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Croquet (also known as "wickets" in the United States) is a sport played on grass in which the objective is to hit balls with a mallet through hoops embedded in the grass. Croquet balls were originally made from wood, but they are now largely comprised of cork or nylon in very hard plastic.

Croquet is usually played on a grass court. There are different kinds of croquet being played today; they differ in scoring systems, the order of shots, and layout. There are only two forms in which the rules are agreed internationally and are played worldwide: association croquet and golf croquet.

Forms of Croquet

• Association Croquet — an advanced game of croquet played at an international level involving four balls teamed in pairs, with both balls going through every hoop for one pair to win.
• Golf Croquet — a popular form of croquet in which each player takes a stroke in turn, trying to hit a ball through the same hoop.
• Garden Croquet — this version of croquet is widely played in the UK, and is similar to association croquet. This version of the game is easy for beginners to learn.
• American Six-Wicket — The American rules version of croquet, another six-hoop game, is the dominant version of the game in the United States. This version has an emphasis on strategy. The major difference to association croquet is that a ball's "deadness" on other balls is carried over from turn to turn, until the ball has been "cleared" by scoring a wicket.
• Nine-Wicket Croquet — sometimes called "backyard croquet", this version is played mainly in North America, and is the game most recreational players in those countries call simply "croquet". There are nine wickets, two stakes, and up to six balls. The course is arranged in a double-diamond pattern, with one stake at each end of the course.
• Extreme Croquet — a variation on croquet similar to the croquet played in most backyards and gardens, however there is no specific field dimensions or out-of-bounds, and played over novel terrain.
• Bicycle Croquet — A time limit of 10 seconds has to be met for every individual play. The players alternate strokes and are not allowed to touch the ground with any part of their body.

Croquet competition

Similar Sports

• Roque — an American variation of croquet played on a hard, smooth surface.
• Gateball — a team sport played with a wooden mallet and wooden balls. Each player attempts to strike their allocated ball through all the gates and finally strike the goal pole.
• Krolf — a mix of croquet and golf, players use a mallet to hit the ball into a hole.
• Behcup — similar to putting in golf, though the balls are hit into a small goal and not into a hole.
• Trugo — players strike a rubber ring, which is called a whell, with a mallet through goalposts.
• Woodball — a sport where a mallet is used to pass a ball through gates. This game can be played on grass, sand or indoor.
• Pall Mall — a lawn game that was a precursor to croquet, which was played between the 1500's and the 1600's. [extinct sport]
• Trucco — an Italian lawn game where heavy balls are hit with large-headed cues through rings on the ground. [extinct sport]
• Crossage — a traditional Belgian golf-like sport played on the streets where the aim is to get a wooden ball through a series of goals [extinct sport]

Related Pages

• About Croquet at the Olympic Games
• The extinct sport of Pall-Mall, the precursor to croquet
• Complete list of sports
• The Encyclopedia of Sports — a list of every sport from around the world.

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