SCORING YOUR HAMMER

Some times you do everything right clearing the board and then you miss your hammer because you can’t get the speed right, that’s why so many players play more on the board or clear more with a controlled speed.  It’s not unusual to hear someone say we were winning and changed our game and lost.  What happens so often is you get ahead and go to the clearing game and lose the hammer speed.

Have you ever run up against the player who always puts in something high when it’s your hammer, Nicole Archambault with her high 10’s or John Brown with his high 8‘s, all that hard work and you can’t score.  Paul Prescott told me Ken Worden used to say you’ll get my hammer once but that’s it!  Of course the way you keep that from happening is by shooting on the board with your 3^rd shot so the opponent has to take you off, leaving the board open for your hammer or if they stay on the board, as Mel Erb would say, they are giving you a free kitchen shot.

Some courts have a very odd or bad spot in them and sometimes you can get the other players hammer over and over by going to that spot.  Sometimes you want to save that spot for just that critical moment when the games on the line, you know they exist so use them to your advantage.  Some courts are pretty straight down the middle but break out if you are out away from the centerline a little. On those courts your need to go down into the 7 to score your hammer, giving yourself more scoring space.  Little things make a big difference! Earl Ball 2006 08 03.