Spring will be here soon, or at least pretty soon. Are you looking for something different to do outside once warm weather arrives? I’ve got an idea for you.
This past week I discovered the activities of the Connecticut eXtreme Croquet Society. eXtreme Croquet? Isn’t croquet that game that rich, wrinkled, old people in white hats and navy blazers play on closely manicured lawns? How can it be
EXtreme … or Xtreme … or even extreme?
I used to think that the croquet my sisters and I played on our front lawn was fairly extreme. It wasn’t exactly cowpasture croquet, but close. We grew up on a farm east of Tiffin on 224 and there was a huge front lawn.
It would have been perfect for croquet except for one thing, it was rough. It had big dips and rolling areas, little, deep holes and three huge pine trees. It also slanted rather steeply toward the highway.
When you’re growing up in the 50’s and 60’s four miles from the city, you find yourself rather isolated, whether you know it or not, and croquet among sisters and brother is a good way to pass a summer … or several summers.
What we learned was how to play the terrain, take enough off your swing on the downhill shots so the ball doesn’t roll way out of the course. Really drive it on the uphill runs and when you need the ball to bounce over a rough spot.
I also learned it’s not wise to “roquet” your little sister’s ball too far across the yard. She’ll tell Mom.
It seems like they take it all a few steps further in eXtreme Croquet. The CeXCS can be accessed at www.extremecroquet.org. Their motto is “Dedicated to enjoying eXtreme Croquet, nature and the near-death experience.”
They suggest four types of courses: field, parks, drainage basins and woods. Fields are said to be a good place to start eXtreme Croquet, a little more difficult than a backyard, but not too much. Recently harvested corn fields are said to be a special challenge.
Parks are described as well-maintained and accessible, but use remote areas to avoid injuring onlookers.
Drainage basins apparently are more common in the East than here in Northwest Ohio. Think quarry property or creek bottom.
Woods we got. The key to a good woods course, according to the CeXCS, is to set wickets near cliffs, stream beds and behind clumps of trees.
The rules of eXtreme Croquet are simple or complex, depending on whether you understand them. Check them out at the website, it’s an enjoyable read.
The mallets also are extreme, or eXtreme. The Society offers mallets for sale for around $90. They have their own design, with a wedge shaped face on one end, as well as the traditional parallel faced ones. The wedge shape is considered
necessary to get some lift on the ball.
The best part of the game is that it can be played year round, although
space age materials are needed to make the balls and mallet heads, since
wood tends to shatter in the cold.