How to Play Association Croquet

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Jaques of London codified and popularised croquet in the 1850s.

Association Croquet is the full, competitive form of lawn croquet, played on a precisely marked grass court with four balls, six hoops and a central peg. It rewards careful geometry, long-range shooting and tactical positioning in equal measure, and is considered the definitive test of croquet skill at every level from club play to international championship.

A London manufacturer codified and popularised croquet in the 1850s, helping establish the rules and equipment standards that underpin the modern game. Played on a flat lawn of roughly 32 by 25 metres, it suits adults and older children alike, and the deliberate pace makes it an accessible social game as well as a serious competitive one.

A little history

Croquet became widely popular in Britain during the 1860s and 1870s, when standardised equipment and printed rules brought it into middle-class gardens and purpose-built clubs. The All England Croquet Club was founded at Wimbledon in 1868, and the Croquet Association, which now governs the game in England, was established in 1897. The precise origins of croquet before its Victorian codification are unclear, with various claims linking it to earlier French or Irish lawn games that are not conclusively documented.

Setting up

1. Mark or confirm the boundary of the lawn: ideally 35 yards by 28 yards (32 m by 25 m), though smaller lawns are permitted.
2. Place the six hoops in their standard positions: hoops 1 and 2 forming a central north-south pair, hoop 3 at the east boundary midpoint, hoops 4 and 5 forming a second central pair, and hoop 6 at the west boundary midpoint. Exact positions are 7 yards from the relevant boundary and from each other as specified in the Laws of Association Croquet.
3. Drive the peg firmly into the centre of the lawn.
4. Confirm the hoop order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, then 1-back, 2-back, 3-back, 4-back, penultimate and rover, running each in the prescribed direction.
5. Decide sides: in doubles, Blue and Black play against Red and Yellow. In singles, one player takes two balls (typically Blue and Black) and the opponent takes Red and Yellow.
6. Determine who plays first. The Laws provide for a coin toss; the winner may choose to play first or second.
7. The game begins from the first corner or the yard-line adjacent to it, as specified at the start of each turn.

How to play

1. Each turn begins with one stroke. The striker chooses which of their two balls to play; the other is left where it lies.
2. A player earns one extra stroke (a continuation stroke) each time their ball runs a hoop in the correct order and direction in a single stroke.
3. A player earns two extra strokes (a croquet stroke plus a continuation stroke) each time their ball hits any other ball that it has not already roqueted in that turn. This is called a roquet.
4. To take croquet after a roquet: place your ball in contact with the roqueted ball and strike your ball. Both balls must move or shake. You then play your continuation stroke from where your ball came to rest.
5. Once a ball has roqueted all three other balls in a single turn, it must run a hoop before it can roquet any ball again. The roquet status resets each time the striker's ball runs a hoop.
6. A ball that goes off the lawn is placed on the yard-line (one yard in from the boundary) at the point it crossed, or at the nearest corner spot if it went through a corner.
7. Balls are played in a set sequence within each side, but the striker chooses which of their own two balls to play at the start of each turn.
8. A turn ends when the striker plays a stroke that earns no further bonus strokes, or after any fault.
9. A fault includes: pushing or pulling the ball, striking the mallet shaft rather than the head, moving a hoop or the peg with the mallet during the stroke, or touching any ball other than the striker's ball with the mallet during the stroke. On a fault the stroke is cancelled, balls are replaced and the turn ends.
10. A ball becomes a rover once it has run all 12 hoops. A rover ball may peg out (hit the peg) to be removed from the game, but only if the other ball of its side has also run all 12 hoops, or by pegging out the opponent's rover ball simultaneously.
11. Balls pegged out are removed from the lawn and take no further part in play.
12. The game ends when one side pegs out both their balls.

Winning and scoring

The first side to run all 12 hoops with both balls and then hit the peg with both balls wins the game. In competitive play each hoop successfully run scores one point, giving a maximum of 26 points per side (12 hoops per ball, 2 balls, plus 2 peg points). A side wins by reaching 26 points, or by their opponent conceding. In timed games the side with the higher hoop score when time is called wins; if scores are equal the game is a draw unless a protocol to play one more turn is agreed in advance.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns whether a ball has genuinely run a hoop. A hoop is not scored until the ball has passed completely through: if any part of the ball remains on the playing side of the hoop (the side from which it entered), the hoop is not completed. A ball may enter the hoop in one turn and complete it in a later turn without penalty, remaining in that position as a live ball. Players should sight from directly in front of the hoop at ground level before claiming the point.

A second frequent source of confusion is the wiring lift. If a player's ball has been left so that a hoop or the peg prevents a fair shot at any ball on the lawn, that player may be entitled to lift their ball and play it from either baulk line. The conditions are precise: the obstruction must affect the stance or swing as well as the aim, and the entitlement applies only when the opponent was responsible for the position. When in doubt, consult the current Laws of Association Croquet published by the Croquet Association, which sets out the full test.

How to win more often

• Always think in breaks, not single strokes. A four-ball break, in which you use all three other balls as pivot points around the lawn, lets one player run all 12 hoops in a single turn. Practice the geometry of placing a pioneer ball at the next hoop before you approach the current one.
• Use your continuation stroke after running a hoop to rush (hit) a nearby ball close to the next hoop rather than simply advancing your own ball. A well-placed rush removes the need for a long roquet and keeps the break alive.
• Leave your balls in defensive positions when your turn ends. Two balls parked close together on the same boundary make it harder for your opponent to roquet both in one turn without splitting them dangerously.
• Prioritise getting both your balls moving together rather than running all 12 hoops with one ball while leaving the other far behind. A single-ball game leaves you with no pivot balls and exposes the advanced ball to being pegged out prematurely.
• Take wiring positions seriously. Parking your ball directly behind a hoop so that your opponent cannot roquet it without hitting the hoop first can force them to waste a turn or take a risky long shot, and that one turn gained is often decisive.

Variations

Golf Croquet

A simplified version in which there are no roquet or croquet strokes. All players compete to be the first to run each hoop in turn, with the hoop point going to whichever ball passes through it first. Each player plays one stroke per turn and there are no bonus strokes. Golf Croquet is faster (typically 45 to 60 minutes), easier to learn and is widely used as an introduction to lawn croquet.

Short Croquet

Played on a half-size lawn (approximately 17.5 by 14 yards) with only six hoops run once in each direction, giving 13 points per side. The Laws are otherwise identical to Association Croquet. Short Croquet makes the full tactical game accessible on smaller club and private lawns and is formally recognised by the Croquet Association.

Handicap Croquet

Players are assigned handicaps (from -2 for elite players to 20 or higher for beginners) and the difference in handicaps is used to award extra turns, called bisques, to the weaker player. A bisque is a free additional turn that the receiver may take immediately after any stroke. Handicap play is the standard competitive format at most clubs and allows players of very different abilities to have a genuinely competitive game.

Doubles (Four-Ball)

Two players form each side, one playing Blue and the other Black, against a pair playing Red and Yellow. Partners alternate turns rather than choosing who plays each turn. Communication between partners is permitted only when both are present at the ball, and advice during the opponent's turn is discouraged by convention. Doubles rewards consistent ball control across the partnership more than individual brilliance.

Association Croquet: frequently asked questions