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

5-6: Sussex County The Sussex Open Golf Croquet Championship (Open Series) (GC)

August

29-31: Budleigh GC Second Eight (The Kate Jones Memorial) (GC)
29-31: Sidmouth GC Third Eight (The Suzanne Roberts Memorial) (GC)
29-31: Budleigh GC First Eight (The Ricki Savage Memorial) (GC)
29-31: Bowdon The North of England Championship (AC)
22-23: Cheltenham The GC Inter-County Championship (Division 1) (GC)
22-23: Sussex County The GC Inter-County Championship (Division 2) (GC)

What's on?

22-23: Pendle & Craven August Weekend Handicap (AC) Tournament (AC)
28: Woking Golf Croquet C & D Level Tournament (GC)
29-30: Ashby The National Forest GC Doubles (Combined 0+) (GC)
30: Surbiton Surbiton Level Play Day (GC 0+) : Doubles (GC)
25-26: Sussex County AC Annual Tournament (A, B & C-Class) (AC)
29-30: Blewbury AC - Super-B Advanced Weekend (AC)
29-30: Woking Autumn Advanced (AC) (AC)
29-31: Hunstanton 127th Annual (AC) Tournament (AC)
30-31: Tunbridge Wells Honeygrove Cup - Advanced Tournament (AC) (AC)

September

1: High Wycombe GC -Intermediate Improver Course (Course)
5-6: Northampton IPDG GC Elite and Development Squad Mentored Match Weekend (Course)

August

31: Hurlingham Handicap Doubles (Extra Stroke) (GC)

September

2: Crake Valley Ladies' GC One-Day Tournament (GC)
5-6: Watford The GC All-England Handicap Final (Advantage GC) (GC)
6: Hamptworth Golf Croquet C2B Level (5+) Tournament (GC)
3-6: Budleigh The AC Challenge and Gilbey (Handicap and Level-Play Singles) (AC)
5-6: Chester AC Team Event - Scottish Croquet Association vs. Croquet England (AC)
5-6: Nottingham Advanced Singles Weekend (AC) (AC)
5-6: Roehampton End of Season (AC) Handicap Weekend (Max. 16) (AC)
5-6: York The York Viking Challenge Short Croquet Tournament (AC)