Association Croquet

(The classic form of the game)

Association Croquet is a little more complex than the Golf version and takes longer to learn to play. Sometimes new players start with Golf Croquet and then move to this classic form of the game as it poses more challenges and requires players to play a wider range of shots.

In this form of the game, players attempt to get two balls through ALL of the hoops (twice) before hitting the central peg. There are 6 hoops and players go through them first in one direction, and then in the other.

With one point for each hoop and one for the peg (and two balls per side), the maximum number of points for a win is 26.
A player stays on the lawn until the turn comes to an end. The opponent then has a turn. The two sides thus have alternate turns.
This form of the game is unique in that it allows a player to hit one ball onto another (termed a roquet), and then to place the hit ball against the other ball and play another shot from there (termed a croquet shot). The player is then allowed one more shot.
This gives a sequence of three shots which are played successively. If yet another ball, which has not earlier been hit, is roqueted, then the sequence can start all over again. If a player makes the next hoop for a ball, then it is as if the turn starts all over again.
By this means it is possible for a good player to make one hoop after another in a single turn. The term for this is a “break”, and the aim for all players is therefore to make breaks, get both balls to the peg, and do this before the opponent can.
Games can take anywhere from half an hour to three hours. (This is the usual time limit.) The player who “pegs out” both balls or is ahead on points at the end of time, wins the game.