Thinking of Trying Croquet? How It Compares to the Sport You Already Play

Most people do not grow up playing croquet. They find it later in life, usually after another sport has started to wear them down, or to fill the open stretch of time that arrives with retirement. So is the game for you? The honest answer depends on what you are leaving behind. Here is how it stacks up against the activities people most often trade in to take it up.

If you are coming from another sport

Plenty of people switch when their old sport stops loving them back.

Knees had enough of pickleball? You keep the rivalry and the social side, without the pounding.

Weighing it up against lawn bowls? This is the code for players who want a stiffer test of the mind.

Given a lifetime to golf? You keep the precision and the shot-making you spent years building, and you lose the long walk and the green fees in the bargain.

Has tennis grown too hard on a knee or a shoulder? Here is a second act that keeps your hand-eye and your appetite for a contest.

Fond of bocce, or any game where you line up a shot and try to land it just so? This is the bigger version of that pleasure.

If you are looking for something new

Sometimes there is no old sport to leave. There is just a gap in the week, and a wish to fill it with something better than the television.

Are you newly retired and after a bit of rhythm and company? It is easier to start than you think.

Want a low-impact sport that keeps you active after 60 without punishing your joints? The game is gentle on the body. It is not gentle on the mind.

Or are you really after a club to belong to, somewhere you are known by name? That is what a croquet club is for.

What they all have in common

Whatever you are coming from, the game underneath is the same. It is played at a walking pace on grass, which makes it kind to a body that has done a fair bit of living. It runs on strategy, and that is why the people who take it up tend to stay for years rather than drift away after a season. You arrive a stranger and leave with a standing Tuesday.

There are two codes. Golf Croquet is quick to learn, and most newcomers start there. Association Croquet is the deeper, chess-like version, the one you graduate to when you want something to sink your teeth into.

Starting costs almost nothing. The club hands you a mallet and balls, so there is no equipment to buy, and a free Come and Try session lets you test the whole experience for an hour before you commit to anything.

Ready to give it a go? Book a free Come and Try session at comeandtrycroquet.com, or find your nearest Queensland club at clubhub.croquetqld.org. Bring nothing but a pair of flat shoes.