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?

September

4-7: Sidmouth AC First Eight (The President's Cup) (AC)
4-7: East Dorset AC Second Eight (The Chairman's Salver) (AC)
4-8: Cheltenham AC Third Eight (The Spencer Ell Cup) (AC)
4-8: Southport AC Fourth Eight (The Treasurer's Tankard) (AC)
6-7: Sussex County The Sussex Open Golf Croquet Championship (Open Series) (GC)
12-14: Carrickmines The Golf Croquet Championship of Ireland 2025 (GC)

What's on?

6-7: Wrest Park IPDG GC Elite and Development Squad Mentored Match Weekend (Course)
4: Surbiton Don's Day Light (GC 0+) : Level Singles (GC)
7: Hamptworth Golf Croquet D-Level (10+) Series Tournament (GC)
2-4: Hurlingham Midweek Veterans' Advanced Handicap Singles (AC) (AC)
5-7: Ramsgate The AC Selectors' Weekend (AC)
6-7: Nottingham AC Handicap Weekend (AC)
6-7: Roehampton End of Season (AC) Handicap Weekend (Max 16) (AC)
6-7: York The York Viking Challenge Short Croquet Tournament (AC)
13-14: Camerton & Peasedown The GC All-England Handicap Final (Advantage GC) (GC)
9-10: High Wycombe Blewbury AC C-Level (7+) Advanced Tournament (AC)
13-14: Budleigh BSCC AC Class Weekend Tournament (AC)
13-14: Hurlingham MacRobertson Shield Squad (AC)
13-14: Wrest Park September Handicap (AC) Tournament (AC)
16: Camerton & Peasedown Open Doubles Tournament (GC Level Play) (GC)
11: Online Executive Meeting
18: Online Board of Trustees Meeting