightly downwards, and follow through markedly. Your feet are a couple of inches forward of the normal stance. This is a difficult shot to master. The ball gains a slight top spin due to friction with the grass which holds the bottom of the ball back. Top spin will help to get through a hoop. Usually used for hoop running, but also can be used to hit a ball away while allowing your own ball to run forward to an advantageous position.
Jump shot. A spectacular shot that is quite easy to do providing you have sufficient power in your shot. This shot does require you whack the ball hard, so you need skill, a very firm grip, muscle and a bit of heavy swinging to get this to happen. There are two ways of doing the shot.
In the first way, the ball is hit hard downwards at an angle of about 35 degrees. The ball rebounds from the lawn and jumps upwards. To do it, most players stand forward of their normal position and drop their hands down the mallet handle to get more power. This repositioning of the hands will depend on the hitting power of the player. The jump shot is a 'killer' shot to have in the armoury since if your opponent ball sticks (blobs) in the hoop you can often jump over it and score the hoop quite easily. The ball also often moves down to the next hoop on one of the long runs so you get good position too. The shot is can also be used to jump over a ball that is in the way of a normal drive.
The second method of jumping is more difficult to learn and involves swinging so the mallet directly lifts the ball upwards off the lawn. Often used for long-distance jumps.