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

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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?

June

13-14: Roehampton The Roehampton Golf Croquet Championship (Premier Series) (GC)
10-14: Surbiton The AC Men's, Women's and Mixed Doubles' Championships (AC)

May

30-31: Balgreen The Scottish Golf Croquet Championship (GC)
29-1: Carrickmines The Championships of County Dublin 2026 (AC)

What's on?

30: Chester Golf Croquet B-Level (DG<1700) Series Tournament (GC)
30-31: Cheltenham Cheltenham Golf Croquet Challenge (GC)
30-31: Wrest Park The Wrest Park Golf Croquet Open Series Tournament (GC)
31: Middlesbrough Northern Stars One-Day GC Open Qualifying Heat (GC)
30: Surbiton Speed Doubles (AC) (AC)
30-31: Bowdon Advanced Weekend (AC) (AC)
30-31: East Dorset AC Super-B and B-Level (0-9) Advanced Weekend (AC)
30-31: Nottingham B-Level Singles Weekend (AC) (AC)

June

3: Northern Academy Become a Croquet England GC Referee (Course)
5: Eynsham GC - Improve Your Game - A Workshop for B-Level Players (Course)
4: Roehampton Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Series Tournament (GC)
4: Surbiton Surbiton Level Play Day (GC 0+) : Doubles (GC)
6: Guildford GGCC 0+ GC Level One-Day Tournament (GC)
6: High Wycombe Golf Croquet 4+ Level Play Tournament (GC)
6: Newport (Essex) C-Class Handicap GC (GC)
6-7: Pendle & Craven Golf Croquet A-Level (DG<2000) Series Tournament (GC)
6-7: Sussex County GC Club Teams Challenge (GC)
7: Bury Golf Croquet B-Level (DG<1700) Series Tournament (GC)
7: Watford Golf Croquet Handicap Doubles (Advantage) (GC)
3: Crake Valley Advanced (AC) Tournament - Cumbria Cup (AC)
3-4: Blewbury Midweek Advanced (AC) Tournament (AC)
4: Crake Valley The Bob Vaughan Short Croquet Memorial Trophy (AC)
5: Guildford AC C-Level (7+) Advanced Tournament (AC)
5-7: Woking Advanced Open (AC) Tournament (AC)
5-7: Sidmouth June Mid-Summer (AC) Tournament (AC)
6-7: Bristol The Barbara Evans Trophy B-Level Weekend (AC) (AC)
6-7: Carrickmines The AC Home Internationals (AC)
6-7: Edgbaston B-Level Advanced (AC) (AC)
6-7: Ryde Isle of Wight Annual AC Advanced Tournament (AC)
6-7: Hunstanton Over-Fifties' Weekend (AC) (AC)
6-7: Surbiton Summer Handicap (AC) (AC)
6-7: York The Heart of Yorkshire Handicap Weekend (AC)
8-9: Woking Golf Croquet Open Series Tournament (GC)
9: Camerton & Peasedown Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Series Tournament (GC)
9: Hamptworth Golf Croquet C2B Level (5+) Tournament (GC)
10: Ealing Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Series Tournament (GC)
10: Leighton-Linslade GC A Level (GC)
10: Woking Golf Croquet B-Level (DG<1700) Series Tournament (GC)
11: Woking Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Tournament (GC)
12: Woking Golf Croquet D-Level (10+) Tournament (GC)
13: Bude Golf Croquet C-Level (7+) Tournament (GC)
13: Ealing Golf Croquet D-Level (10+) Series Tournament (GC)
14: Colchester Golf Croquet B-Level (DG<1700) Series Tournament (GC)
9-10: Budleigh BSCC AC Class Midweek Tournament (AC)
11-12: Ealing Ealing "Festival of Croquet" Handicap AC Tournament (AC)
13: Watford One-Day AC Tournament (AC)
13-14: Guildford Advanced (AC) Open Weekend (AC)
13-14: Nailsea June Advanced Singles (AC) Class Tournament (AC)
13-14: Newport (Essex) B-Level (AC) Advanced Weekend (AC)
13-14: Pendle & Craven Advanced Weekend (AC) (AC)
13-14: Ashby Handicap (AC) Singles Weekend (AC)
13-14: Peterborough Short Croquet Weekend (AC) (AC)