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Backyard Croquet 101

Backyard Croquet Rules & Regulations

As a competitive sport, recreational hobby, or just a pleasant way to pass a sunny afternoon, croquet offers a combination of casual play and careful strategy that is unique among outdoor games. All one needs is some croquet equipment, a few friends, a level stretch of grass, and an acceptable set of rules.

Since catching the public consciousness in the 19th century, croquet has become one of the world's most popular lawn games. It's also spawned many variations on the traditional game, such as golf croquet and eXtreme croquet. But the two most common forms of croquet remain six-wicket croquet and nine-wicket croquet, known respectively as American croquet and backyard croquet. It's these two forms that we examine in our overview of croquet rules and regulations.

U.S. Rules of Six-Wicket Croquet

Croquet is an international game, but did you know that there's an "American" version of this popular outdoor pastime? No, American croquet doesn't feature flag waving, Charles Ives symphonies, or red, white, and blue balls. It's a six-wicket form of the nine-wicket game, with a few important rule differences that affect "dead" croquet balls and boundary rules, among other things. Our guide to the rules of American six-wicket croquet explains some of the important differences and similarities.

Croquet Mallets

It may seem ironic that a game as elegant as croquet uses a hammer to initiate gameplay. Yet croquet mallets are often very elegant themselves, with attractive and tactile materials such as leather and wood. The durability and power of fiberglass has also made it a popular material choice among our croquet mallet shoppers at Croquet.com. This article offers a few specifications and tips that will enable you to choose the right croquet mallet or set.

Croquet Glossary

Croquet, like any strategy game that's been around for well over a century, has developed its own lexicon of terms for describing everything from croquet equipment to the rare and commonplace circumstances of game play. Pegging out, breaking, croquetting and roquetting: knowing the definitions of these and other terms may not make you a world-class croquet player, but it will help you to hold a proper conversation with your fellow croquetters from all around the world.

Golf Croquet Rules

Golf croquet is one of the most interesting and fast-paced variations on six-wicket croquet. Imagine if golfing rules were changed so that each hole was worth one point and the player or team that gets their ball in the hole first wins that point - and they were allowed to knock the other team's ball into the rough. That's kind of how things work in golf croquet. Grab your croquet mallets, print a copy of our Golf Croquet Rules, and start swinging.