Rules to play Croquet

1. Croquet can be played in many different forms. Serious croquet is played at international level including world individual and team championships. Mostly though it is played as a casual, social game by millions of peoples around the world in their own gardens. These rules are the Official Rules of Garden Croquet as authorised by the World Croquet Federation. They allow for some variations and also for added complexity so that you can move from so .....

The court

2. A backyard croquet court doesnt have to be a perfectly manicured lawn, but short grass provides the best playing surface. If you have room, a full size court is a rectangle, 100 feet long by 50 feet wide. You can adjust the size and shape of the court to fit the available space. Use string or chalk to mark definite boundaries, or just mark the corners with flags or stakes. .....

Size of court

3. The normal size of court for garden croquet is 17.5 metres by 14 metres. However, you can play on other size lawns to fit the particular characteristics of your garden. The longer the grass and the rougher the surface, the smaller the court should be. You may need to reduce the measurements to fit onto the available lawn. If reducing the size, keep all proportions the same as for a normal sized lawn i.e. reduce all length and width measurements .....

The Wickets and Stakes

4. The nine wickets and two stakes are arranged in a double diamond pattern as shown in the diagram. If you are playing on a smaller court, the distances shown should be scaled down in proportion to the length and width of the court. The wickets should be firmly planted in the ground, and the width of the wickets should be uniform throughout the court. .....

The balls

5. For a two or four player, two sided game, you need four balls. The colors usually used are blue, red, black, and yellow. One side with one or two players plays with blue and black, and the other with red and yellow. For a six player team game, you need six balls. In team play, one side plays blue, black, and green, and the other side plays red, yellow, and orange. In one ball games, you need one ball per player. .....

The mallets

6. Each player uses a mallet. Only the striking end face may be used to strike a ball, unless the players have agreed to allow the use of side shots or other shot making variations. .....

Optional accessories

7. You can use colored clips or clothespins to mark the next wicket your ball must go through. The clip is picked up when a wicket is scored, then placed on the balls next wicket at the end of the turn. .....

Object of the game

8. The object of the game is to advance the balls through the course by hitting them with a mallet, scoring a point for each wicket and stake made in the correct order and direction. The winner is the first side to score the 14 wicket points and 2 stake points for each of its balls, unless the game is played to a time limit and time runs out before that happens, in which case the team with the most points at the end of the time period wins see belo .....

Shots

9. If a player plays out of turn, there is no penalty. Any ball moved during the out of turn play is replaced to its position prior to the error and play recommences properly. If an out of turn is initially condoned not discovered but then later discovered, only the last ball played out of turn is replaced and the correct ball then proceeds. Example if red plays, then blue plays, then yellow plays, yellow is replaced, and then red plays correctly. .....

Scoring Wicket and Stake Points

10. Each ball can score wicket and stake points for its side only by going through a wicket or hitting a stake in the proper order and direction. Going through a wicket out of order or in the wrong direction is not counted as a point gained or lost. A ball caused to score its wicket or stake during another balls turn earns the point for its side, but no bonus shot is earned as a result.A ball scores a wicket point only if it comes to rest clear of th .....

Bonus shots

11. The striker earns one bonus shot if the striker ball scores a wicket or hits the turning stake. The striker earns two bonus shots if the striker ball hits another ball a roquet . However, the maximum number of bonus shots earned by a striker is two; there is never a time when a striker is allowed three shots. See the Exceptions section below for examples. If two bonus shots are scored by striking another ball, the first of these two shots .....

Exceptions

12. Two extra shots are earned when the striker ball scores two wickets in one shot. If the ball also hits the turning stake after scoring two wickets, two strokes are earned, not three. Conversely, if the striker ball scores the seventh wicket and hits the turning stake in the same shot, it earns two shots. After the striker ball roquets another ball, it does not earn any extra shots for hitting it again in the same turn before scoring the next wick .....

Wicket and Roquet

13. When the striker ball scores a wicket and then in the same shot hits another ball, only the wicket counts and the striker has earned only the one extra shot for scoring the wicket. The striker may then roquet any ball to earn two extra shots. When the striker ball roquets another ball and then goes through a wicket, the wicket has not been scored but the striker earns two extra shots for the roquet. .....

The boundaries

14. Whenever any part of a ball crosses a boundary, it is brought inbounds and placed one mallet length or 36 inches into the court. The ball should be placed 90 degrees inbounds and perpendicular to the line and not diagonally from the line. Exception When the striker ball has just roqueted hit another ball, the striker may choose to place it in contact with or up to a mallet head from the ball that was roqueted. All balls are also immediately .....

Rover balls

15. After a ball scores all of the wickets in the course, its player may choose to keep it in the game as a rover to help advance that sides remaining ball s and to prevent the opposing side from advancing. During this balls turn, it may hit any other ball only once per turn, gaining extra shots accordingly, but it does not earn any extra shots or wicket points for running a wicket.Any player may put a rover out of the game by causing it to hit th .....

Time limit game

16. If time does not permit a game to be played to the stake, a time limit may be set beforehand. A kitchen timer works well to alert players to the end of the time limit. When the time limit is reached the game is over. This is known as sudden stop. If the score is tied in the sudden stop format, the ball closest to its contested wicket gets an extra point for the win. .....

Using deadness

17. Deadness occurs after a roquet is made and the striker is unable to score his her wicket. The consequences are that the striker is not allowed to roquet the ball s again until scoring the wicket. Once the wicket is scored, the striker becomes alive and is able to roquet the ball s again. If a striker roquets a ball he she is dead on, all balls are replaced to their positions before the shot, and the turn is over. Deadness carries over from turn .....

Out of Bounds Play

18. A A ball is considered out of bounds if it is more than halfway over the boundary line which is considered to be the inside edge of the boundary marking. If a striker sends any ball s out of bounds as the result of their shot, all balls shall be measured in 9 from the spot where they crossed the boundary line. The only exception to this is when the strikers ball crosses the boundary line as the result of a roquet where it is then lifted and pla .....

Starting deadness

19. May be used in conjunction with Option 1 regarding deadness. No extra shots are earned by hitting another ball until both the striker ball and the ball to be roqueted have cleared a designated wicket typically 1, 2, or 3 . A ball not in the game may have a ball s in the game marked and lifted for a shot and vice versa. Balls out of the game are dead on balls in the game and visa versa. .....

Wired

20. If an opponent causes the striker ball to be blocked by a wicket or stake wired when the striker wishes to shoot at a ball it is alive on, the striker may move his her ball a mallet heads length or up to 9 inches in any direction from its wired position to enable a possible open shot on that ball. The striker is not obligated to shoot at a ball from this new position and may take any shot he she wishes. This optional rule does not apply if the .....

Blocked at a Wicket by a Dead Ball

21. If an opponent causes a ball to be blocked from scoring its wicket by a dead ball s for two consecutive turns, the blocked ball becomes alive on the blocking ball s . The opponent must be responsible for the block, not the side claiming a block. A block must be confirmed by the blocking side in order to be counted as a block, in order to avoid disputes. In addition, the proposed wicket shot that is claimed to be blocked must be possible to make .....

Rover play

22. A rover may hit all balls once per turn; however, once the rover is dead on a ball s , it must go through any wicket in any direction to clear its deadness on that ball s . The rover does not get an additional bonus shot after going through this clearing wicket. .....

Poison

23. A poison ball is one that has scored all the wickets but hasnt hit the finishing stake. A poison ball may hit any opponent ball and have it removed from the game. Conversely, if an opponent ball hits a poison ball, the poison ball is removed from the game. If a poison ball fully passes through any wicket in any direction, it is removed from the game. A poison ball does not earn bonus shots for hitting other balls. .....

Over time play

24. When a timed match has expired, each ball gets a last turn. If a ball has played its last stroke of the turn and is still rolling on the court when time expires, it will get another turn. If the losing side has played its last turns, the winning side may not play its last turn aka last ball last turn may not play . If the score is tied after the last turn round, the ball closest to its contested wicket gets an extra point for the win. A tourna .....

Longer game

25. If you want to play a longer game then you can choose the 26 point game. In this version each side tries to score 12 hoop points for each ball and the 2 peg points. The first six hoop points are as in the basic garden croquet then the hoops are played in the reverse direction see diagram B . The position of the red topped hoop If used is moved so that it denotes the final hoop . This version is the one used for most major Association Croquet C .....

Starting point

26. As your game progresses you may want to use the starting rule for Association Croquet. In this version you can choose to start from either end of the lawn. Between Corner 1 and the mid point at one end of the lawn and between Corner 3 and the mid point at the other end of the lawn. This allows for more variety of tactics at the start of the game. .....

Handicap play

27. If you are playing a game between players of different ability, it is possible to use a handicap system. With this, the weaker player is awarded a number of extra turns, which may be used at any point during the game following a normal turn. In the extra turn, the player must continue to strike the same ball he was using in the preceding turn. The number of extra turns required may be set after some experimentation to give the fairest chance to b .....

How to earn extra shots

28. You can earn extra shots in two ways.By scoring the next hoop in order, earning one extra shot, orBy striking your ball so that it hits one of the other three balls, earning two extra shots. .....

Sequence of hoops

29. If one of your hoops has a blue top then this should go in position 1 and is the first hoop and the one with the red top denotes the final hoop and goes in position 6. The order and direction of scoring the hoops is shown in the diagram.Each ball must score the six hoops in the right order as shown and then score the peg point. A side wins by scoring the six hoops for both balls and the two peg points before the opposing side. .....

Ball off the lawn

30. If any ball goes off the lawn it is replaced a metre in from the edge where it went off the lawn and play continues without any penalty. If at the end of a turn, a ball lies within one metre of the boundary, it is moved into the lawn so that it is one metre from the boundary. .....

Finishing and winning the game

31. A side wins the game by scoring six hoop points for each ball and then hitting the peg with both balls. This is usually done in the same turn during a croquet stroke and the continuation stroke. Ideally you take croquet from your partner ball near the peg. Line the balls up so that in the croquet stroke the partner ball hits the peg, then in the continuation shot the strikers ball hits the peg. However you can also win the game by hitting the pe .....

Time limits

32. If you have limited time you can play a time limited game. Agree a finish time. The side which has scored the most hoop and peg points when time is called is the winner. .....

Sequence of Play

33. Follow the colors on the stakes; blue, red, black, and yellow in a four ball game and blue, red, black, yellow, green, and orange in a six ball game. In a four ball game the sides are blue black against red yellow In a six ball game the sides are blue black green against red yellow orange. When there are three teams of two, the sides are blue yellow, red green, and black orange. .....

Extra strokes

34. When you make your wicket in order or hit the turn stake you get one extra shot.If you hit roquet a ball you get two strokes. The first shot can be played from a mallet head distance or less away from the ball that was hit taking a mallet head . from a position in contact with the ball that was hit, with the striker ball held steady by the strikers foot or hand a foot shot or hand shot . from a position in contact with the ball that was hit, .....

Penalty

35. After making a fault the strikers turn ends and no point is scored in that stroke counts. The adversary is entitled to choose either to replace the balls where they were before the fault, or to leave them where they came to rest at the end of the foul stroke. .....