How to Play: Rules, Coaching, Handicapping, Ranking, Refereeing

What is croquet all about - and why should you give it a try?

Croquet: six hoops, four balls, two mallets and a patch of grass.

Sounds easy enough.

Croquet is a game of skill and strategy, angles, tactics, and guile. A bit like snooker on grass. Will your balls get through the hoops and peg out before your opponent's? It is played on equal terms by men and women and between young and old.

Croquet offers sport, friendships, fun, competition and a whole lot more.

To see what we mean, please watch the adjacent short video.

With over 200 croquet clubs nationwide to choose from, look up your nearest club to find out more about the outdoor sport that keeps you physically and mentally fit, providing a competitive yet sociable environment. Clubs belong to regional Federations.

Croquet is played on a 35 x 28 yards completely flat and closely-mown fine grass court.

Six cast-iron hoops and a peg set firmly into the ground, four balls weighing one pound (in top-class competition ¹/₃₂" smaller than a hoop), and mallets weighing around three pounds are used to play at club to international level.

Golf Croquet and Association Croquet are the two main variants of the game played in the UK:

Golf Croquet - one stroke per turn and when a hoop is scored all players move on to the next
Association Croquet - score many hoop points in a single turn by playing breaks
- Short Croquet - a handicap version of Association Croquet played on half-size lawns
- Garden Croquet - simplified Association Croquet suitable for playing in the garden
Just-for-fun games you can play on a croquet lawn
For background, see the introduction to croquet

The Coaching section will get you started through to international champion.

The Refereeing section tells you how to become or be a better referee.

The Handicapping system allows competitive games between players of different abilities.

The Ranking System ranks all croquet players in the world.

The Tournaments section tells you all about the competitive scene.

The Technical section tells everything else!

Coming Up

Where are the top players?

August

1-2: Colchester The Golf Croquet Women's Open Championship (GC)

July

24-9: Hurlingham Roehampton Sussex County Surbiton MacRobertson Shield: World AC Team Championship Tier 1 (AC)

August

1-8: Carrickmines The Championships of Ireland 2026 (AC)

What's on?

July

29-30: Phyllis Court Blewbury Golf Croquet B-Level (DG<1700) Series Tournament (GC)
30: Broadwas Golf Croquet B-Level (DG<1700) Series Tournament (GC)
31: Broadwas Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Series Tournament (GC)

August

1: Guildford Golf Croquet B-Level (DG<1700) Series Tournament (GC)
1: Hunstanton Golf Croquet D-Level (10+) Series Tournament (GC)
1-2: Budleigh Golf Croquet Open Series Tournament (GC)
1-2: Chester Golf Croquet A-Level (DG<2000) Series Tournament (GC)
2: Guildford Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Series Tournament (GC)
1: Blewbury August One-Day Short Croquet Tournament (AC)
1: Bury AC Short Croquet (AC)
1-2: Tyneside Advanced Weekend (AC) Tournament (AC)
1-2: Norwich The Chalkhill Mallet Handicap (AC) (AC)
1-6: Hurlingham Annual Tournament (AC) (AC)
3-4: Cheltenham High-Bisquers' (AC) Tournament (Course)
6: The Academy AC Supervised High-Bisque Tournament (Ref:AC5) (Course)
6: Ashby Golf Croquet D-Level (10+) Series Tournament (GC)
7: Ashby Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Series Tournament (GC)
7-8: Guildford Golf Croquet A-Level (DG<2000) Series Tournament (GC)
8: Ashby Golf Croquet B-Level (DG<1700) Series Tournament (GC)
8: Bury Golf Croquet D-Level (10+) Series Tournament (GC)
8: Hamptworth Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Series Tournament (GC)
9: Hamptworth Golf Croquet D-Level (10+) Series Tournament (GC)
9: Sidmouth Golf Croquet B-Level (DG<1700) Series Tournament (GC)
5-6: Crake Valley Advanced Tournament (AC) - The Cavendish Clock (AC)
5-6: Colchester Summer Midweek Handicap (AC) Tournament (AC)
5-6: East Dorset AC Midweek 2-Day Handicap (0+) Tournament (AC)
7-9: Budleigh BSCC Summer AC Tournament (AC)
7-9: Hurlingham The Hurlingham Cup Open Weekend (AC) (AC)
8-9: Swindon AC Advanced C-Level Tournament : Neil Morrison Trophy (AC)
8-9: York The Yorkshire White Rose AC Open Tournament (AC)
8-15: Balgreen Edinburgh Tournament (AC)
12: Leighton-Linslade Golf Croquet D-Level (10+) Series Tournament (GC)