Updated April 2023

It is always preferable to own your own mallet if you start to play seriously and wish to improve your game.   Simply by playing with one particular mallet on a regular basis you will become accustomed to it and improve your game.  This is not necessarily possible if you have to borrow a different Club mallet every time you play as Club mallets are only available on a first come first served basis.

Before purchasing your own mallet you are advised to try out as many different variations as possible – e.g. lengths of shafts, flexibility of shafts, differing grips, length of heads and variable weights.  Many of our Club members will not mind you trying their personal mallets providing you take good care not to clang them into the hoops. It should be particularly noted that the majority of our members’ personal mallets are carbon fibre shafted, whereas the Club mallets all have wooden shafts.

Many of the world's top players have played using unspectacular mallets – because high tech or high price does not necessarily mean better, despite the advertising blurb, as is usually the case with any particular sporting gear. You just need to find one you are happy with. At Enfield, and we’re pretty sure this happens elsewhere, we’ve had members who upgraded their mallet with a more expensive model only to find that they actually still preferred their old one.

Ignore anything that is advertised as a garden mallet, they are invariably too light and not the real deal. You’re looking for Club Mallets which are only manufactured by a very limited number of companies in the UK. Ours, unfortunately, is very much a minority sport and croquet mallets are often a cottage industry, but on the plus side you can purchase mallets manufactured to your own specifications. Metal shafts with a comfortable grip are preferable.

Club and personal mallets would generally be wood, metal or polymer-headed with a carbon fibre shaft. Our Club mallets all have wooden shafts, which is an indication of how old they are, but at today’s prices we cannot easily replace them. New mallets with carbon fibre shafts would cost in the region of £180, rising to £280 or more for specialist woods or the ultimate customisations. Whilst club mallets are entirely suitable for tournament play most enthusiasts tend to move towards a mallet with a carbon fibre head and shaft. A top of the range, all-bells-and-whistles, carbon fibre mallet might however cost in the region of up to £400.

If you play, or intend to play Association Croquet you will also require a grip the full length of the mallet.

The exact weight of the mallet is very much down to how it is manufactured and what weights are added, but is likely to be in the region of 2.75lbs to 3lbs. Most mallets are hand built, many are hand built to order with optional sizes for both head and shaft, some are imported from Australia or New Zealand but like anything else the prices continue to increase.

You will find the various options are quite staggering if you check out all the manufacturing links below. Heads are usually 9”, 10”or 11” long. Shafts anywhere between  32” and 40”. Grips vary by type, length and position. If you choose a wooden head you may well have a choice of differing wood types. You will also find mallets available with split shafts that screw apart for air travel: Treetop Mallets being one of them – and you just never know when you may want to enter an International Tournament in Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or the USA.

For further information and numerous fine photographs of the various mallets described below follow the links provided: 

Coles-Roice PFC Hoopmaker Mallets (Australia)  Previously PFC Hoopmaker. https://croquetmalletmetal.com Beautiful looking Aluminium Alloy mallets made in Australia, so their website shows Australian Dollar Prices. Southern UK sales are via Richard Carline at Southwick 07876 227165 no email provided. Demonstration models available to try from Richard. No UK prices available online but they were at least £350 each when information was last provided.

Croquet Association (Cheltenham, Gloucestershire)  Their online shop has a limited selection of George Wood mallets at the C A headquarters in Cheltenham, which is a lovely day out. GW Discovery, GW Evolution, GW Original (availability of mallet types and prices varies) https://www.croquetengland.org.uk/product-category/croquet-mallets/club-mallets/    George Wood being a New Zealand company (see below) 

David Barrett Mallets (Heywood, Lancashire) – does not to have a website but David Barrett does provide leaflets - telephone 01706 368214 or 07957 103417 or email:davidbarrettcroquetmallets@gmail.com  This leaflet is accessible from Bury Croquet Club.  Mallets start at £224 in the Classic range with 9 1/4 heads, Hybrid at £260-275 (10" or 11"), Aerotech SP6 at £280 (10" or 11").

Brian says “I’m still happy with my David Barrett SP6 Aerotech, it has a lovely whippy shaft which is ideal for stop shots. The top of the black polymer head has faded in the sun a bit over the years but that’s merely cosmetic and the mallet performs as well as ever”

Dave Trimmer Mallets (Gillingham, Dorset)  http://www.davetrimmermallets.co.uk Telephone - 01747 824822 Mobile - 07769 030228. The new website doesn’t currently show prices but has numerous photographs of delightful looking well-made mallets on show.  Bespoke carbon fibre and kevlar croquet mallets engineered with custom precision built to your specifications. The 4000S when fitted with a standard carbon shaft, will cost £460 with brass end faces or £490 with composite end faces. The split Airline travel shaft adds £120 to the total and the brass ferrule engraved with initials adds £14.

Mary says “Dave Trimmer - carbon fibre 4000S, composite end faces, with brass stripe. The dimensions will be the same, i.e.  10” head, black foam grip, length 37”. My previous mallet was a Dave Trimmer - 10 inch wooden 2000 series with carbon fibre shaft with black foam grip, 35”.

George Wood Mallets (New Zealand) – are currently available via the croquet Association but see also their website at http://www.woodmallets.com/croquet/  See the Croquet Association website (as above) for current UK price and availability.  

Jacques (London) https://www.jaqueslondon.co.uk/collections/croquet/products/   Jacques appear to produce masses of mallet types but in practice they appear to be all wooden mallets and many are intended just for garden croquet in the main, not to mention them being somewhat expensive. For garden sets however they are probably ideal. Michael and Francis have old but excellent Jaques Solomon  Lignum Vitae mallets, the modern equivalent being priced at £579.99 each.

John Hobbs Mallets - Their website is no more and they have ceased trading 

Manor House Mallets * once produced by Alan Pidcock and are now made by Dave Trimmer Mallets (see above)

Percival Mallets (Lavenham, Suffolk)  https://croquetmallets.co.uk/ email  Michael@croquetmallets.co.ukproduced by Michael Percival, Lavenham, Suffolk. 01787 247381, 07780 677943. The variations available are plentiful with a choice of 22 different wood types, many of them quite beautiful. The all wooden Standard Club Mallet supplied come with 34" to 38" ash shafts and African hardwood heads and are £158 – 162 (10” or 11” heads).  The customised mallets offer a variety of heads and shafts and the total price is for head + shaft with multiple options for both. Wooden heads range from £122-168 with many options. Aluminium heads from £255-288 (10” or 11” with colour options). Shafts range start from £57 for wooden, or between £116-162 for carbon fibre with variable grips.

It should also be noted that Michael’s other services have included the repair or restoration of over 450 mallets.

Nicola says “I got a Percival Mallet towards the end of last season. Based in Sudbury in Suffolk, he has a workshop in which you can select woods, he weighs and measures, wide selection of shafts and he will thicken handles if wanted etc. - I chose him a little because of the look of the mallets - and in particular liked the cork handle. I am though to date very pleased with it. Would definitely suggest visiting v selecting off his website - and to check any appointment made the day before. I had a wasted visit first time because he forgot.

The Second Hand Market  Although you may find the occasional mallet on EBay etc., it is very rare to find decent second hand ‘Club Mallet’ online and if you do find one please never purchase without viewing and handling the mallet in question. It’s being sold for a reason, however the occasional bargain may be out there somewhere with persistent searching.

Terminator Mallets (New Zealand) - http://www.terminatormallets.co.nz/PriceList.htm I’ve only ever seen photos but for something seriously different check out their Rainbow Mallets which stand out far more than pink laces - No idea about VAT or import duty charges. Very Marmite. Seriously cool or seriously ugly? Your call. 

Treetop Mallets (Colchester, Essex)   http://treetop-mallets.co.uk/   Delightful looking wooden mallets made to required measurements and weight by Jeff Farrington in Colchester. Jeff’s mallets have a carbonfibre shaft and wooden heads with variable grips, are priced at around £175 each and have an additional option of a split shaft option at £25. Typical heads are usually 10 or 11” but 12” also available. The Enquiries and Prices section of Treetop website offers multiple choice options for customisation.

Thomas says “I have a treetop mallet lovely custom maplewood mallet with solid tufnol end caps, peripheral lead weighting, and a carbon fibre shaft with a very grippy foam handle. The heads are inlaid with tulipwood sightlines so it looks quite elegant. They can be customised to have upper and lower grips for AC players, split handles for easy transport on trains or planes, and any combination of shaft length, mallet head length, and weight. They cost from £185 depending on how customised it is, which is very good value. I'm very happy with mine.”  Thomas adds that “I've not been able to get a response about fixing a slight rattle that sounds like a loose screw inside (which has only appeared after three-ish years of play with it)”.

Two additional excellent manufacturers of mallets are based in Spain – Thomas had the chance to try out their mallets at the World Team Championship and only didn't buy one because I didn't need two and they were on the upper end of price. One is the      Brass Spot, which makes probably the most beautiful mallets in the world that are used by several top Spanish and Egyptian players - their Facebook page has a contact email. https://m.facebook.com/thebrassspot      The second is                                                                  JC, which have a range of wooden or carbon fibre mallets made to specification and are also high quality. https://mazosdecroquet.es/en/

If you are aware of other manufacturers not included above please be so kind as to advise us so that they can be included in future updates.

Enfield members looking to purchase a mallet are advised to take note of their preferred height from those mallets available from the clubhouse. Most Club mallets are marked with height and weight so take note of your personal preferences.  Also have a look at those privately owned mallets that are on show and in use on the Enfield lawns as this will at least give you a reasonable starting point for your consideration.  

Enfield club members currently use:-

Dave Trimmer – Mary Grove (4000S)

David Barrett – Solid Composite Head with very flexible shaft - Brian Dawes (SP6), Jane French (Classic)

George Wood - Wooden Head - Brian Sturt, Marian Cuckson

Jacques – Michael and Francis Broadway

John Hobbs – Graham Curtis

* Manor House - Wooden Head* - Henry Hobbs, John Street, Jean Dawes

* Manor House - Carbon Fibre Head - David Frost, Peter Brock

Percival Mallets – Nicola Hyde

PFC Hoopmaker – Aluminium Alloy Head - Al Bateman (purchased in Australia). 

Treetop - Wooden Head - Thomas Halliday, Nigel Owen     

* Manor House Mallets or ‘Pidcocks’ are now manufactured  by Dave Trimmer

This page was originally put together by Brian Dawes and David Frost, this latest edition was revised and updated by Brian in April 2023. 

For a far more extensive and detailed article on Croquet Mallets and other equipment we recommend the Oxford Croquet website which we believe to be the most comprehensive piece to be found online. http://www.oxfordcroquet.com/equip/mallets/index.asp