You've finished the four weeks. You've signed up. Now what?

Here's roughly what your first year might look like.

The first few months

Most members settle into one or two regular sessions a week. Wednesday mornings, Saturday afternoons. You spend a fair bit of time watching other people's games, which is where you actually learn the most: the way the lawn runs faster after mowing and how certain players set up three shots ahead.

Names take a while. You'll know faces before you know names, and people will know yours before you realise they do.

Around the three-month mark

Games start feeling like actual games rather than learning exercises. Your handicap might drop a point or two. You start reading the lawn better, thinking a shot or two ahead.

You'll have a regular playing group by now. These are the people you see most weeks, the ones who notice when you're absent. Someone will probably mention a gala day at another club. These are low-key events: a few games, lunch, maybe a prize. A different lawn, different players. Some people love them. Others prefer their home club.

The middle of the year

Croquet has a spot in your calendar. The club feels familiar. You know where the good mallets are kept and which biscuits go first at morning tea.

Club tournaments turn up around this time. Longer format, a bit more pressure. Some members play every tournament going. Others never enter one. There's no expectation either way. You'll probably have someone whose game just seems to work against yours. That tends to happen.

Towards the end of the year

Look back at those first weeks and you'll notice the gap. Shots that took real concentration are routine now. Decisions that used to take ages happen without thinking.

You'll have stories. The shot that shouldn't have worked. The game that came down to the last hoop. The afternoon the sprinklers came on mid-game. You'll also have people you see every week, who notice when you're not there, who save you a seat at morning tea.

That's a fairly typical first year.