Conker tips and tricks

 The conker season maybe a few months off, however we're getting ready to for the season by researching different facts around the game of conkers.

What is a conker

The first thing to know is that a conker is a nut that comes from the Horsechestnut tree, and falls off around autumn time - covered in a spikey shell, with a brown nut - the conker - inside.

How to play conkers

Conkers involves sticking a nut on the end of a string, and then trying to smash your opponents conker.  The rules of conkers have been developed up over time, and are pretty consistent across the UK - with the general idea being to take hits in turns - every 3 - and to play until the other person's conker is smashed.

Of course, scoring in conkers is really important - as you want to win and want to know when you've won your game of conkers.  There's tips here on how conker scoring works if you're interested.

The nice people at Peckham Conker Club have put together this video explaining how to play conkers:

How prepare your conker for a game

The general chat in conker circles, is that to win a game of conkers you have to prepare well - which involves first off trying to make a hole in your conker - by drilling a hole and not spearing your hand!  The other key thing to consider is preparing your conker by stringing it - and using the right string so that your conker doesn't fall off!

If you're a complete conker nut, then you could go to extremes and prepare your conker like these guys from the London-based Peckham Conker Club ;-)

We hope this short guide to the tips and tricks of conkers was useful . . .