TALKING CROQUET Issue 007 | May 2026
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WELCOME
Inspired isn’t a big enough word to tell you all how I feel. In the last month I had the privilege to play croquet with some of the young people of our sport, where 25 young players attended an under 25 mentoring event in Nottingham Croquet Club. Later in this issue of Talking Croquet I have dedicated a couple of pages to them, to share their fun, their friendships and their competition. We can all learn from their experiences which were clearly nothing short of brilliant. As I travelled around this past month I have been welcomed by the Hove Beach croquet club, who started us off on our National Croquet Day celebrations. In the next issue of the Gazette I will be sharing some of the stories from other clubs around the country who opened their doors to their communities and welcomed new players to spectate and play. Now the season is in full swing many of us have started our internal club competitions, it’s a time to meet others in the club who you might not often see. This is always my favourite part of the playing season, making new friends and learning from each of them, as we all have something to share. In case you happen to spot me at your local club, whilst I am travelling around, even if I’m playing, please do come and say hello. Alison
Talking Croquet Issue 007 | May 2026
Front Cover: Under 25 Mentoring Weekend (Page 20): Ana (18) and Mark (13) from Woking Croquet Club Photo credit: Rob Edlin-White CONTENTS 4 Chief Executive's Column 5 The Showdown by Magic Mike 7 Southwell u3a
Alison Maugham Editor editor@croquetengland.org.uk
WATFORD CROQUET CLUB - 90 YEARS OLD
By Janet Lewis
A very successful Open Day at Watford Croquet club celebrating the Club's 90th Birthday.
8 A wellness activity 9 Letters to the Editor 10 Taster sessions 12 Association Croquet 14 Golf Croquet
17 Wheelchair Croquet 18 The lawn manager 20 Junior Mallets 22 Swing clinic 23 Croquet Lawn Matters 25 A GC Triple at Ryde Croquet Club
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S COLUMN
Andy Dalby-Welsh Chief Executive Officer Croquet England
As I write during Mental Health Awareness Week, I am reminded that croquet has an important role to play in supporting positive mental wellbeing. Time on the lawn, spent outdoors and in good company, can provide focus, social connection and a valuable sense of perspective. Our sport offers an opportunity for people to have fun, develop friendships and to compete. This contribution to wellbeing is important, and it is one we should celebrate and build upon. This is already being demonstrated through the Pendle and Craven Croquet Club wellbeing project, led by Ian Longstaff and delivered in partnership with the NHS social prescribing team. The pilot exceeded its original participation target and produced highly encouraging feedback, highlighting clear social and psychological benefits for those
involved. It is a strong example of how croquet can make a big contribution to individuals and communities. For that reason, wellbeing will be one of our special projects as we take forward the
This work will be supported by a stronger focus on income generation. This will enable us to invest in the development of our sport, all within a One Croquet philosophy. Bringing together every part of croquet and recognising the contribution of every volunteer. We cannot achieve these ambitions without wider support. If you would like to contribute to achieving through our One Croquet philosophy, whether through your enthusiasm, expertise or both, I encourage you to get in touch. In particular, we welcome support from those with experience in marketing, communications, public relations, governance, fundraising, bid writing, corporate partnerships or streaming, as well as from anyone with skills and /or enthusiasm that can help us make a meaningful difference.
work emerging from our newly identified strategic priorities.
A second special project will be youth development, because the long-term strength of our sport depends on building the next generation of players. In addition to this, our primary participation focus will be the recruitment of Generation X. Players and volunteers aged approximately 40 to 60 who are likely to become the future backbone of our clubs. They have the potential to provide the capacity to contribute not only as participants, but also as organisers, leaders, mentors and volunteers who can help create resilient and sustainable club environments.
CROQUET ENGLAND LIVESTREAM
With huge thanks to Stephen Allen and Duncan Catterall, our Livestream Directors, and their teams, the Livestream Team will be back in action for the 2026 season. Subscribe to Croquet England’s YouTube channel to make sure you receive the live notifications. 14-17 May 2026 GC European Championship (Livestreaming 16-17 May only) 19-21 June 2026 GC England v Spain Test Match 23-28 June 2026 GC Open Championship 24 July – 9 August 2026 AC World Team Championship Tier 1: MacRobertson Shield
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THE SHOWDOWN CONTINUED
bad” may have been better in terms of converting almosts to wins. If I could play like this in the C final next week I had a sporting chance. More drugs and heat packs and I arrived at Eastbourne for the C final reasonably optimistic. Five hours and five defeats from six games later, that early feeling had well and truly gone. Sports psychology is a funny thing though, and once the title was well and truly out of sight I played some of my most resilient croquet of the season and eight wins from my final nine games gave me a more than respectable finish in my first season of competitive croquet. Not the outcome I was hoping for, but the goal for the season of reaching the C finals had been met. This is partly why I set goals right at the beginning of the year, it helps in the cold light of the day to evaluate things. So I returned home, packed up my mallet, and set about filling in my handicap card. 194 ranking games in a season... that’s pretty close to 200 isn’t it? It would just be wrong not to try, wouldn’t it? Sussex County Croquet Club to the rescue! A winter tournament, six more games and the double century is in sight. One slight problem – daylight. Five wins from five in October, and now it’s even worse: 199 ranking games. All of a sudden that November tournament looks appealing, entry accepted and looking at the world rankings I could end up with the most ranking games of anyone in the world.
Played: 199 Distance travelled: 4000 miles Won: not enough Lost: too many
Lost 7-6: far too many Friends: made heaps Mallets smashed: none
Dear Michael, We are sorry to inform you that tomorrow’s tournament has been cancelled due to the inclement weather. Sussex County Croquet Club In the words of Hugh Grant, “bugger, bugger, bugger”!
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A SPORTING EXPERIENCE FOR SOUTHWELL U3A
By Elaine Maiden, Southwell Croquet Club On a glorious afternoon , interested members from Southwell u3a who had signed up for a new sporting experience all turned up. With our Croquet England coach, Derek Blow, a small group had a one hour taster- session on one of the half lawns. I took another group of eight newbies through a taster session on lawn 2 . Then, on lawn 3 , there were a few who had played before so both primary and secondary balls were used to play a 7 point game of Golf Croquet. Refreshments half way through the afternoon gave time for socialising. Then , by rearranging individuals , new games were played on all three lawns and the challenge of competing
against each other really took off! The good news is that some of these players, who had played before at university , have rediscovered their love of
croquet . They are now looking to play regularly , as well as playing on the monthly U3A croquet afternoons. They want to play both Association Croquet and also Golf Croquet.
contact me and have their names put onto the waiting list. What a superb afternoon…….and a great bunch of keen players.
There were so many people today that every club mallet was in use. It is now necessary to close the group. Anyone else interested , must therefore
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CROQUET: A WELLNESS ACTIVITY By Chris Alvey, dbmallets@gmail.com, Sponsors of the Townsend Club Award According to my wife — the
pharmacist and therefore clearly the more medically qualified member of our household — sitting is the new smoking. Unfortunately, leaving the house for a brisk walk when it is wet, cold, and generally miserable has never been particularly appealing. As a result, aside from the weekly trip to the office, my outdoor activity levels over winter have been somewhat… aspirational. So the arrival of the lighter, drier days has given me the opportunity to rediscover quite how much of my croquet ability I appear to have misplaced over the winter, and how much practice will be required to retrieve it. As clubs, we are now entering the “taster session and open day” phase of the season — that time of year when we try to tempt curious newcomers onto the lawn, in the hope of keeping our sport thriving and our clubs growing. The appeal of croquet is broader than many people realise. It offers a strong sense of community, gentle activity, and opportunities to build confidence, patience and our creativity. In short, there are plenty of reasons for people to give it a try. Anne and I have the opportunity to go on local radio soon to promote both the sport and our club, as well as our upcoming open day in support of the local hospice. Our publicity officer kindly produced a helpful list of talking points focusing on wellness and health. I should confess that several of those excellent points have been shamelessly borrowed for this article. Thank you, Roy — imitation is the
involves a fair amount of walking, and the simple act of swinging a mallet encourages flexibility, coordination and balance — all of which contribute to cardiovascular health. There are also significant mental benefits. Croquet requires tactical thinking, careful decision-making and sustained concentration, which help keep the mind active and engaged. For those of us who are still of working age and cannot spend weekdays on the lawn, the game can also provide a welcome sense of calm. It offers a space to step away from the pressures of work and lose ourselves in the quiet
Croquet offers a welcome antidote: fresh air, gentle exercise and real human interaction. Not everyone who picks up a mallet wants to compete — which is perfectly fine. Many people simply want a social activity and a pleasant way to spend time outdoors. Whether competitive or purely social, the result is the same: an enjoyable pastime that benefits both our physical and mental wellbeing. And if it happens to involve a little friendly rivalry along the way, so much the better. Photos taken by Tony Thomas
focus of the game. Like many people these days, I work from home most of the week. It’s great for productivity but can occasionally feel a little isolating. Much of my communication happens via email, Teams or Zoom, and although Anne also works from home, we are in separate rooms doing entirely different things.
sincerest form of flattery. The social side of croquet is
undoubtedly a major part of its growing popularity, but when combined with its physical benefits it becomes something of an ideal wellness hobby. Even a friendly game
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Readers are reminded that the views expressed in the letters pages of the Gazette are those of the authors only, and not those of their clubs, unless specifically indicated. A CENTENARIAN IN OUR CLUB! Yes, that’s right!
A CENTURY OF DAPHNE This is something special, a hundred years in the making. Daphne one hundred years, and still standing stronger than most of us, whether on the croquet lawn or beyond it. You’ve watched fashions come and go, seen the world shift and reshape itself, and somehow kept your balance better than any of us still trying to find ours. Out there with you, the game looks gentle until it begins. And then, quietly, without fuss, you show us exactly how it’s done. Calm. Precise. Effortless. As if to say, “Let’s keep it simple, shall we?” A hundred years of stories, of laughter, of quietly winning at life without ever needing to announce the score. Because if life were a croquet match, you didn’t just play you set the standard. Still here. Still sharp. Still reminding us that elegance and a good sense of humour never go out of style. So today, we celebrate you, Daphne a full century of grace, wit, and resilience. And, truth be told, probably the only one here who could still outplay us all… if you felt like it. Happy 100th Birthday, Daphne. You make a century look effortless.
Merton Croquet Club situated in south-west London likes to kickstart its croquet season with a club lunch at a local pub. It is a great way for club members to meet after the closed winter break. This year it included a very special occasion. One of our members, Daphne, had recently celebrated her 100th birthday! We hung banners up, made a cake, sang Happy Birthday and a poem, composed for her by our resident poet, was read out. (Poet-Elizabeth Mallari). It was a very joyous time. Daphne was invited to come and try her hand at croquet after her indoor bowls venue closed. She enjoyed it so much that she joined Merton Croquet Club, also she liked the people. She has now played Golf croquet for 23 years, initially learning the game, then taking part in internal and external matches. Daphne has signed up again this year and will continue to play as long as her health allows and the weather is kind. We love seeing her on the lawn playing croquet or having the
opportunity for a chat with her when we sit out. Perhaps that’s the answer to a long life, croquet!
ROGER'S TYPO UPSATE Genuine croquet-related typos to make you smile
This month's genuine snippet from history was a website announcement that the courts were closed on a summer day in 2021 because of waterlogging: Rain soaked - no play toady. Comment: I was a little insulted by that - I don't kowtow to anyone, you know.
Roger G, Phyllis Court
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TASTER SESSIONS FOR PROSPECTIVE NEW MEMBERS
Taster Coaching Session for Prospective new Members First thing is to introduce yourself: a friendly “Hi, I’m Captain Croquet, what’s your name (s)”? It is important to explain to your prospective new members the dangers of tripping over hoops or the peg or hitting themselves or someone else with a mallet. 1/ Offer them a Croquet England leaflet explaining the outline of each game. These are obtainable free of charge from the Croquet England shop and give a very good explanation of both Association and Golf Croquet and it also gives your prospective member something to read later. 2/ Explain that today’s plan is to introduce them to Croquet and, when they decide to join the club, they will receive coaching by a Qualified Coach. 3/ First action is choosing a mallet. Do not at this stage worry too much about getting their grip exactly right, comfort is more important than style at this stage. As a guide to choosing a mallet, ask them to stand upright and the mallet top should be approximately 3 inches (≈7cm) just above the wrist. Find them a mallet of approximately the right length for their height and size. Many people often express surprise at how heavy the mallet is. Explain that there are variations of mallets of both length and weight. 4/ Demonstrate Stalking, Stance and Swing …let them have a go and check and adjust Stance and Swing as required. 5/ Hitting their first ball…Demonstrate to them and then let them have a go…note the importance of telling them to keep their head down when hitting a ball! 6/ Explain ball colours and the order that the balls are played in; use the peg as a reminder when playing Golf Croquet. 7 /Briefly explain the layout of the lawn (N, S, E, W) and corners (1, 2, 3, 4) and also mention that the Blue topped hoop is hoop one and on the South boundary, whatever the orientation of the lawn.
By Derek Blow, EMFCC Coaching Officer
When is Coaching not coaching? When it’s a TASTER session. It happens every year: a prospective new member is interested in joining your Club and wants more details or wishes to try out the game. They have been possibly recommended by a friend, or seen a local advert, maybe checked out your website, or just turned up on a Club Day. Prospective new member/members should be offered a Taster session. Perhaps the Club hasn’t a Club-level or Graded Coach available at that time, but perhaps someone who has been playing a while or just happens to be available (but who is not a Club or Graded Coach) steps forward to help “ show them the ropes”, so to speak. Croquet England states that giving a Taster session does not constitute giving a Coaching Session. All Croquet England affiliated clubs are covered by a public liability insurance policy but are not covered for unqualified coaching, unless of course they are under the supervision of a Qualified Coach. Is there currently any way for our unqualified helper to impress prospective new members to join the club? Other than a limited “Let’s play a game and I’ll show you what I know” … the answer is YES … a recognised Taster session! So, it’s not Coaching: it’s a Taster. The whole point of a Taster is to introduce a person to the fun side of the game and also to give enough information to convince them to become a member. Explain the social aspect of the club, fun days, winter activities etc, and FREE coaching by an experienced coach; this all adds to the enjoyment of being a member. Give them a club flyer, if available, giving details of club days, activities and contacts. I offer here a simple basic solution for a club Taster session which may be used by any experienced club member to introduce prospective members to our fantastic game. The Taster guide should be presented, at the start of the season, to all club committee members as well as group leaders of organisations such as the WI, U3A, if they have regular sessions at your club.
Continued on page 11
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TASTER COACHING SESSIONS CONTINUED
8/Explain the objective of the game and how to score a hoop point. 9/Demonstrate how to run both a straight and angled hoop…then let them have a go. 10/ Demonstrate how to knock away an opponent’s ball if demonstrating GC, then let them have a go…dispel the myth of Alice in Wonderland! 11/ Choose a partner, or their companion if two people are being shown, or play them yourself…be kind. Let them run a few hoops, it will boost their confidence and enjoyment 12/ I would suggest an approximately one hour Taster Session and try not to rush things. Keep it simple and do not overload them with other than the basic rules.
Remember to take their personal details such as Name, Telephone number, Email address. No point in giving a Demo and then just letting them walk away without any means of further contact ! Finally pass on the details of your Taster Session to your Club Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer so they may follow up your good work. A successful taster can help increase the Club’s membership, adding financial stability to your club and, who knows, giving a successful Taster Session might encourage you to become a qualified Coach yourself ! Be Encouraged; your Taster Session could make all the
difference to your club. Have a Great Season!
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THE JOHN BEECH TOURNAMENT (EASTER WEEKEND) By Betty Bates
The first day proceedings started on a very wet Friday afternoon. The lawns were in incredible condition considering the bad weather in recent days. The damp and cold start was improved by the warm welcome of the club and their catering team on hand with hot tea and biscuits and an even warmer welcome from Brian Medley the tournament manager. It was nice to see familiar faces from around the country. The sixteen players were not disheartened by the dreary weather; as they say in Norway, it is not bad weather, it is just bad clothing. It was a very relaxed tournament, players could opt out of playing whenever they wished, with the proviso that in order to qualify for the handicap competition, 5 games were played over the course of the weekend. The rain came down in bucket loads and a couple of the lawns appeared to become small lakes, but with the help of the new squeegee they were soon sorted. A big thank you to the players who helped, as the volume of water was quite substantial (and heavy to push); allowing play to continue unhindered. At day one Fiona Crompton, Mark Simmerson ,Angharrad Walters and Andrew Gould were unbeaten, Andrew winning 26-0 in less than an hour against Stephen Wright. Saturday was very squally with the precursor to Storm Dave, which was to arrive later that day. 33km ph winds were recorded in Earby in the afternoon. Sadly John Henderson had to withdraw due to injury, although no one was left waiting too long for a game. At day 2 Angharrad and Mark were still unbeaten. Sunday was extremely cold, luckily there were no ill effects after the
previous evenings 40mph winds (Storm Dave). A number of the players huddled in the heated hut when out of play. At day 3 Angharrad and Mark were again still unbeaten. In contrast to the previous days, on Monday, the clouds cleared, the wind dissipated and the layers of clothing were removed as the sun shone, and even the balloon flights took place due to the calm weather. The handicap final was between Betty Bates and partner Lee Hartley which resulted in some friendly banter. In a nip and tuck game Betty was eventually victorious after pegging Lee's front ball off, winning plus 4. Angharrad Walters and Mark Simmerson played the Advanced final with Angharrad the victor in a closely fought contest. The Advanced event (Peter Dowdall Trophy) was won by Angharrad Walters John Beech Handicap was won by Betty Bates Low Handicap trophy - Lee Hartley
High Handicap trophy- Debbie Watson
Fastest game - Andrew Gould
Most games played – Stephen Wright Handicap changes for Betty Bates and Mark Simmerson. Lee Hartley did his first TPO. Brian Medley ran the tournament extremely swiftly, helped by a wonderful cohort of friendly and amenable players. Thanks should also go to ROT Angharrad Walters and the numerous other referees who helped out at the busier times. Extended thanks to Stephen Wright chairman of Pendle and his team for their warm hospitality. The groundsmen at Pendle also deserve a mention for the excellent condition of their lawns and also the catering team who served delicious warm, home cooked meals and were very attentive. A lovely weekend played with conviviality. Finally, the wooden spoon was awarded for the first time in many years the last recipient was John Beech, however the 'winner' will remain nameless.
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THE BEST IN THE WEST ASSOCIATION CROQUET
Dawson decided to shoot (ending 10 yards East of II), so Kibble was faced with another dilemma: hoop or roquet. He chose hoop and nailed it to the South boundary. The shot to take position at Rover sadly hilled into the back of the hoop. Dawson played up to Rover, staying off the centreline, wired from Kibble. Kibble played South of Rover at an angle to stay wired, but only just, and covering the centreline. They danced around the hoop for a few strokes, neither giving away an easy shot until Dawson decided to be brave and took on the 2-foot 30-degree hoop and ran it to win. A scrappy Reeve-Willis semi ended in a win for Reeve, while a faultless 26tp-0 by Dawson over Fuller led to a Reeve- Dawson final. Dawson continued his superb form with another clinical 26tp over Reeve to take the fine, daffodil adorned (- courtesy of Sue Lightbody!), trophy.
By Louise Smith
This early season “friendly” 1-day straight KO event for the best available AC players in the areas took place on a windy and, at times, rainy Sunday at the end of March. Four “locals”: Sam Cuthbert, Tim Jolliff, Duncan Reeve and Chris Williams faced some stiff competition in the form of Jeff Dawson and David Fuller from the East Dorset club along with Dave Kibble and Andrew Willis, travellers from Bristol and Bath respectively. The top three ranked players: Reeve, Fuller & Dawson advanced to the semis with Willis defeating Williams being the only form book upset. With 30 seconds to go, Dawson pegged out two balls to leave Penult (K) v Rover (D). Kibble ran (!) to his ball, deciding to take the lift to B-Baulk and swiftly took position at Penult before time was called. The hurried stroke left a 4-foot, slightly angled, hoop (Quadways).
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THE BEST IN THE WEST GOLF CROQUET
By Louise Smith
The top GC players available gathered at Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club on Saturday, 28th March for the “Best in the West” - the club’s annual pre-season warm-up tournament. This year saw the welcome return of East Dorset’s Jonathan Powe (-2), joined by new entrants Sam Cuthbert (-2, Cheltenham) and Andy Loakes (-1, Camerton & Peasedown). They complemented an already strong field featuring Martin French (-1, Bude), Richard Gardiner (0, Dowlish Wake), and Budleigh’s own Stuart M. Smith (-2) and Tim Jolliff (- 1). BSCC were also delighted to
welcome 2026’s special guest, Simon Carter (-2) from Dulwich Croquet Club - an elegant and composed player, renowned for combining pinpoint accuracy with controlled power. Smith dominated the opening four rounds, with no opponent scoring more than two hoops against him. Cuthbert also remained unbeaten, setting up a Round 5 clash between the pair. The contest was finely balanced until the turn for hoop 11, where Cuthbert took control to secure a 7– 5 victory. Gardiner performed well above his seeding of eighth, finishing with four wins alongside Carter and Powe. The penultimate Round 6 proved pivotal. Cuthbert, unbeaten at five wins from five, faced Carter, while Smith sat just behind on four wins. Carter built a two-hoop lead, only for Cuthbert to respond superbly, including a standout angled jump over two balls at hoop 8, turning the game into a 3-5 advantage. Unfazed, Carter levelled the match by taking hoops 9 and 10. A miss from Cuthbert after a short exchange at hoop 11
allowed Carter to edge ahead 5-6, running down to hoop 12, where victory seemed certain. However, the contest went to a deciding 13th hoop, where Carter, with the advantage of first approach, secured the win. This result left Cuthbert and Smith level on five wins each and one game left to play. In the final round, Loakes managed to score three hoops against the in-form Smith - one more than any of his early round opponents - but Smith still ran out a 3-7 winner. Although Cuthbert could not mathematically match Smith’s superior net hoop difference, he determinedly closed the gap with a 7–0 win over Gardiner. The final standings saw Smith and Cuthbert both finish on six wins, but Smith’s impressive +27 net hoops (to Cuthbert’s +19) secured him the tournament win - his second consecutive victory and fourth “Best in the West” title.
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ENGLISH SUCCESS IN CHALLENGING CONDITIONS TENERIFE GC OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
By Steve Leonard
After a very wet winter in the UK, an early-season trip to Tenerife for sunshine and the 6th Tenerife GC Open Championship seemed an ideal escape. However, storm Theresa intervened, bringing snow and flooding to the island shortly before arrival. Although conditions improved, the temperatures remained more British than Canarian. The Tenerife Croquet Club, a single- lawn venue within the Seve Ballesteros-designed Buenavista del Norte Golf Club, offered a stunning setting. Positioned on the north coast, just metres from the Atlantic, with Mount Teide visible inland, it provided a spectacular backdrop for the competition. Sixteen players from Spain, Austria, England and the host club were divided into four groups of four. Following an all-play-all format, the top two progressed to the Championship knockout stage, while the remainder contested the Plate. Despite having only one lawn, the schedule ran smoothly, with groups alternating efficiently. The English players enjoyed mixed fortunes in the group stage. Steve Leonard and Alex Lake advanced to the knockout rounds, with Alex the only player to win all three matches. Glynis Davies, Michelle Leonard, Colin Taylor and Nick Boxall moved into the Plate. A standout quarter-final saw unbeaten Alex face top seed Steve Leonard. Experience proved decisive as Steve won 7–4 to reach the semi-finals, alongside Austria’s Martin Geuntner and two Spanish players. Steve progressed comfortably with a 10–5 win, while Martin edged through 10–9.
The final, an England–Austria contest, featured high-quality play, including excellent clearances and long-range hoop running. Steve ultimately secured the title, winning 7–6, 4–7, 7– 3 to become the Tenerife 2026 GC Champion. In the Plate, English players dominated the later rounds. Michelle Leonard defeated Nick Boxall 7–6, while Colin Taylor beat Glynis Davies 7–5. Michelle then overcame Manuel Marcos Fal 7– 6, and Colin won his semi-final to set up an all-English final. Michelle took an early lead, but Colin fought back before Michelle regained control, eventually winning 10–7.
In a notable outcome, both the main Championship and the Plate were won by a married couple—an impressive achievement. The event was superbly hosted by Pepe and the Tenerife Croquet Club team, who ensured a welcoming and well-organised tournament, including a memorable social evening with excellent Canarian food. Despite the weather, the tournament proved a rewarding and enjoyable early-season visit.
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EUROPEAN CLUBS LEAGUE 2026
By Ian Burridge
Final entries have been confirmed for the 2026 European Clubs League. A record 60 teams will take part from 12 countries, in total over 250 players can be expected to participate. The winners of the 7 Championship heats will contest the Grand Final to be hosted by Carrickmines 'A' (IRE) 9-11th October. The 8 Qualifier heat winners are guaranteed a place in the Championship heats in 2027. The first heat, to be hosted by Balgreen (SCO), is only 3 weeks away, remaining heats will run through to the start of August. Defending Champions Roehampton (ENG) find themselves in what is considered the strongest heat, with previous winners Dulwich (ENG), the host Club de Campo de Vigo 'A' (SPA) who finished 4th overall last year and Newbridge House 'A' (IRE). Teams from Sweden and Greece will feature for the first time, Corfu (GRE) hosting a Qualifying heat and Win and Tonic (SWE) travelling to Phyllis Court.
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WHEELCHAIR CROQUET
By Mike Littlewood
It’s now April 2026. A very wet winter has passed, but I didn’t think it was too cold at least not here in Driffield, East Yorkshire. Our groundsman has declared the lawn open and last week, on the 7th, our club season began. I was expecting to still be in the wheelchair and indeed this was the case, even though the planned operation on my foot had not gone ahead. Not because of industrial action or anything of that sort; the toenail that had been scheduled for removal (due to curling of the big toe) had mysteriously righted itself and was declared settled, so the operation no longer necessary. Although we don’t have any high tech to determine if the ground is too soft, the sheer effort of trying to propel the Bowls Royce wheelchair in a straight line told me enough. So, I applied common sense and sat back to watch the first game of the season. However, I did take the opportunity to get Peter T to test the two variations of ball I had purchased, to identify if they would be slower on a hard-court surface. Our club has two hard tennis courts with removable nets, so why not use one (when not being used for tennis) as a short lawn for croquet. The hard courts weren’t actually available, so he tested a regular croquet sized ball made of wood (8.2 oz) against a 9- ounce composite ball from the manufacturer Uber, as used by Croquet England. Both were subjected to the whack it and see how it travels test. The wooden ball behaved exactly as if it were a normal croquet ball. The 9-ounce ball was a bit too small to hit cleanly and (fortunately tested on a piece of side lawn) the resulting divot suggested that size was an issue. However, the ball when struck on the second swing did travel less distance. So the answer perhaps is less weight in both the ball and the mallet head. My memory of ‘A’ level physics suggests that this may resolve the problem. I’ve ordered a set of Uber 12- ounce composite balls, and we’ll knock up a mallet head of less than 3kg and see how that works. The plan now is to recruit more wheelchair players; we have to learn how to teach them to play. I was already a croquet player when I became a wheelchair user, so knew what I should be doing and why. How easy will it be to teach a non- player? I’m introducing two new sessions for the club this year and have already gained the approval from both the croquet players and the other members of the club committee, who continue to support me in this quest. We’re running a reduced mobility session and a separate wheelchair session at times when the club is barely used.
Reduced mobility includes all sorts of mobility issues from partial paralysis, peripheral neuropathy, also mental health etc, and involves use of a walking stick or frame. It’s not a sport which requires you to run, just take your time and make your shot. So, having said that, if you’re trying to improve your club and looking for grant funding then you would automatically tick the inclusivity boxes with most fundholders. Driffield did as soon as my wife Lesley and I joined in 2021, and that was just to reform the croquet section not for funding. So does the demon Artificial Intelligence help? Well for us it did! The 2026 promotional poster.
No, I didn’t design it, but fortunately some of the club’s tennis members understand these gadgets. I will keep you posted with how we progress and when we solve the hardcourt problem.
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THE LAWNS MANAGER
Having taken up croquet in 2023, somehow, at the start of 2024, with zero knowledge of mowers or grass, other than a mossy patch at the back of my house, I became “The Lawns Manager”. It must be true as page 6 of Enfield CC handbook states “Colin Carver is the Lawns Manager”. The club had just celebrated its 30th anniversary, so it must just be a matter of doing the same as in all those previous years. Oh, if only life was that simple! Evidently the Council used to look after the lawns until a few years ago, and the second-hand mowers the club acquired since had been causing all sorts of anguish the previous year. Everyone I spoke to had very different ideas and opinions on what needed to be done and how to do it. With the lawns closed for the winter and the April season start rapidly approaching, a small working party was arranged to cut the grass. One cylinder mower failed to start, the other skidded and didn’t cut, so to make some progress we resorted to the rotary mower normally only used for the perimeter areas. Back to the drawing board. After a few hours on YouTube and with the assistance of the brother-in-law, a car expert, we arrived at the club with tools, spark plugs, filters, oil and a fantastic oil suction pump. Now with a knowledge of a mower being “on cut” and cut height the two cylinder mowers were converted into cutting superstars, and the grass transformed into three croquet lawns. Subsequently, a number of members had their arms twisted and a twice- weekly mowing rota was set up for the season. I now just needed to keep the mowers running and correctly set, using my newfound knowledge. If only!! There is something called the monthly treatments, using various feeds, moss killer, weed treatments, spiking machine etc. Evidently we’d started using the Duncan Hector system, so an order was placed and supplies duly arrived and lawn dosing started. Oh, also white lining, hoop setting and moving (thank you Nigel), plus the fox damage, crows pecking and squirrels burying their nuts. Are jump shots allowed, which lawn should we be using, what about some Short Croquet on half lawns? The list was rapidly growing. The regular “I blame the lawns manager” comments when a ball happened to deviate even slightly from its desired direction started to get a bit annoying. However, as the season progressed there was the occasional “The lawns look good today, Colin” and when a visiting team said the lawns were playing better than they could ever remember, all the time and effort began to seem worthwhile. Having entered the club’s All-England AC event, to make up the numbers, somehow I became the club’s representative. So, it was off to a Cheltenham high-bisque tournament to try
and learn how to play this AC game. Then on to Surbiton for the regional round of the All-England, then to Blewbury for the final. This together with entering various GC C and B- level events and inter-club matches allowed me to visit some 15 clubs during 2024 and 2025. Every club’s lawns seemed to have their own unique character, and quite a few had even more “character” than ours. However, visiting other clubs enabled me to ask and learn how they managed to look after their lawns. With regular mowing and treatments our grass was getting much better, and we even managed to keep a lawn open over the winter, but then in 2025 drought struck. To water or not to water, that was the question? Advice seemed to favour not water unless the grass turned totally brown. After a few weeks of looking straw-like, and members experiencing the rare phenomena of super-fast Enfield lawns, I decided maybe it was time to water. Problem was if you used enough hose to reach the far corner the pressure reduced and the sprinkler wouldn’t rotate. After watering all day only an average depth of 2mm was applied – conclusion, not worth the effort. I could only dream of irrigation systems which could be operated remotely from the comfort of one’s own living room. I am keen to try and improve our lawns, but being on clay I’m led to believe they dry out differently each season. However, I asked the Committee to arrange for a contractor to top- dress the lawns. For various reasons this proved to be more difficult than you could imagine, and so after waiting several months I decided to try it ourselves. Eventually I found a supplier who was willing to attempt delivery of dressing to our residential setting, and a reasonably priced drag mat. So in March 2026 after cutting, scarifying and spiking, a working party of 12 applied 3 tonnes of dressing to one of the lawns
Continued on page 19
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THE LAWNS MANAGER CONTINUED
using our own variation of the “towed ladder” (as seen on the Letchworth video). Amazing what can be done with a few wheelbarrows, a ladder with manual tow ropes, and shovels on the hottest day of the year so far. This has gone very well, and as I write this we eagerly await trying the lawn when it is opened at the start of the season. If it has been a success then a repeat on another lawn in the autumn will be on the cards. I would like to thank the large number of hard-working “Lawn Managers” and other volunteers at the various clubs who have helped me with advice, and I hope all our lawns improve with the hard work we do. And finally, a massive thank you to the Enfield Club members who turn up and help, all for the price of a cup of tea and a biscuit and the love of our great sport. Oh, and following my quest for the perfect lawn… we can all dream! Colin Still Enfield CC Lawns Manager!
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Junior Mallets Welcome to Junior Mallets, celebrating the fun, friendships and competitions of our young people.
JUNIOR MENTORING WEEKEND By Hanna LB (13), Bath Croquet Club Hi, my name is Hanna and I’m from Bath Croquet Club. I’m just starting my third season and I play GC and AC. This month I went to a junior mentoring weekend kindly hosted by Nottingham Croquet Club. The lawns there were excellent and I got to play croquet with kids from all over the country, including Cheltenham, High Wycombe and Woking. The main goal of the weekend was to improve our croquet skills, but it became much more than just that! We began by practising our aiming and accuracy when hitting a ball and then worked on our GC clearances. We then played a variety of competitive mini-games including skittles and multi-hoop, which were great fun. It was then time for lunch, and the food was excellent. There were jacket potatoes, salads and some delicious cheesecake. Afterwards, we practised our AC ratio shots as well as our split shots. To round off the day we played the frenzied game of gateball, which was really good fun. Sunday dawned bright and clear, and we kicked the day off by practising our AC hoop approaches and pioneer placement, followed by a short alternate stroke doubles game. We then played racing croquet in teams. I thought gateball was fast and furious, but racing croquet took things to another level. As a team we managed to win half of our games, which I thought was good, particularly as we were competing against our mentors. We then broke for yet another fabulous lunch, however it started to first rain, then hail and the afternoon’s play sadly had to be called off. I found the weekend great fun and it was a super opportunity to meet and make friends with other juniors and develop our croquet skills together. It would be good if there were more opportunities like this for juniors in croquet, especially for clubs where there aren’t many junior players.
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Junior Mallets
JUNIOR MENTORING WEEKEND FEEDBACK
Question One: How did you get into Croquet? Grandad, Friend, Brother, Grandparents, Facebook, Mum, School. Question Two: What would make Croquet more brilliant? Fun games Pirates Playing more as a whole club Make a junior lawn Whilst the fun and games had temporarily stopped to allow everyone to take a breath, the young players at the Under 25 Mentoring Weekend were asked for some feedback by Andy Dalby-Welsh, and this was what they had to say. Question Three: How could we encourage more young players? Bring a friend day Make Croquet more “Well known” Fun Croquet in the last week of school holidays Stop being bossy Online quizzes Fancy dress days Advertising saying “It’s not just for old people” Social media at each club
Shorter games so no one gets bored A survey at the end of each term/ year Junior rule books Make it faster
Challenge Time If you could change one rule, what would it be? From Ben (6), Surbiton Croquet Club
He thinks we should be able to choose our colours, and would always be Red and Black.
Thank you to Hanna for her wonderful arVcle, your Croquet weekend looked like so much fun. I look forward to more arVcles from our young players. And thank you Ben for sending in his Big QuesVon. What would you change if you could have your own rule? Send in your answers, and send in your own Big QuesVons.
Alison Maugham (Who is no longer bossy and would choose pink and purple) alison.maugham@croquetengland.org.uk
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THOUGHTS FROM THE SWING CLINIC
really surprised at how far out their aim is (i.e. the mallet is aligned significantly to the left or right of the target). So why is this? The answer is that they have a swing which doesn’t deliver the mallet head in a square position through the strike, and over time, with regular practice, they’ve come to see the mallet as being square to the target when it actually isn’t. It’s not a conscious compensation, their visual system has just learnt to see things slightly differently in this particular situation. Often in the Swing Clinic the thing that looks odd (excessive use of the wrists, or late deceleration of one shoulder, or standing up out of the shot) is a corrective manoeuvre, rather than the actual swing fault. This is the case here, where the swing fault and the misalignment cancel out. How does a Swing Coach sort this out? The answer is always to get the player perfectly aligned first, whilst warning them that they will start to miss everything, and that this is great news. Once you’ve got them missing everything, then you sort out the swing fault and then they start hitting everything. Happy days! If you can get all of this done in 1 hour, and then follow up with clear notes on how to practise and bed in their new technique, then you should take up swing coaching (please). Incidentally, if you did the mallet face alignment test above, and found you aren’t aligned with 100% accuracy then I wouldn’t necessarily fuss about it. You’re in the same position as 80-90% of players, and so long as your hitting is satisfactory then you can just shrug your shoulders like Peter Crouch and say ‘Big deal’. The ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it’ mentality has its virtues! However, you might find that being properly aligned improves your hitting consistency. If you want to try this then one option is to do something with lasers at home (cf. Peter Olsen videos on the internet). Another option, on the lawn, is a simple exercise where you stand your mallet up pointing at the target, step away to check alignment, correct the alignment and then retake your stance, look carefully at mallet face and target, and then hit the ball. It doesn’t take long to get your visual system retuned to pointing the mallet correctly, maybe 20-30 min, so well worth trying. Will correcting my alignment by myself mess up my hitting ability? The reason I have suggested that players can safely correct their own alignment is that I find that if you correct the alignment the swing starts to adapt to the correct target line quite naturally, so it doesn’t ruin your hitting ability to try this. I think a lot of players would benefit from doing this, so why not give it a go?
RAOUF ALLIM Grade 3 AC/grade 3 GC coach
I’ve recently completed three day-long Swing Clinics and there are some really common problems which players have, some of which they could fix themselves if they knew how. I’m going to cover a few of them in successive articles, but Alison was asking me to write something about alignment, so that’s today’s topic. There are two sorts of alignment to consider. The first is where your body (particularly the shoulder girdle and hip girdle) is pointing. The second is where your mallet points at address (is the mallet face square to the target). Body alignment Regarding body alignment I’m fully in favour of standard doctrine of having feet pointing at the target, or if they are turned outwards or inwards, it should be symmetrical. Most people have their feet slightly outwards. The shoulders should also square up to the target, and you’re good to go. Unfortunately, a lot of players have musculoskeletal issues, and the square position doesn’t allow them to swing properly. For example, my own problems with shoulder pain have forced me to adapt my swing in the last couple of years. Two years ago I had left shoulder supraspinatus tendonitis and couldn’t swing my left shoulder properly. I had to set up with my left foot forwards, and with hands split on the mallet shaft so that only the right shoulder was working. Last year I got right shoulder supraspinatus tendonitis and had to set up with both feet pointing left so that I could swing outwards to the right, keeping the right shoulder stationary, and using more wrist swing. This year the shoulders are OK and I’m back to being square. So, being square is ideal, but if you can’t manage it, then see a swing coach and work out an alternative setup and swing. Mallet face alignment Mallet face misalignment, where the mallet points in the wrong direction at address is a really common occurrence. You can test yourself just by putting your mallet down, pointing at a target, and then step back from it and see where it’s actually pointing. The majority of players turning up to the Swing Clinic have a misalignment, and they are
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