History of Croquet Rules.

How Jaques Wrote the Rules for the Worlds most wonderful game.

history of croquet rules

Antique and historic croquet rules from a historic Jaques Croquet Set in the Jaques History Museum.

It was a tranquil summers day in 1851 and croquet history is made by Jaques with the invention of the game of croquet.
in an afternoon ready for playing croquet with the official croquet rules and regulations, the flames on the pre croquet barbeque are dying down and the fruit punch is freshly poured. You've gathered your friends and family in the garden and opened up your new Jaques Croquet set ready for its first ever game of croquet played with the rules for this new croquet set. The scene is set, but does anyone actually know how to play Croquet? what are the croquet rules? what are the croquet regulations? Every Jaques Croquet set includes a comprehensive copy of the Croquet rules and croquet regulations, but here is a condensed version of the croquet rules and regulations to get you started playing croquet with croquet rules:

1. Prepare the croquet court for the first game of croquet - played with the garden croquet rules.
Croquet is best played outside on freshly mown grass. The court should be as close to 35 x 28 yards as possible, although for non-competitive play dimensions can always be adjusted according to the space available. Croquet rules require the court area to be marked out with stakes at each corner and/or string along the boundary edges. Six hoops should be inserted facing north/south to roughly 12 inches above ground level . The wicket or "peg" is placed in the centre of the court.

2. Croquet Equipment - what croquet Equipment is needed to play croquet with the correct croquet Rules.
For a game of two to four players, four colored balls are needed; for a six-player game six balls are required (each team must use a different color). Each player takes a mallet ensuring only to use the striking end of the head (not the side) when playing a shot.

3. Croquet Game objectives- when played with Croquet Rules by Jaques.
Each player (or 'striker') takes it in turn to move through the course passing through each of the hoops in the correct sequence. Play starts at the South-West corner of the court (referring to the boundary facing the first hoop and having nothing to do with real magnetic orientation) and progresses through the hoops in, initially moving clockwise before returning back around the course in an anti-clockwise direction and finishing at the centre wicket. Clips colored to match the balls can be placed on the hoops or wicket to indicate the next shot for each ball.

4. Beginning a game of croquet with the croquet rules.
For play consisting of two players a coin is flipped and the winner chooses a pair of balls (either black and blue or red and yellow). Using the mallets to strike the balls the player with the blue ball plays first and the next three turns are taken by playing the red, black and yellow balls in order. Once all four balls are in play subsequent turns require each player to choose just one of their two balls to play. The chosen ball is then played throughout that turn with the other of the player's balls remaining dormant (termed the "partner ball"). For games of four or six players in a game, each player is allocated a ball and each player can only play with their allocated ball. So for each turn, the player wielding the mallet is determined by the partnership's decision as to which ball will be played. The game is identical to singles play in all other respects. Each player is entitled to only one shot per turn unless the player's ball either passes in the correct direction through the next hoop (termed "running the hoop"), or the player's ball strikes another ball (called a "roquet"). In the event of a striker 'running the hoop' the player is entitled to take one extra shot.

5. The basics for playing the Game of Croquet
When a striker achieves a 'roquet', however, the player is entitled to two extra strikes. In this situation the first extra strike is a special kind of shot called a 'croquet' (the second shot is a normal strike). To take a 'croquet' a player must pick up the ball and place it directly next to the ball it came into contact with so that the balls are touching. The player then strikes their ball in such a way that both balls move - ideally in a way that is advantageous for the player and disadvantageous for their opponent. Alternatively, if the roqueted ball was the 'partner ball' then the aim would be to move both balls into an advantageous position. A player can knock another ball through a hoop or onto the peg and if the hoop or peg is the next target for that ball, it counts. Worth noting here is that when playing a 'croquet' shot neither of the balls can cross the court boundaries and a ball may only 'croquet' each of the other three balls once in between each hoop (after a hoop has been run the player may 'roquet' all three balls again). Additionally, if a ball touches more than one ball during a stroke, only the first ball hit is deemed to have been 'roqueted'. A turn therefore can consist of strikes that often result in additional strokes and 'croquets' and this allows a player to continue a turn indefinitely so that players often run several hoops in one turn (such a run is referred to as a 'break').

6. Croquet Rules and regulations - Penalties and exceptions.
A turn ends when a player has made all the strokes to which he is entitled or if he/she makes any of the following faults: - A turn ends if any ball other than the players chosen ball for that turn is struck. In this event all balls must be moved back to their original positions prior to the strike - A turn ends if the player double hits the ball during a single strike. In this event all balls must be moved back to their original positions prior to the strike - A turn ends after a 'croquet' if either ball rolls out of the court. - A turn ends after a 'croquet' if the 'croqueted' ball doesn't move. In this event all balls must be moved back to their original positions prior to the strike

A ball is out of court if any part of the ball crosses or lies over any part of the boundary line. Any ball that runs out of court must be placed on the yard line nearest to the point that the ball crossed the boundary before the next stroke.

7. Finishing a game of croquet - if you play with the correct croquet rules and regulations.
Once a ball has gone through the final hoop, the ball becomes a 'rover'. The game is won when both a player's balls have 'pegged out' and been removed from the court. A full, comprehensive copy of the rules of Croquet is included with every Jaques Croquet set or is available individually in two versions (simplified or official) from the Jaques online store. Please click here for further details.

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