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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, guile. A bit like snooker on grass. Will your balls get through the hoops and peg out before your opponent's?

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 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.

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.

There are two main variants of the game played in the UK, see the introduction to croquet:

  • 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 simplified version of Association Croquet played on half-size lawns.
    • Garden Croquet - simplified Association Croquet suitable for beginners to play in the garden.

The Technical section tells everything else!

There are also some just-for-fun games you can play on a croquet lawn.

The tournaments section tells you all about the competitive scene.

Coming Up

Where are the top players?

September

  • 19-20: Southport The English National GC Singles Championship (Ascot Cup) View details (GC)
  • 25-27: Compton (Eastbourne) The South of England Championship View details (AC)

October

  • 2-4: East Dorset The Western Championship View details (AC)
  • 4: Surbiton The AC Inter-Club Championship View details (AC)

What's on?

September

  • 20: Nottingham The GC Students' Championships View details (GC)
  • 19-20: Colchester Golf Croquet C-Level Series National Final View details (GC)
  • 19-20: Pendle The Pendle & Craven Late Season Golf Tournament View details (GC)
  • 19-20: Sussex County Advanced Weekend (AC) View details (AC)
  • 19-20: Wrest Park September Handicap (AC) Tournament View details (AC)
  • 19-20: York York Open Short Croquet (AC) Tournament View details (AC)
  • 20: Surbiton The Charity One-Ball Handicap Competition (Final) View details (AC)
  • 23: Cheltenham The GC Murphy Inter-Club Shield View details (GC)
  • 26-27: Cheltenham Bernard Neal Chalice (AC) Weekend Tournament View details (AC)
  • 26-27: Hamptworth Advanced Singles (AC) Weekend Tournament View details (AC)
  • 26-27: Budleigh Autumn Class Weekend (AC) View details (AC)

October

  • 3: Roehampton The GC Inter-Club Championship View details (GC)
  • 2-4: Cheltenham October Handicap (AC) Tournament View details (AC)
  • 3: TBA The Secretary's Shield View details (AC)
  • 3-4: Surbiton The Longman Inter-Club Trophies View details (AC)
  • 4: Surbiton The Mary Rose Inter-Club Trophy View details (AC)