How to Play Garden Croquet

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

Jaques of London codified and popularised croquet in the 1850s and still makes championship sets today.

Garden croquet is a lawn game for two to six players in which each player drives one or more coloured balls around a course of hoops and a central peg using a long-handled mallet. It is straightforward enough for children to join in, yet rewards accuracy and tactical thinking, making it a genuine all-ages garden game rather than just a knockabout activity.

Jaques of London codified and popularised croquet in the 1850s and still makes championship sets today. The game is played on a flat grass lawn, suits an ordinary back garden, and can run from a quick twenty-minute knock-up to a properly contested match lasting an hour or more depending on the number of players and the course layout chosen.

A little history

The precise origins of croquet are unclear, though the game as played today is widely documented as having taken firm hold in Britain in the mid-nineteenth century, spreading rapidly from Ireland and England to become one of the most fashionable lawn pastimes of the Victorian era. It was among the first outdoor sports played by men and women together on equal terms, and by the 1860s and 1870s formal clubs, tournaments, and written rule sets were well established across Britain and the wider English-speaking world.

Setting up

1. Choose a flat area of lawn. A full-size court is 32 yards by 25 yards, but garden croquet scales freely to fit your space.
2. Push the centre peg firmly into the middle of the lawn.
3. Arrange the six hoops in the standard double-diamond or simple oval pattern around the peg, following the diagram supplied with your set. For a six-hoop course, place one hoop approximately one quarter of the way in from each corner and one hoop on each of the two short centre lines.
4. Each hoop must stand vertical, with roughly 3 to 4 inches of clearance above the ball on each side (standard hoop width is approximately 3¾ inches for a regulation 3⅝-inch ball).
5. Allocate one ball and matching mallet to each player. In a four-ball game the standard colours are blue, red, black, and yellow. Blue and black play as one side against red and yellow, or each player takes one colour for singles and doubles.
6. Decide the order of play by agreement or by rolling a die. The traditional sequence is blue, red, black, yellow.
7. Mark or agree the starting position, which is typically one mallet's length in from the first hoop or from a fixed baulk line.

How to play

1. Players take turns in the agreed colour order. On your turn you are entitled to one stroke: strike your ball cleanly with the face of the mallet head.
2. Your aim on each turn is to advance your ball through the next hoop in the correct sequence and direction. The sequence and direction of play through each hoop are fixed; the course diagram shows which hoop is next and which way the ball must travel.
3. A ball scores a hoop point only when it passes completely through the hoop in the correct direction in a single stroke or as a result of the continuation strokes earned in that turn.
4. When your ball passes cleanly through its correct hoop in one turn you earn a continuation stroke: you play again immediately. You may earn one continuation stroke per hoop run.
5. When your ball strikes any other ball (called a roquet) you earn two extra strokes. First, place your ball touching the roqueted ball and strike your ball so that both balls move (this is the croquet stroke). Then play a free continuation stroke to advance toward your next hoop.
6. You may roquet each other ball only once per turn. Your roqueting rights reset each time you run your next hoop.
7. A ball that goes off the boundary is placed one mallet's length in from where it crossed the boundary line before play continues.
8. A ball sitting in the jaws of a hoop (partially through but not fully clear) is not counted as having run that hoop; it must be knocked fully through in a subsequent stroke.
9. In informal garden play, once a player has run all hoops in the correct sequence they must strike the centre peg to finish. In team play, the side wins as soon as both balls have completed the course and pegged out.

Winning and scoring

The winner is the first player to score all six hoop points in the correct order and then strike the centre peg with their ball, making a total of seven scoring shots in a single-ball game. In doubles or four-ball play, the winning side is the first to have both their balls complete the full hoop sequence and peg out. If a time limit has been agreed, the player or side with the greatest number of hoop points scored at the end of time wins; ties are settled by counting completed hoops from the start of the sequence.

The fine points

The most common dispute is whether a ball has genuinely passed through a hoop. The rule is clear: the ball must be entirely beyond the non-playing face of the hoop (the far wire) before the stroke ends. A ball that comes to rest inside or level with the hoop has not run it and must be knocked through in a later turn. Do not move a ball in the jaws to test whether it is through; if it is genuinely ambiguous, a straight-edge laid across the non-playing face of the hoop is the standard test.

A second regular argument concerns the croquet stroke: both balls must move or the croquet stroke must be replayed. If the striker's ball fails to move the roqueted ball, the stroke is a fault and the turn ends, with both balls replaced where they were before the fault. Striking the mallet head so that it contacts the ball twice in one swing (a double-tap, which is easy to do when the ball is close to a hoop wire) is also a fault; again the turn ends and both balls are replaced. In casual garden play many groups waive the double-tap rule for beginners, but it is worth knowing the correct ruling before competitive play.

How to win more often

• Focus on running hoops rather than roqueting opponents early in the game. Hoops win matches; aggressive play that leaves you out of position is rarely worth it.
• When you do take croquet, use the croquet stroke to place your own ball in front of your next hoop, not merely to scatter the opponent's ball to a difficult position.
• Play leave positions carefully: when your turn ends, try to leave your ball near your next hoop rather than in open ground where an opponent can roquet you to gain extra turns.
• Use the boundary strategically. Sending an opponent's ball off the lawn forces it to be replaced one mallet's length in from the boundary, often putting it in an awkward spot and breaking up their run.

Variations

Golf Croquet

In golf croquet each player simply tries to be the first to run the next hoop in the sequence; there are no continuation strokes and no croquet shots. Each hoop is contested as a separate point and goes to whoever gets their ball through first. This version is faster, simpler for beginners, and works well for mixed-ability groups. First to seven hoop points wins a standard game.

Short Croquet

Short croquet uses only four hoops and the peg laid out in a compact diamond, making it well suited to smaller lawns and shorter sessions. All standard association rules apply; the reduced court simply compresses playing time and suits gardens where a full six-hoop layout is impractical.

Handicap Play

More experienced players give less experienced ones a head start expressed as a number of extra hoops scored at the outset. A player on a handicap of three begins the game as though they have already run three hoops and need only complete the remaining ones. Agreeing handicaps before play keeps mixed-ability games genuinely competitive.

Team Croquet (Doubles)

Two players share a side, each playing one ball throughout. Partners may discuss strategy between strokes but may not physically point or gesture to guide a stroke. The croquet and roquet rules remain the same; all four balls are in play at once, so each player can roquet the two opponent balls and their partner's ball once per hoop sequence. This format suits four players well and adds a layer of tactical depth through coordinated ball placement.

Garden Croquet: frequently asked questions