explore | Recreation
A Round Of Croquet!
I know we talked about croquet about two years ago, but I
wanted to highlight it again. It’s a great outdoor activity for all members
of the family to play this time of year. What exactly is croquet?
For years, it was either considered an English lawn game or in the
1950’s and 1960’s it was an All-American backyard game. Croquet
involves balls, mallets, hoops, clips and center pegs. The main
game involves four balls teamed in pairs, with both balls going
through every hoop for one pair to win. The game’s unique feature
is the “croquet” shot: when certain balls hit other balls, extra
shots are allowed. The six hoops are arranged three at each end
of the court, with a center peg. There are many versions of this
game: Association, Garden, American Six-wicket, Nine-wicket and
Golf. Each version has a distinctive set of rules and play.
We’ll talk about the Association version. In Association croquet
one side takes the black and blue balls, the other side takes red and
yellow. At each turn, players can choose to play with either of their
balls for that turn. At the start of a turn, the player plays a stroke. If
the player either hits the ball through the correct hoop (“runs” the
hoop), or hits another ball (a “roquet”), the turn continues.
Following a roquet, the player picks up his or her own ball
and puts it down next to the ball that it hit. The next shot is
played with the two balls touching: this is the “croquet stroke”
from which the game takes its name. By varying the speed
and angle at which the mallet hits the striker’s ball, a good
-
tal angle determines how much the balls diverge in direction,
while the vertical angle and the amount of follow-through determine
the relative distance that the two balls travel.
After the croquet stroke, the player plays a “continuation” stroke,
during which the player may again attempt to make a roquet or
run a hoop. Each of the other three balls may be roqueted once in
a turn before a hoop is run, after which they become available to
be roqueted again. The winner of the game is the team who completes
the set circuit of six hoops (and then back again the other
way), with both balls, and then strikes the center peg.
If this explanation confused you, consider going to one of our
local croquest locations to learn more – National Croquet Center
Gardens) or The Beach Club (Palm Beach). Go play!
Visit us at explorepalmbeach.com
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