When
Tuesday, September 12, 2023:
10:00am - women
10:30am - men
Where
Walter Reed Community Center
2909 16th Street S
Arlington, VA 22204
Event Director
Wayne Southard
Contact Wayne by email.
Volunteers
See our volunteers page for details.
Results and Records
Results of the NVSO 2022 croquet event.
Photographs
Photographs of the NVSO 2022 croquet event taken by Dan Feighery.
Rules
General Rules
Please go here for rules covering all events.
Croquet Rules
Competition will be single elimination individual play with no age or gender groups. United States Croquet Association (USCA) rules apply with exceptions. The Event Host will supply the equipment.
A) The Court and Equipment
The standard court is 100′ by 50′. Dimensions may be scaled down to fit the available space. There are nine wickets, two stakes, and up to six balls in each round. (Figure 1)
Figure 1: Court Setup Figure 2: Course of Wicket
B) Game Outline
- There will be up to six players per round. Player match up will be by random draw.
- Each player will be assigned a ball color by a random draw at the start of the game.
- The object is to maneuver the balls through the course of 14 wickets and into the finishing stake, as shown in Figure 2. Play is made by striking a ball with a mallet. The player who is playing a turn is called the striker, and the ball in play for that turn is the striker ball.
- Turns are played in the sequence blue, red, black, yellow, and so on throughout the game. The sequence of colors is painted on the stakes. Each turn is one stroke, but extra strokes are earned when the striker ball hits another ball or scores a wicket point as described under D) Scoring a Wicket.
- The striker ball may cause other balls to move and score points. However, the striker must never strike any ball other than the striker ball. The mallet must contact the ball crisply – scooping, pushing, and hitting the ball more than once during the stroke are not allowed. Any of these violations results in a loss of turn.
C) Starting a Game
Each ball is played from a point halfway between the finishing stake and wicket #1.
D) Scoring a Wicket
A ball scores a wicket point by passing through a wicket in the correct direction and sequence (Figure 2).
E) Hitting other Balls
If the striker ball hits a live ball it has made a roquet and the striker earns two bonus shots from the roqueted ball. The first of these two shots may be taken in any of four ways:
- From a mallet-head distance or less away from the ball that was hit (“taking a mallet-head”).
- From a position in contact with the ball that was hit, with the striker ball held steady by the striker’s foot or hand (a “foot shot” or “hand shot”).
- From a position in contact with the ball that was hit, with the striker ball not held by foot or hand (a “croquet shot”).
- From where the striker ball stopped after the roquet. If a boundary is in use and the striker ball went out of bounds, the ball should be measured in one mallet length from where it crossed the boundary.
The second bonus shot after a roquet is an ordinary shot played from where the striker ball came to rest, called a “continuation shot.” All balls are live at the start of the turn. This is done by picking up the striker ball, placing it in contact with the roqueted ball, then striking the striker ball. The croqueted ball is now dead, and remains so until the striker ball scores its next wicket or stake point or until the start of the next turn.
If the striker ball hits a dead ball, it is not a roquet and no extra stroke is earned. However, if the striker is otherwise entitled to play an extra stroke, the turn continues.
F) Boundaries
- Boundaries may be marked with string or chalk, or the corners may be marked with flags or other suitable markers.
- Any ball that crosses the boundary is placed inside three feet (or the length of a mallet) of the point where the ball crossed the boundary.
- Any ball less than three feet (or the length of a mallet) from the boundary is also placed in the full distance.
G) Wicket and Hit
The striker ball cannot both score a wicket and make a roquet on the same stroke. Whichever happens first takes precedence.
H) Turning Stake
A ball scores the turning stake by hitting it in the correct sequence.
I) Continuation Stroke
- The striker earns an extra stroke (called a continuation stroke) for the striker ball by scoring a wicket, or the turning stake, or by taking croquet. The continuation stroke is played as the balls lie. Continuation strokes are not cumulative.
- If the striker ball makes a roquet while taking croquet, there is no continuation stroke and the striker immediately takes croquet from the ball that was just roqueted.
- If the striker ball scores a wicket and the turning stake on the same stroke, only one continuation stroke is earned.
- The one exception is that two continuation strokes are earned if the striker ball scores two wickets on one stroke.
- If the striker ball scores a wicket or stake or makes a roquet with the first of these two continuation strokes, the extra stroke is forfeited.
J) Stake and Hit
The striker ball cannot both score the stake and make a roquet on the same stroke. Whichever happens first takes precedence.
K) Variations
The following variations can be used singly or in combination.
- Variation 1: Out-of-bounds penalty. If any ball, other than the striker ball during a roquet stroke, goes out of bounds, the turn immediately ends.
- Variation 2: Carry-over deadness. A ball that has roqueted and taken croquet from another ball may not roquet that ball again until it scores its next point. If the striker ball does hit such a dead ball, no extra stroke is earned and the balls remain where they come to rest.