A club’s informal customs can be harder for a newcomer than the hobby itself.

The skill can be looked up. What cannot is where people sit, who speaks first, which chair belongs to somebody, whether you are supposed to bring something, how long you stay afterwards. None of that is written anywhere, and every regular learned it so gradually that they have forgotten it needed learning. A beginner can be perfectly competent at the activity and still spend six weeks feeling wrong in the room.

If you belong somewhere, say the unwritten parts out loud to anyone new, including the small ones. And if you are the new person, ask directly how things are usually done here, which almost everyone is glad to answer.