The short answer
Backyard sets are usually for nine-wicket croquet: nine wickets, two stakes and four or six balls. The United States Croquet Association (USCA) sets the standard court at 100 by 50 feet, scaled to the space you have. Each ball scores 14 wicket points on a route out one side and back down the other, then hits the stake to finish. If your yard is small, you can set the same pieces out as a golf croquet court instead.
What game is a backyard set for?
Backyard croquet usually means nine-wicket, the form the USCA describes for backyards and longer grass. To check your set, count the pieces: nine wickets and two stakes make a nine-wicket set. It is a different game from golf croquet, which uses six hoops and a peg and gives one stroke a turn. American players of nine-wicket and six-wicket croquet say “wicket” and “stake” where we say “hoop” and “peg.” This page uses their words for nine-wicket and ours for golf croquet. Types of croquet compares the games.
How do I set up the court?
Set the wickets out in a double diamond between two stakes. Mark the boundary with string or flags, then place the stakes and wickets with a tape measure. The table gives the distances as we read them from the USCA’s layout diagram for its 100 by 50 foot court.
| Piece | How many | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Stakes | 2 | On the center line, 6 ft in from each end |
| End wickets | 4 | Two at each end on the center line, 6 ft apart, with a 6 ft gap from the stake to the wicket beside it |
| Side wickets | 4 | 6 ft in from the sides, 16 ft either side of the middle |
| Center wicket | 1 | The middle of the court |
Scaling down? Keep the 6-foot gap between each stake and its nearest wicket, and shrink the rest to fit. If your set came with its own layout sheet, follow that for family games.
What route do the balls take?
Each ball goes out one side of the court and back down the other, through the center wicket once each way. Left and right below are as seen from the starting stake, looking down the court.
| Points | Where the ball goes |
|---|---|
| Out: 1 and 2 | The pair at the start end, nearest the stake first |
| Out: 3 | The right-hand side wicket nearest the start |
| Out: 4 | The center wicket |
| Out: 5 | The right-hand side wicket nearest the far end |
| Out: 6 and 7 | The pair at the far end, the one nearer the center first |
| Turn | Hit the far (turning) stake |
| Back: 8 and 9 | The far-end pair again, nearest the far stake first |
| Back: 10 | The left-hand side wicket nearest the far end |
| Back: 11 | The center wicket again |
| Back: 12 | The left-hand side wicket nearest the start |
| Back: 13 and 14 | The start-end pair again, the one nearer the center first |
| Finish | Hit the starting stake, which is also the finish |
The far stake is the turning stake, and the starting stake is also the finish. Nine wickets make 14 points because the two end pairs and the center wicket are each run twice, once in each direction, and the four side wickets once.
What are the basic rules?
In nine-wicket, two sides play four or six balls in a fixed order, and a turn can earn extra strokes. This list follows the USCA’s public summary of the game:
- Two sides, blue and black against red and yellow, play in the order blue, red, black, yellow.
- Each turn is one stroke, with one extra stroke for running a wicket and two for hitting another ball.
- Each ball’s journey is 14 wicket points, then the stakes.
- Balls start halfway between the starting stake and wicket 1, blue first.
- A ball hit out of bounds comes back 3 feet in.
How much yard do I need?
A standard nine-wicket court is 100 by 50 feet, but you should scale it to your space. The test is whether a player can hit a ball the full length of the court. In thick grass that may mean a shorter court. Whatever size you choose, keep the 6-foot gap from each stake to its nearest wicket.
Can I play golf croquet with this set?
Yes. A nine-wicket set has more than the six hoops and one peg golf croquet needs, so use six wickets as hoops and a stake as the peg.
Lay them out as a smaller golf croquet court, five units long by four wide. The USCA suggests 50 by 40 feet for ordinary lawns, which makes the unit 10 feet. Put the outer hoops 10 feet from their two nearest boundaries, the inner hoops 10 feet north and south of the peg, and the peg in the center. The USCA advises scaling down unless the grass is 1/4 inch or shorter. The court setup guide has the full table.
Golf croquet is quick to teach: one stroke a turn, and the first ball through each hoop scores for its side. A game often takes 30 to 60 minutes. How to Play Croquet walks through it. Your wickets and balls may not match regulation sizes, which are in the equipment guide. That is fine for a family game.
When is it worth trying a club lawn?
Try a club lawn when you want to play other people, see golf croquet played the way clubs play it, or learn the shots from someone who plays regularly.
The Birmingham Croquet Club plays golf croquet on lawns around Birmingham, Alabama, and new players are welcome. You don’t need experience or equipment: we will teach you and have a mallet for you. Play days and pop-ups are on the events calendar and announced in our Facebook group.
Sources
Last updated November 2026.