Garden Croquet Rules, Association and Ricochet - How to Play Croquet
Croquet Rules
The full rules of croquet are extensive and are designed for serious competitive croquet at the highest level and they cover every situation that can occur in a game. The rules are called "laws" and the official book of laws has 72 pages. It is of little use to garden croquet players who would rather play the game than spend hour upon hour learning complex rules. After 28 years of competitive A Class play I still don't know all the laws!
The official rules for garden croquet are outlined below but why they are called "official" I am not sure. In the proper spirit of garden croquet I hope you will invent your own rules to cover situations that aren't covered. You can always send me an E mail and I will be delighted to provide guidance if required.
The official rules for garden croquet are outlined below but why they are called "official" I am not sure. In the proper spirit of garden croquet I hope you will invent your own rules to cover situations that aren't covered. You can always send me an E mail and I will be delighted to provide guidance if required.
The Croquet Lawn
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When you lay out your croquet lawn you can put the hoops wherever you like but the normal positions are shown on this diagram.
All you need to do is to decide the unit size to use for your lawn. At Bygrave we use an 8 foot unit. So the overall size is 32ft x 40 ft. If you have room you may want to keep the hoops in the same place but make the lawn longer at the two ends, that is what I usually do, because it makes hoop 1 harder to run in the opening shots of the game. Full sized croquet lawns use a unit of 7 yards which is far too big for garden croquet and I recommend sticking to 6, 7 or 8 foot units if you have room. If you want a short game you can just play 6 hoops and the peg. In this case start at hoop 1 and progress through hoops 2 to 6 in the direction shown ie clockwise. For a longer game you can run 12 hoops by going anticlockwise after hoop 6 and progressing through hoops 7 to 12 in the opposite direction to the arrows. Accurate positioning of the hoops really doesn't matter for garden croquet, just lay the lawn out however you like. |
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Local Rules
The essence of playing croquet in the garden is to have fun and not to worry too much about the detail. It doesn’t matter how much space you have, what shape it is or whether there is a tree in the middle of the lawn. Throughout the history of croquet people have devised their own special rules and there is no harm in thinking up your own to cope with the particular conditions of your garden. Croquet can be great fun even on small lawns but village greens and public parks are great places to play as well.
Equipment
You need six hoops, a peg, four balls and one or more mallets. Set the hoops out as shown with the peg in the middle. If you want to buy croquet equipment please consider using the Bygrave Croquet Club On-line Shop. We sell hoops, mallets, balls, flags, pegs and a range of quality sets too. The club makes a small profit on shop sales so every purchase made puts something back into croquet. Shop here or use the tab above
The Game
The game can be played as singles or doubles. In either event the blue and black balls are played by one side and the red and yellow by the other. The objective is to run all six hoops in the correct order and hit the peg with both balls of your side before your opponents.
The sides take turns to play but can choose which of their balls they wish to use. To start the game toss a coin to decide which side is going to start first.
In the first four turns each side takes it in turn play a ball from the agreed starting point which is usually near the boundary directly in front of hoop 1. If Blue plays first, Red might play next and then Black followed by Yellow. From then on, at the beginning of every turn the side in play decides which of their balls they want to use for the turn. Only one person plays at a time.
Extra shots
In each turn you get one shot but you can earn extra shots in two ways.
1/. When your ball runs a hoop you get and extra shot with that ball.
2/. By playing your ball so that it hits any of the other three balls - you are said to have “roqueted” (hit) the ball (pronounced "rokayed"). This gives you two extra shots. The first of these is called the Croquet Shot, to play this you pick up your ball and place it touching the ball that you roqueted. Now play the Croquet Shot by hitting your ball and both balls can move. Then you get a "continuation shot" from where your ball lies. You could try to hit another of the three balls and earn another two extra shots or run a hoop and get one extra shot. If you don’t manage to roquet (hit) another ball or run a hoop your turn ends and the other side than plays whichever of their balls that they wish.
Live Balls and Dead balls
In each turn you can roquet each of the other three balls just once but if you run a hoop in that turn you can roquet all of them again. So remember that at the start of every turn you are said to be “live” on all the other balls. You can roquet and croquet all the other balls whether they are your opponent balls or you own partner ball. If you haven’t yet roqueted a ball, you are "live" on that ball and you are “dead” on any balls that you have roqueted. They all become live again at the start of a new turn or when you have run a hoop. If you hit a dead ball your turn ends and the balls stay where they land unless you are due to take an extra shot in which case you can play on.
The croquet shot itself is what makes the game so appealing. It is the only game in the world where you play two balls simultaneously and by the clever use of a variety of shots the balls can be positioned very accurately for use later on.
Extra turns are not cumulative. If, for example, your ball runs a hoop and in the same shot hits another ball, the extra turn for running the hoop is lost, but you still get the two extra shots for roqueting another ball. If, in a croquet shot, you hit another live ball you just get the extra two shots earned for the roquet.
Balls going off the lawn
If any balls go off the lawn they are put back on an agreed distance from the boundary. If you have plenty of space a mallet shaft length is a good measure but on small lawns you may want to reduce this somewhat. It is up to you to make your own local rule.
Have you run the hoop?
The ball is through if it has entered the hoop far enough so that it wouldn’t be touched by a straight edge on the playing side of the hoop. A ball must enter from the correct side of the hoop. If a ball is knocked through a hoop by another ball, it scores a hoop point but doesn’t earn the player an extra shot.
Scoring
You earn one point for every hoop that your ball runs and one point for hitting the peg. So if your two balls run six hoops and hit the peg, you will earn 14 points.
Is Association Croquet the same?
The differences are mainly due to the fact that garden lawns are not necessarily flat, the boundaries are only approximate and the game is devised to be as easy to learn as possible.
a) The Start
In Croquet all balls start from the same spot on the boundary in front of hoop 1. In Association Croquet the rule is different, you can start from anywhere on the left hand half of the boundary in front of hoop 1 or the boundary in front of hoop 3.
b) Ball off the lawn
In Association Croquet the turn ends if the striker's ball, or croqueted ball goes off the lawn.
c) The Croquet Shot
In Association Croquet the balls must be touching in a croquet shot and when the strikers ball is hit both balls must move or at least shake. In the basic version of Croquet the balls might not actually touch and only the strikers ball has to move. On many lawns it would be very difficult to make them touch which is why this rule is relaxed.
Ricochet Croquet
This is a quick and simple game to learn. In the 6 player version each player has a ball. When you play your ball you can earn free shots. One free shot for running a hoop and two free shots for hitting another ball. There are no croquet shots as such. Here are the abbreviated rules - the full rules can be found here
The object is to be the first to run all the hoops in order and then hit the peg.
a) At the start of a turn the player is entitled to one stroke. As a result of that stroke, the player may become entitled to further free strokes.
b) The player is entitled to one free stroke if the striker’s hoop is run, or two free strokes if the striker’s ball makes a roquet (hits a live ball). All balls are live at the start of a turn, and all dead balls become live again when the striker’s next hoop is run.
c)In any stroke the striker’s ball may ricochet off any other ball to score its hoop, or peg itself out (if it is a rover ball); or cause another ball to run its hoop; or peg out another ball (if both balls are rover balls), or combine several of these - or the player may simply hit the striker’s ball to a desired position on the lawn, or run the striker’s hoop.
d) The turn ends when there are no further free strokes to play or a fault or error has occurred, or the game ends. e) At the end of a turn the player measures in any ball that has left the court or come to rest in the yard-line area, places clips on their correct hoops or peg, and moves directly off the court.
Want to know more about playing croquet?
Beginners will find Dr Ian Plummer's Beginners Coaching notes to be very useful, click her to go to his web site OxfordCroquet.com
Author: Duncan Hector
The essence of playing croquet in the garden is to have fun and not to worry too much about the detail. It doesn’t matter how much space you have, what shape it is or whether there is a tree in the middle of the lawn. Throughout the history of croquet people have devised their own special rules and there is no harm in thinking up your own to cope with the particular conditions of your garden. Croquet can be great fun even on small lawns but village greens and public parks are great places to play as well.
Equipment
You need six hoops, a peg, four balls and one or more mallets. Set the hoops out as shown with the peg in the middle. If you want to buy croquet equipment please consider using the Bygrave Croquet Club On-line Shop. We sell hoops, mallets, balls, flags, pegs and a range of quality sets too. The club makes a small profit on shop sales so every purchase made puts something back into croquet. Shop here or use the tab above
The Game
The game can be played as singles or doubles. In either event the blue and black balls are played by one side and the red and yellow by the other. The objective is to run all six hoops in the correct order and hit the peg with both balls of your side before your opponents.
The sides take turns to play but can choose which of their balls they wish to use. To start the game toss a coin to decide which side is going to start first.
In the first four turns each side takes it in turn play a ball from the agreed starting point which is usually near the boundary directly in front of hoop 1. If Blue plays first, Red might play next and then Black followed by Yellow. From then on, at the beginning of every turn the side in play decides which of their balls they want to use for the turn. Only one person plays at a time.
Extra shots
In each turn you get one shot but you can earn extra shots in two ways.
1/. When your ball runs a hoop you get and extra shot with that ball.
2/. By playing your ball so that it hits any of the other three balls - you are said to have “roqueted” (hit) the ball (pronounced "rokayed"). This gives you two extra shots. The first of these is called the Croquet Shot, to play this you pick up your ball and place it touching the ball that you roqueted. Now play the Croquet Shot by hitting your ball and both balls can move. Then you get a "continuation shot" from where your ball lies. You could try to hit another of the three balls and earn another two extra shots or run a hoop and get one extra shot. If you don’t manage to roquet (hit) another ball or run a hoop your turn ends and the other side than plays whichever of their balls that they wish.
Live Balls and Dead balls
In each turn you can roquet each of the other three balls just once but if you run a hoop in that turn you can roquet all of them again. So remember that at the start of every turn you are said to be “live” on all the other balls. You can roquet and croquet all the other balls whether they are your opponent balls or you own partner ball. If you haven’t yet roqueted a ball, you are "live" on that ball and you are “dead” on any balls that you have roqueted. They all become live again at the start of a new turn or when you have run a hoop. If you hit a dead ball your turn ends and the balls stay where they land unless you are due to take an extra shot in which case you can play on.
The croquet shot itself is what makes the game so appealing. It is the only game in the world where you play two balls simultaneously and by the clever use of a variety of shots the balls can be positioned very accurately for use later on.
Extra turns are not cumulative. If, for example, your ball runs a hoop and in the same shot hits another ball, the extra turn for running the hoop is lost, but you still get the two extra shots for roqueting another ball. If, in a croquet shot, you hit another live ball you just get the extra two shots earned for the roquet.
Balls going off the lawn
If any balls go off the lawn they are put back on an agreed distance from the boundary. If you have plenty of space a mallet shaft length is a good measure but on small lawns you may want to reduce this somewhat. It is up to you to make your own local rule.
Have you run the hoop?
The ball is through if it has entered the hoop far enough so that it wouldn’t be touched by a straight edge on the playing side of the hoop. A ball must enter from the correct side of the hoop. If a ball is knocked through a hoop by another ball, it scores a hoop point but doesn’t earn the player an extra shot.
Scoring
You earn one point for every hoop that your ball runs and one point for hitting the peg. So if your two balls run six hoops and hit the peg, you will earn 14 points.
Is Association Croquet the same?
The differences are mainly due to the fact that garden lawns are not necessarily flat, the boundaries are only approximate and the game is devised to be as easy to learn as possible.
a) The Start
In Croquet all balls start from the same spot on the boundary in front of hoop 1. In Association Croquet the rule is different, you can start from anywhere on the left hand half of the boundary in front of hoop 1 or the boundary in front of hoop 3.
b) Ball off the lawn
In Association Croquet the turn ends if the striker's ball, or croqueted ball goes off the lawn.
c) The Croquet Shot
In Association Croquet the balls must be touching in a croquet shot and when the strikers ball is hit both balls must move or at least shake. In the basic version of Croquet the balls might not actually touch and only the strikers ball has to move. On many lawns it would be very difficult to make them touch which is why this rule is relaxed.
Ricochet Croquet
This is a quick and simple game to learn. In the 6 player version each player has a ball. When you play your ball you can earn free shots. One free shot for running a hoop and two free shots for hitting another ball. There are no croquet shots as such. Here are the abbreviated rules - the full rules can be found here
The object is to be the first to run all the hoops in order and then hit the peg.
a) At the start of a turn the player is entitled to one stroke. As a result of that stroke, the player may become entitled to further free strokes.
b) The player is entitled to one free stroke if the striker’s hoop is run, or two free strokes if the striker’s ball makes a roquet (hits a live ball). All balls are live at the start of a turn, and all dead balls become live again when the striker’s next hoop is run.
c)In any stroke the striker’s ball may ricochet off any other ball to score its hoop, or peg itself out (if it is a rover ball); or cause another ball to run its hoop; or peg out another ball (if both balls are rover balls), or combine several of these - or the player may simply hit the striker’s ball to a desired position on the lawn, or run the striker’s hoop.
d) The turn ends when there are no further free strokes to play or a fault or error has occurred, or the game ends. e) At the end of a turn the player measures in any ball that has left the court or come to rest in the yard-line area, places clips on their correct hoops or peg, and moves directly off the court.
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Want to know more about playing croquet?
Beginners will find Dr Ian Plummer's Beginners Coaching notes to be very useful, click her to go to his web site OxfordCroquet.com
Author: Duncan Hector