The Lawn

As croquet essentially involves hitting your ball through a series of hoops that forms a 'course', it is easy to have a fun game on almost any size and shape of lawn, and to adapt the course to suit the available area. You do not need a lawn that is of 'bowling green' standard - indeed most people play very happily on a normal patch of grass. This said, the better the quality of the lawn, the less likely you are to be frustrated by random hollows and bumps!

If you want to play a semi-serious game, then we recommend playing on a rectangular area of lawn, about 17.5 metres by 14 metres (approx. 20 yds x 16 yds), and which is free of any obstructions. These dimensions may be adapted to suit the lawn area available, and the quality of the grass that you have, but we would not recommend using larger areas unless your lawn quality is of a high standard. Full details on lawn sizes, layout etc. can be found in the rules. For a professional start, refer to Laying Out a Court.

Croquet Equipment

While it is possible to buy individual bits to make up a croquet set, it is generally more cost-effective to buy a set. This also has the advantage that sets come in a box or carry bag to keep everything together. A croquet set should contain, as a minimum, two croquet mallets (most have four or more), six hoops, one centre peg and four balls (blue, red, black and yellow).

There is a wide variety of croquet sets available on the market, which can be confusing, so refer to the notes on choosing a croquet set.

Croquet sets, as well as individual bits of croquet equipment, may be purchased from the Croquet England Shop