Croquet Rules & Regulations

There are a number of variations of the game including competitive and social forms. The more competitive variations are those for the North American Rules as developed by the U.S. Croquet Assocation and adopted by Croquet Canada and the International Association rules as adopted by Croquet Canada, which vary significantly in many aspects while using the same croquet equipment and court set up.

The Rules of Croquet :

• North American USCA 6 Wicket Rules - offsite with a synopsis at www.croquetAmerica.com (USCA Site)

• Association 6 Wicket Rules

• A synopsis of Association Rules Oxford Croquet in England. - offsite

• Golf Croquet Rules

• Nine Wicket rules (backyard variety)

See the Oxford Site link above for International Association Rules.

Croquet Rules Overview So you've just bought a brand-new croquet set and you've gathered your friends in the backyard on an easy summer afternoon. Sounds like a great time, but does anybody really know croquet rules? Here's a condensed version: Prepare the croquet court. A freshly mowed lawn of short grass is preferable. The court, when space permits, should be 100 feet by 50 feet, though you can adjust accordingly. Croquet law calls for boundaries marked by string, or stakes to mark the corners. Place the wickets firmly in the ground within the court in a double-diamond, figure-eight shape (each wicket at a point of the diamond, at an even-distance apart. Two wickets, close to each other, should be placed at the very top and bottom of the figure 8. A stake is then placed behind each top and bottom wicket). For a game of two to four players, you'll need four balls; for a six-player game, croquet law calls for six balls. Each team plays with different colored balls. Each player takes a mallet and must only use the striking end, not the side, when moving their ball through the wickets.

Hitting the balls with a mallet, you move through the course, scoring points for each wicket and stake made in the correct order. You start at the bottom of the figure 8, moving the balls counterclockwise around the diamonds (making sure to hit the stake at the top of the figure 8, then moving back through the top wickets). Players take turns; at the beginning of each play, the player, or "striker," has one shot, hitting only the ball she/he is playing that turn. The turn ends after that shot, unless a bonus shot is earned by scoring a wicket or stake or by hitting another ball. The play continues until there are no more bonus shots, or until the player hits the finishing stake at the bottom of the double-diamond, where play began. It sounds rather involved, but once you get the hang of croquet rules, they'll become second nature.

To score a wicket, croquet rules state that the ball must go all the way through the wicket and stay clear of it. (According to croquet rules, the point doesn't count if the ball rolls back, and through the wicket.) The team wins when it has moved all its balls successfully through the double-diamond.