Croquet is a sport that involves hitting
solid plastic balls with a mallet through hoops embedded in a
grass playing court. There are several versions of croquet. This video will explain how to play the golf croquet version which incidentally has nothing to do with Golf.
It is a very popular version having simplicity competitiveness and
social atmosphere. It is easy to learn and play, but also requires
strategic thinking and accuracy. Croquet is played on a grass court
measuring 32 by 25.6 meters. Six steel hoops are embedded in the grass, and a centre peg is fitted as
an obstacle.
Four solid plastic balls are used. They are played in order
blue, red, black and then yellow. The six hoops are played in sequence
with hoops numbered from 1 to 6. They are then played again but in a
reverse sequence named 7 to 12. If the final score is tied then a 13th hoop is played to decide the winner. So let's see croquet in action. The four players are put into two teams and allocated to a court The game starts with a coin toss and the
winning side then hits off with the blue ball, aiming to achieve a good hoop running
position at hoop 1. This is followed by the red, then the black
and yellow balls. This blue, red, black, yellow sequence of balls
continues for the whole game. Once a ball passes through the hoop in
the correct direction then that hoop has 'been run' That team scores a point.
Play then continues for
the next hoop in the sequence. Excellent shot! Different playing techniques can be used
such as hitting an opponent ball away, Promoting your partner ball
to a better position. Placing your ball so as to
block or hinder your opponent Doing a stop or stun shot so your ball travels a short distance and your opponent's ball goes far away. Or even striking the ball to make it
jump over an opponent's ball. The mallets come in a variety of
shapes sizes and colors and also gripped by players in several ways Striking of the ball can start
from a static position Or can be done using a
swinging style called 'casting' regardless of how much of a battle there has been,
all games always finish with a friendly handshake.
At the Toronto Croquet Club we have
four full sized courts We normally play golf croquet every week
on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Come along and give it a try.
We have plenty of spare mallets. Just to give us a ring first on
0447 338 445. You will be made most welcome..