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
www.croquetengland.org.uk | 10
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting