Types of croquet, side by side.

How do the main kinds of croquet compare?

They differ most in how many strokes a turn can hold and how a game is scored. The table sets out the rest, using the rules published by the World Croquet Federation (WCF) and the United States Croquet Association (USCA).

What is golf croquet?

Golf croquet is a race to run each hoop first, with one stroke per turn. Two sides take turns in a fixed order, and the first ball through the current hoop wins that point for its side. Then everyone goes after the next hoop. The usual game is 13 points, and the first side to 7 wins. The WCF publishes the rules, and the USCA uses the same rulebook. It is the game we teach, and our beginner’s guide and rules guide cover it in full.

What is American six-wicket croquet?

American six-wicket is the USCA’s own form of croquet, played under its Official Rules, revised in 2024. It uses the same court size and layout as golf croquet, with wickets and a stake in place of hoops and a peg. A game is 26 points, and balls are played in a fixed color order. A turn starts with one stroke, and scoring a wicket or hitting another ball earns extra strokes, so good players can string several wickets together. Deadness carries over from turn to turn, and games are often timed, from 1 hour 10 minutes to 2 hours, with a 14-point option.

What is Association croquet?

Association croquet is played under the WCF Laws, 7th Edition, from 2021. Each ball runs the six hoops twice and then hits the peg, and a full game is 26 points. On each turn you choose either ball of your side. Running a hoop earns one extra stroke, and hitting another ball (a roquet) earns two: a croquet stroke, then a continuation stroke. In handicap games the weaker player gets extra turns called bisques.

What is nine-wicket croquet?

Nine-wicket croquet is the backyard game, usually played on long grass. The USCA’s standard court is 100 by 50 feet, scaled to fit your space, with nine wickets and two stakes. It uses four balls or six, and with four they are played blue, red, black, yellow. A turn is one stroke, plus one for scoring a wicket and two for hitting a ball. Our backyard croquet guide shows the layout.

What are Short croquet and garden croquet?

Short croquet and garden croquet are quicker versions of Association croquet. Short croquet is played to 14 points on a smaller lawn, either 24 by 16 yards or 28 by 17.5 yards. Garden croquet, which the WCF authorizes, is a simple 14-point version on a court 17.5 by 14 meters. Golf croquet shrinks its court another way: it keeps the same 5-to-4 shape and makes the whole court smaller. Our court setup guide has the sizes.

What is roque?

Roque is the American hard-court variant of croquet. It was played at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, where four players, all American, competed and Charles Jacobus won. It has not returned to the Games. You can read more in our history of croquet.

What does “croquet” mean in the United States?

In the US, plain “croquet” can mean two different games. At a club it often means American six-wicket, and in a backyard it means the nine-wicket game. Golf croquet is a third game again, which is why we always say “golf croquet.”

A note on words: we say hoop and peg, as the golf croquet rulebook does. American six-wicket and nine-wicket players say wicket and stake for the same things.

Which kind of croquet should I learn first?

Our advice: start with golf croquet. Each turn is one stroke and each hoop is one point, so the basic idea is simple, and you can play a real game on your first day. The aiming, swing and hoop running you pick up carry over if you try the other kinds later, which add extra strokes and more tactics on top.

In Birmingham, Alabama, you can try golf croquet with us. New players are welcome, and we will put a mallet in your hand. Start here.

Last updated November 2026.