PERSONAL FITNESS ARTICLES

Croquet

This articles explains the fundamentals of the sport of croquet ...

Croquet is a competitive sport that involves hitting colored balls through a series of hoops called ‘wickets’ using a mallet.  It is normally played on a lawn.  It has been played for some years, and has recently been growing in popularity in some parts of the world, including America.

The game of croquet was invented in Ireland as a variation of the older Italian lawn game ‘Pall Mall’, sometime around the year 1830.  By 1850 it was hugely popular amongst the aristocracy of England, and eventually migrated to France, America, and Australia, all countries where the game is still popular today.  In 1900 and 1904, during the games peak in popularity, it was played in the Olympics.  Since then it waned in popularity somewhat, but has always retained a significant fan base.

Recreationally, the game is commonly played in the backyard, using the ‘backyard croquet’ rules.  In backyard croquet, the game is treated as a kind of race and there is no scoring involved.  Players have to knock their designated ball through the wickets in a certain order, and then hit a final peg as a finish line.  Usually when someone makes it to the peg, the game is over.  Players can knock their opponents’ balls out of the way using their own balls to buy time.

In tournaments and more competitive play, a variety of different scoring versions of croquet are played, the most popular version being ‘international-rules’ croquet, which is sometimes called ‘association’ croquet because it is played in the UK by the Croquet Association.  This version allows players to make more than one stroke per turn so long as they get their ball through the appropriate wicket, and thus emphasizes shot-making ability. 

Golf croquet is also a widely played version of croquet.  In golf croquet the goal is to make it through the most hoops first.  It is a much simpler version than international-rules croquet and is rapidly growing in popularity due to its low learning curve and competitive nature.

In the United States, ‘American-rules’ croquet is the version most commonly played.  It is very similar to international-rules croquet but differs in a way to emphasize strategy over skill.  For this reason it is popular amongst players who are otherwise not very dexterous or athletic, but enjoy a good mental challenge.

Croquet is a fun, inexpensive and pleasant way to spend an afternoon with company, and can be played virtually anywhere with a lawn.  Croquet sets are sold online, in some department stores, or in most sporting goods stores and generally run in the $40-100 USD range, though some high quality sets can run upwards to $500.

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