Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

A friend of mine bought this set for our Memorial Day picnic. We played two games with it and two of the mallets are now broken. Both broke when someone tried to knock somebody else's ball far away, but this is a normal tactic in croquet so it wasn't really excesive usage. In fact, one of the people who ended up breaking a mallet was a 9 year old kid, so it didn't take that much strength. The handles are made from a very light wood, and they were brave enough to cut ridges into the handles that weaken the material even more. This is a fine set if you don't want to spend that much and a bunch of beginers are going to use it and not be that aggressive, but if you're serious about a croquet set, spend a little more to get something that can hold up to the sport.