Try Croquet!

Seeking Shade - Sunshine on the Forth

The Edinburgh Croquet Club offers four different ways in which you can try croquet for yourself.

The first of these is our annual Beginners' Croquet Course, a six-week structured introduction to both Golf and Association Croquet. If, for whatever reason, that option is not suitable then you can attend our Informal Coaching which is held on Thursday evenings throughout the season.

Then there are our Come-and-Try-It sessions at 2pm on Thursday afternoons from May onwards, when members of the club will be on hand to show you the ropes.

Finally, if there is a group of you then why not try one of our Group Sessions, where you will get a gentle introduction to Golf Croquet. These sessions are also suitable for any social group or organisation looking for an unusual outdoors social activity.

Beginners' Croquet Course

2008 Dates: 10th May - 14th June

This course will take place in the grounds of Lauriston Castle on Saturdays from 10.30am to 12.30pm, beginning mid-May and continuing for six weeks. It will cover the main points of the rules of Association Croquet — perhaps the most widespread of the various forms of croquet played around the world today — and the skills required to play it. The simpler game of Golf Croquet, which has its own skills and tactics, will also be introduced. On the last Saturday there is an informal competition exclusively for attendees of the course, which is an enjoyable introduction to the game using all the skills they have learnt in the course.

*Session 1

Introduction to the game
Grip, stance and swing
Straight hoop running
Angled hoop running
Faults
Replacing balls on the yard line
Golf Croquet

Session 2

Roquets
Straight croquet strokes
Split croquet strokes

Session 3

Hoop approaches
Take-offs
Breaks — how to make several hoops in one turn
Use of clips to indicate the state of a game

Session 4

More on breaks
Bisques (handicap play)

Session 5

Straight rushes
Cut rushes
Tips on tactics

All equipment is provided, though participants are asked to wear flat-soled shoes to avoid damage to the lawns.

The charge for the course is £20 per person. If you decide to join the club this season, your £20 fee for the course will be set against your first annual subscription.

All participants on the course, whether they join the Club or not, are entitled to come along free of charge to the informal Thursday evening coaching for the rest of the season.

If you would like to register for the next Beginners' Croquet Course please contact us.

*This is a summary of the course contents from previous years. We are currently reviewing the course contents ahead of this year's course. The same material will be covered, but not neccessarily in the order described below. Once the review is complete the revised contents will be published here.

Top of Page

Informal Croquet Coaching

These sessions provide a degree of informal coaching, aimed at everyone from the complete beginner to the moderate player looking to improve their game.

Beginners can use these sessions as a complement to, or as a substitute for, the Beginners’ Croquet Course. Others can use these sessions to improve their skills under the eyes of watchful coaches. Each session ends with a short game.

Sessions are held from first Thursday in June to mid-September and start from 6p.m. (or as soon thereafter as you can make it) through to 8:30p.m.

Club Members and those on the Beginners’ Course can come along for free; for everyone else a £2 lawn fee is charged.

If you fancy trying croquet at one of these sessions you can just turn up (remember to wear flat-soled shoes) or contact us in advance.

Top of Page

Come-and-Try-It Sessions

These sessions are held from 2pm every Thursday afternoon from May onwards. Members of the club will be on hand to provide basic instruction to anyone who wants to try their hand at croquet. All you need to bring is flat-soled shoes and bags of enthusiasm. After just a few minutes tuition you will have mastered the basics and will be able to have a go at Golf Croquet.

Top of Page

Evening Croquet Sessions

Fancy trying your hand at Croquet? Edinburgh Croquet Club is happy to arrange an evening of croquet for your club/organisation in the beautiful grounds of Lauriston Castle overlooking the Forth.

The Club will provide croquet equipment and a number of members will be on hand throughout to instruct and guide participants both on the rules of the game and on mallet technique! All that we ask is that flat soled shoes are worn.

Croquet is one of the few sports in which men and women compete on equal terms across all levels of competition. The sport can be played by adults and children alike. Unfortunately the club is not equipped with child size mallets and therefore only participants aged over about 16 can be accommodated as part of a group.

The club will charge a fee for the evening, this can be a fee per person or a flat fee for the evening, and the appropriate fee for your club will be discussed on application.

The exact content of each session can be adapted according to the requirements of the group, but in general the following is an outline of the evening’s activities. The evening normally begins at about 6:30.

§ Introduction to the Rules of Golf croquet

§ Divide participants into competing groups

§ Begin Golf Croquet Games!

§ On completion of each game, participants can move to complete against different opponents.

Up to 32 people can be catered for and we would generally advise that only those over 16 are suited to play, although with correct supervision from your organisation it is possible to include younger participants.

Golf Croquet is appropriate for a single evening as a game for beginners. Association Croquet is a much more complex game and requires more than an evening to understand. However it is the game preferred by many members and if you are already experienced in Association Croquet then matches against club members may be arranged on an individual or small group basis.

Please do contact the club if you would like to arrange an evening for your friends or your organisation.

All events are subject to the lawns’ availability and to the availability of our willing volunteers from the Edinburgh Croquet Club.

If you would like to organise a group evening, or just want some more information, please contact us.

Top of Page

Home Croquet Intro Try Croquet Calendar Competitions Edinburgh Tournament History Find Us Contact Us Links

To report errors/omissions/typos please contact the webmaster

Best viewed with Internet Explorer; it pains me to say that but Fasthosts's SiteBuilder tool appears to produce code that is incompatible with certain versions of Firefox.