Croquet or Lawn Bowls? A Thinking Alternative to Lawn Bowls

Weighing up lawn bowls? Wondering whether there is something with a bit more to chew on? Croquet is the alternative to lawn bowls worth a look. It keeps everything that draws people to the bowling green, the company and the fresh air, and then adds a layer of strategy that rewards a player who likes to think.

Let's be fair about bowls first. It is one of the great community sports in this country. There is a club in nearly every suburb. The people are genuinely welcoming. Barefoot Bowls turned a Friday evening into something a whole family or work crowd can enjoy.

Want a relaxed, social game with a low barrier to entry? Bowls has earned its place and then some.

Croquet is for the person who wants that same easy afternoon outdoors but a stiffer test for the mind.

Both sports sit in the same gentle band. Low impact, outdoor, social, club-based, and kind to joints that have done a few decades of work. You walk the lawn at your own pace and play your shot. Neither one will leave you sore the next morning.

The difference is what happens between the shots.

Bowls asks you to roll a bowl down a rink and bend it close to the jack. Croquet asks you to think two and three turns ahead. Every shot sets up the next, and where you leave your ball matters as much as where you send it.

A lot of players find bowls a touch gentle on the mind, and they take up croquet for exactly that reason. It is the contest of position and planning, and it keeps a sharp player interested for years.

There are two codes to choose from. Golf Croquet is quick to learn, and most newcomers start there. It is a tactical game of position, where the right gentle tap can beat the big hit.

Association Croquet is the deep one. It is the chess-like version. A good player can run a break and leave the opposition watching. You can play one or both.

The community side feels familiar, with one shift. Croquet clubs tend to be smaller than bowls clubs, so instead of being a face in a large room you are a name by your second visit. That suits people who want to be known rather than counted.

There is one more thing worth saying plainly. For a lot of newer retirees, bowls still carries a faint whiff of their parents' sport. That puts some people off before they have given it a go. Croquet carries less of that. It feels like something you are taking up rather than settling into.

Starting costs you almost nothing. Clubs supply the mallet and balls, so you do not buy a thing for a first hit, and the fees to join are low by the standard of any sport. Most Queensland clubs run Come and Try sessions where someone walks you through it for an hour.

Clubs sit across Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba and plenty of regional towns. The odds are good that one is near you.

If lawn bowls appeals but you want a game that works your head as much as your afternoon, croquet is the one you will still be turning over in your mind on the drive home.

Find your nearest club and book a free Come and Try session at comeandtrycroquet.com, or browse Queensland clubs at clubhub.croquetqld.org. Bring nothing but a pair of flat shoes.