Croquet rules for beginners

If you've never played, the rules of croquet can look daunting. They're really not. Below is everything you need to follow a game and join in — most of it you'll absorb in your first ten minutes on the lawn.

First things first: there are two common forms of the game, and they have slightly different rules. We'll cover both, starting with the simpler one. For the bigger picture of how the game flows, see our beginner's guide to playing croquet.

The basic set-up

Croquet is played on a flat lawn with metal hoops set into the ground and a peg in the centre. There are usually four balls — blue, red, black and yellow — and players strike them with a mallet. The order of play follows that colour sequence (blue, red, black, yellow), which is helpfully printed on the centre peg so nobody loses track.

Golf croquet rules (the easy version)

Golf croquet is the version we teach beginners, because the rules are short and the game moves quickly.

• Everyone plays for the same hoop. All players aim at the same hoop at the same time.
• One shot per turn. Players take turns in the colour order — one stroke each, no extra shots.
• First through the hoop wins it. The first ball to pass cleanly through the hoop scores that point, and then everyone moves on to the next hoop.
• You can block and clear. Because you only get one shot, a lot of the fun is in positioning — knocking an opponent's ball away from the hoop, or guarding your own line.
• The winner is the player or team that wins the most hoops (typically 7 or 13).

That's genuinely the whole game. It's quick to learn, sociable, and you'll be competitive in your first session.

Association croquet rules (the tactical version)

Association croquet is the longer, more strategic form. The key differences from golf croquet are:

• You run the hoops in sequence yourself. Rather than everyone chasing the same hoop, each ball works its way around the full course in order.
• You earn extra shots. Running your hoop earns one continuation stroke. Hitting another ball — called a roquet — earns two, and lets you place your ball against the one you hit (the croquet stroke) before continuing.
• Breaks. Skilled players chain these extra shots together to run several hoops in a single turn. Building a "break" is the heart of the tactical game.
• Finishing. Once a ball has run every hoop in both directions, it finishes by hitting the centre peg ("pegging out").

Key croquet terms

• Roquet — hitting another ball with your own, which earns you extra shots.
• Croquet stroke — the shot you take after a roquet, with your ball touching the ball you hit.
• Running a hoop — successfully passing your ball through a hoop in the right direction.
• Break — a sequence of shots in a single turn that takes a ball through several hoops.
• Peg out — finishing a ball by striking the central peg after all hoops are run.