Croquet Setup and Rules
Prepare the croquet court. A freshly mowed lawn of short grass is preferable. The court, when
space permits, should be 100 feet by 50 feet, though you can adjust accordingly.
Croquet law calls for boundaries marked by string, or stakes to mark the corners. Place the wickets
firmly in the ground within the court in a double-diamond, figure-eight shape (each wicket at a point
of the diamond, at an even-distance apart). Two croquet wickets, close to each other, should be
placed at the very top and bottom of the figure 8. A stake is then placed behind each top and
bottom croquet wicket.
For a two to four player croquet game, you'll need four croquet balls; for a six-player croquet game,
croquet law calls for six croquet balls. Each team plays with different colored croquet balls. Each
player takes a croquet mallet and must only use the striking end, not the side, when moving their
ball through the croquet wickets.
Hitting the croquet balls with a croquet mallet, you move through the course, scoring points for
each croquet wicket and stake made in the correct order. You start at the bottom of the figure 8,
moving the croquet balls counterclockwise around the diamonds (making sure to hit the stake at
the top of the figure 8, then moving back through the top croquet wickets). Players take turns; at
the beginning of each play, the player, or "striker," has one shot, hitting only the croquet ball
she/he is playing that turn. The turn ends after that shot, unless a bonus shot is earned by scoring
a croquet wicket or stake or by hitting another croquet ball. The play continues until there are no
more bonus shots, or until the player hits the finishing stake at the bottom of the double-diamond,
where play began.
To score a croquet wicket, croquet rules state that the
croquet ball must go all the way through the croquet
wicket and stay clear of it. (According to croquet rules,
the point doesn't count if the croquet ball rolls back, and
through the croquet wicket.) The team wins when it has
all its croquet balls successfully moved through the
double-diamond.
During the game, a player is entitled to two additional
strokes if the player's ball strikes and opponent’s ball
(croquet). If the player’s ball stays in touch with the
opponent’s ball after striking it, the player is allowed to
put his foot on his own ball and with his mallet, drive it
against the opponents ball and send it in any direction.
The player can then take another stroke to continue the
game of play. If the opponent’s ball is driven from the
field of play, it must be put back on the edge of the
playing field where it went off.