Croquet Rules for American 6 Wicket

In America the two most common versions of croquet rules tend to be "6 wicket croquet" and "backyard croquet."

6 wicket croquet is a more formal version of the game with more rules. With the added rules come added strategy.

The United States Croquet Association (USCA) is currently the most established croquet organization in America, and primarily use 6 Wicket rules.

The USCA works diligently to try to standardize croquet rules across America so I've opted to use their rules for this page. Despite all the great work the USCA performs, their rule book is extremely detailed & may give you a headache if you try to read and comprehend it all. It will, however, provide croquet rules that cover every possible scenario that could occur during play.

This page includes all the necessary croquet rules you will need (in an understandable format) to play "6 Wicket Croquet."

Listed below are definitions used in croquet rules followed by instructions explaining how to play the game:

* Mallet- The item used to hit the croquet balls.

* Wicket- The "U" shaped wire pieces sticking in the ground you have to hit the balls through.

* Stake- Small wooden post located in the center of the court you make contact with to finish a ball from the game.

* Stake-Out- What its called when a player hits a ball into the stake to finish out that ball.

* Striker- (2 definitions)- the name of the ball that is being hit with the mallet, or the player hitting the ball.

* Roquet- What a ball is called when the striker runs into it.

* Ball in Hand- The action of picking up the striker and placing it in contact with the roquet.

* Croquet- The action of hitting the striker into the roquet after ball in hand.

* Cannon- When the striker hits a ball, that in turn hits another ball.

* Fault- When a player makes an illegal shot, balls are returned to original positions, and player looses turn.

* Dead On- A term that means after a "croquet", the original striker is not allowed to turn the original roquet into a roquet again. The original striker is "dead on" the original roquet. Its a rule meant to prevent a player from continuously croqueting the same ball over and over.

* Rover- What a ball is called after it goes through the last wicket and must only hit the stake to finish.

* Rover wicket- the last wicket needed before stake-out.

* The Court- Shown below is a diagram of the court. Official dimensions used in most USCA tournaments call for the court to be 105' x 84' (each unit= 21'), however, smaller courts can be used as long as everything remains proportional to the diagram shown below. 1 common smaller size is 50'x40' (each unit= 10').

- Balls- games will always consist of 4 balls, colored: blue, red, black, yellow. Balls will also always be hit in the order 1. blue, 2. red, 3. black, 4. yellow.

- Players- Games can be played with either 2 or 4 people. If playing with 2 people, 1 person will be assigned the blue & black balls and the other person will be assigned the red and yellow balls. If playing with 4 people, each player will have 1 color. The blue & black players will be on a team vs. the red and yellow players. Coin flip will determine who is what color.

- Starting Point- all four players will start from the same starting box behind the 1st wicket with the blue ball hitting first. Dimensions of starting box are shown below.

- If a player makes a ball through a wicket (over 1/2 of the ball must be through), the player gets to shoot again, otherwise, its next players turn.

- If player makes it through 2 wickets in 1 shot, they only receive 1 continuation shot.

- In order to keep track of which wicket is next, players attach clips (the same color as their ball) to the next wicket they are aiming for. When going through wickets the 1st time, the clip is attached to the top. When going back through the 2nd time, the clip is attached to the side of the wicket. (This is only a suggested croquet rule, not a standard)

- If a ball doesn't go out of bounce, but stops within 9" of the out of bounce line, ball may be moved in 9" from the out of bounce line.

* Roquet- If the striker makes contact with another ball, that ball becomes a "roquet." When this occurs, the striker gets "ball in hand" so is able to pick up his/her ball and place it directly in contact with & on any side of the roquet. From here, "croquet" (described below) is performed. - If a striker hits a ball, then bounces off and hits another ball.. only the 1st ball is turned into a roquet.

- If a striker hits 2 balls simultaneously, he/she chooses which ball they want to be turned into a roquet.

- If the striker knocks the roquet out of bounce, or causes the roquet to hit another ball out of bounce, striker does not get ball in hand.

- Striker cannot score a wicket and create a roquet all in the same shot. Whichever action occurs 1st will take precedence.

- In order to create a roquet, the striker and the roquet must both have already passed through the 1st wicket.

* Croquet- After "ball in hand," player hits the striker into the roquet as hard as they want to send both balls rolling.

- After "croquet," player receives 1 continuation shot.

- After "croquet," striker ball is "dead on" roquet ball, so is not allowed to hit it again until its "deadness" is cleared (described below), otherwise "fault" will occur.

- If during croquet shot, if either ball makes contact with any other ball, is not considered a fault and new balls being hit are not turned into roquets.

- If any ball hit or "cannoned" during a croquet shot goes through a wicket or hits the stake, it counts.

- During a croquet shot, player is not allowed to place their foot on the striker ball to keep it from moving with the roquet.

* Dead On- After a roquet has been "croqueted", it cannot be hit by the same striker until that striker has scored another wicket. Until this happens, the striker is said to be "dead on" that particular ball, which in turn is said to be "dead". This rule is to prevent a striker from continuously croqueting the same ball over and over again.

- If a ball is not "dead on" a different ball, it is said to be "alive on" that particular ball.

- If a player uses their "dead" ball to block the shot of a striker not allowed to touch it 2 times in a row, its "deadness" is removed so striker may once again turn it into a roquet.

* Staking Out- After a ball has made it through all the wickets (twice) in the correct order, it must make contact with the stake to finish the game.

- Player is allowed to hit the ball through the last wicket and stake out all in the same shot.

- Stake out can occur either by direct hit from a mallet, or from getting knocked into the stake by another ball.

- If a ball is hit by a striker (turning it into a roquet) and then hits the stake in the same shot, it counts as a stake out and a croquet shot does not occur. The striker does however get to place the striker ball 9" away from the stake, then gets 2 chances to hit it into the stake.

- If a striker hits another ball (turning it into a roquet), and the striker then hits the stake, a stake out has not occurred, and the striker must take ball in hand and perform a croquet shot on the roquet.

- A ball cannot score the last wicket and knock another ball into the stake in the same shot.

* Rover- What a ball is said to be after it makes it through the last wicket, but before it has staked out. Some special rules apply to the rover.

- If a rover is dead on a ball, it can clear its deadness by going through any wicket in any direction by way of being hit with the mallet, or being cannoned, roqueted, or croqueted.

- When rover is hit through a wicket, it receives a continuation shot.

- A rover is allowed to roquet a particular ball only once per turn.

* Winning the Game- The 1st team to get both of their balls to stake out wins the game.

Alright, so now you're an expert in croquet rules! Do yourself a favor and go enjoy this world wide classic.

If you would like to more about croquet, like how the game originated, head back to the croquet overview page.

Check out other great outdoor games. Return to my outdoor games homepage.

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