In the matter of mallets every licence is given, each player using the kind he likes best. The weight of these varies from 2-1/3 to 3-1/2 lbs., and the length of the head and shape is a matter of individual fancy. Many well-known players keep a variety of mallets and sometimes change the weapon frequently in a game; but for my own part I believe in getting accustomed to one mallet and sticking to it. The shapes are some of them most peculiar, and one of the old players for years used a mallet head like a thick solid block with square ends, while a player recently appeared with a mallet head of extraordinary length, and somewhat resembling the bottom of a rocking-chair. Some mallets are sliced at the bottom, with the idea that by this means the ball is hit more directly in the centre, and is not so liable to be topped. Some again have a flat brass plate attached at the bottom for extra weight, while one lady plays with a beautiful ivory mallet, long in the head but of smaller diameter than the usual box-wood ones. Heads of lignum vitæ are also used, and many players have india-rubber 1/4-inch thick affixed to one end, by which means two balls can be rolled together a distance of nearly thirty yards without any undue effort. This is a great boon to lady players, as without the india-rubber a very powerful following stroke is required, a hard hit only separating the balls, the hinder or playing ball rarely reaching half the distance.
The manner of equalising in a competition is by handicapping the strong players, who give bisques, viz., one or more extra turns in each game, which may be taken at any time in continuation of a break, but not more than one bisque in the same turn.
The manner of holding the mallet and striking varies in the hands of different players, Mr. C. E. Willis the present Champion at Wimbledon and at Maidstone being the finest example of a side stroke player, as set forth by Mr. Whitmore and and Mr. Peel, while Mr. Bonham Carter, Mr. Spong, Capt. Drummond and many others consider the aim much more certain with the forward position, a kind of pendulum stroke in which the weight of the mallet tells more than any force used. Some of the most successful of the lady players, too, use this method of striking, notably Miss Maud Drummond (winner of the Ladies' Gold Medal in 1896, and of the Wimbledon Championship Badge in 1897) and Miss Elphinstone Stone (present holder of the Maidstone Ladies' Cup), but Miss de Winton (Gold Medallist, 1897) and Mrs. Wood adhere to the older side stroke.