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

Home

Games

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

Availability closes soon for AC Team Event - Croquet England vs Croquet Association of Ireland (McWeeney Trophy) >>

Where are the top players?

April

26-27: Surbiton The Surbiton Golf Croquet Championship (Open Series) (GC)
26-27: Sidmouth The Sidmouth Golf Croquet Championship (Championship Series) (GC)

May

3-5: Cheltenham The Coles Championship (AC)

What's on?

April

26: Chiltern Academy Workshop for Coaches on GC Skills Assessment (Course)
26-27: Northern Academy Become a Croquet England Club-Level Coach (Course)
25: Watford Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Series Tournament (GC)
26: Sussex County Golf Croquet B-Level (4+) Series Tournament (GC)
26-27: East Dorset Golf Croquet A-Level (0+) Series Tournament (GC)
26-27: Pendle & Craven Lancashire International Golf Croquet Open (GC)
27: Sussex County Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Series Tournament (GC)
24-25: Woking Super-B-Level (AC) Tournament (AC)
26-27: Budleigh BSCC AC B-Level Advanced Weekend (AC)
26-27: Bristol The Latham Cup (AC) (AC)
26-27: Colchester Spring Weekend Handicap (AC) Tournament (AC)
26-27: Middlesbrough Handicap (AC) Weekend (AC)
26-27: Woking Advanced Handicap (AC) Tournament (AC)
29: Northern Academy Winning Ways (1) to A Single Figure Handicap (Course)
29: The Academy Triple Peel Course (3 X 1 Day Modules) Ref:AC4 (Course)
29: High Wycombe GC - Advanced Improver Course (Course)
30: Northern Academy Winning Ways (2) to A Single Figure Handicap (Course)

May

2: Phyllis Court Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Series Tournament (GC)
2-4: Tambre Spain vs England GC Test Match (in Spain) (GC)
3: Pendle & Craven Golf Croquet D-Level (10+) Series Tournament (GC)
4: Pendle & Craven GC 7+ Handicap (Advantage) Tournament (GC)
3: High Wycombe AC Handicap 14-point Tournament (AC)
3-5: Hunstanton Robert Prichard Weekend (AC) (AC)
3-5: Hurlingham May Weekend (AC) (AC)
3-5: Bowdon May Handicap Weekend (AC) (AC)
6: Northern Academy Moving On in Advanced AC (Course)
7: Northern Academy Back to Basics (Course)
10: High Wycombe AC - Improving Your Game for Intermediate Players Course (Course)
10: Northern Academy Classic Golf Croquet Skills and Tactics (Course)
5: Watford Golf Croquet B-Level (4+) Series Tournament (GC)
6: Camerton & Peasedown Golf Croquet B-Level (4+) Series Tournament (GC)
7: Crake Valley Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Series Tournament (GC)
8: Surbiton Don's Day (GC 0+) : Level Doubles (GC)
10: Ashby One-Day Golf Croquet Open Tournament (GC)
10: Pendle & Craven Golf Croquet B-Level (4+) Series Tournament (GC)
10: Sussex County Golf Croquet D-Level (10+) Series Tournament (GC)
10: Tunbridge Wells Montevideo Cup - GC Level Play (GC)
6-11: Budleigh BSCC Spring AC Tournament (AC)
8-11: Nottingham The AC Peel Memorials (Handicap Singles and Mixed Doubles) (AC)
10: Blewbury May One-Day Short Croquet Tournament (AC)
14: Online Coaching Committee Meeting
15: Online Board of Trustees Meeting