Croquet Rules

The croquet court

The first step in playing croquet is to create the court. The wickets are set up to make the course. It is easiest to think of the court as having north, south, east, and west directions. For six-wicket croquet, the stake is set up in the middle of the court and two wickets are set up north and south, halfway between the stake and the edge of the court. The other four wickets are set up close to the corners of the court.

For nine-wicket croquet, you may think of the configuration as two adjoining diamond shapes. There are two wickets placed close to one another at the north and south ends, and one wicket in the center of the court. The four remaining wickets are placed at the east and west edges, two 1/4 of the way up the court and two 3/4 of the way up.

Each player must follow a previously agreed upon route through the wickets.

Hitting the ball

Striking the croquet ball is not quite as easy as it would seem. Depending on the conditions of the course, you may only get a few feet on your first attempts. The ball is struck with the end of the mallet, never the side. Bonus strokes are awarded for passing through a wicket and for striking a stake. When playing nine-wicket croquet, if a player passes both north or south wickets on one hit, that player receives two bonus strokes.

When you hit another player's ball, that is call roqueting, and the offensive player receives two bonus strokes. If a player roquets she has four options. She may simply take her two bonus strokes. She may place her own ball a single mallet head's length away from the other ball in any direction and then take her two bonus strokes. She may put her ball next to the other and then hit her own ball so that both balls move in the same direction. She then has one bonus shot remaining. Finally, she may place her own ball directly next to the struck ball and then, placing her foot on her own ball, strike it to move the other ball without moving his own. She then has one bonus stroke left.

If another player by any legal means moves another player's ball through a wicket or causes it to hit a stake, the wicket or stake is scored, but no bonus strokes are awarded.

Everything is at stake

The game is won when the first player legally runs the course and strikes the stake.

More information on croquet