How To Play

Dr Ian Plummer

http://oxfordcroquet.com/coach/index.asp

Technical

How to Play Croquet

Croquet consists of a few basic strokes, but like the moves in chess, once you have mastered them a complex tactical game results. This section gives a complete introduction to Association Rules croquet (also known as International Rules croquet) from an absolute beginner to a top player.

The material below is arranged in approximate order of complexity. Note there is a glossary of croquet terms. At the end are references to croquet scoring notation and croquet computer and board games.

Please note that Oxford Croquet is the private site of Dr Ian Plummer and is not associated with Oxford University or its sports clubs, any company, the Croquet Association or any other bodies.

For the Complete Beginner
Foreign Language Introductions
Miscellaneous Beginners' Material on Tactics
Intermediate Level Coaching
Advanced Level Material
Super Advanced Play
John Riches' Croquet Booklets
Additional Material

For the Complete Beginner

How to Play ...	An Introduction to Association Rules Croquet including the lawn layout, basic rules and common misconceptions
Introduction to Croquet	A shockwave presentation which introduces the basics of croquet [147KB]. You need to download the shockwave player [3.8M] if you do not already have it.
Croquet and How it is Played	A publication produced by the Croquet Association
Simplified Association Croquet Rules	This is a Short Summary of the Laws of Association Rules Croquet
Beginners' Lesson 1	The Basic Idea, Single Ball Strokes and Croquet Strokes
Beginners' Lesson 2	How to Start, the Rush Line, the Four-ball Break and Leaves
Beginners' Lesson 3	The Three-ball Break, Basic Tactics, Handicap Play
Beginners' Lesson 4	The End Game, Further Tactics and a Practice Game
A Cheap and Cheerful Croquet Presentation	John Bevington of Wrest Park Croquet Club has produced a PowerPoint presentation introducing croquet which then goes on to illustrate break play and even a triple peel.
Aiming in Croquet Strokes - Not Half the Angle!	How to line up balls in a croquet stroke and the type of stroke to play.
Stop Shots with Heavy Mallets	Hints from the South Australian Coaching Committee
Coaching Hoop Running	Advice and routines to help running hoops
Hoop Running Technique	How a very light grip and pendulum action can help
Ricochet - a Tool for Teaching Croquet	John Riches proposes that teaching Ricochet, croquet without the croquet strokes, is a fast and fun way for beginners to be introduced to the full game. Rules of Ricochet 2009 Rules of Ricochet as used in Australia

Foreign Language Introductions

Miscellaneous Beginners' Material on Tactics

Handicap Play	What is Handicap Play and How Handicaps Work
Handicap Ability Table	A Lighthearted Indication of the Abilities of Players with Various Handicaps
Handicapping	A Guide by the Croquet Association
Principles of Handicapping	A Guide written by Bill Lamb in 1996
Variations in Handicap Play	Geoffrey Cuttle Discusses Handicap Play
Handicapping in Croquet	A Discussion of Handicap Play Options
Variable Base Handicap Play	A System which Speeds up Handicap Play
Croquet Etiquette	A Guide for New Players at Club Fixtures and Tournaments
Which Ball to Hit?	What to Bear in Mind when Deciding which Ball to Shoot at
*How Not* To Play Croquet**	'Aunt Emma' Non-Tactics. What to Avoid
Croquet Technique	John Riches' Coaching booklets: this one covers the analysis of basic strokes.
Recognition of Errors	John Riches' Coaching booklets: this one covers the common errors in basic strokes.
Why Minus Players win Handicap Games	David Maugham gives reasons and data.

Intermediate Level Coaching

For handicaps of around 14 down to around 6

Intermediate 1	The Four-Ball Break
Intermediate 2	The Three-Ball Break
Intermediate 2a	Modified Three-Ball Break Pioneer Positions
Intermediate 3	Changing Pivot in a Four-Ball Break
Intermediate 4	The Start of the Game
Intermediate 5	Openings
Intermediate 6	Leaves and Ball Positions
Intermediate 7	Getting Balls into Play
Intermediate 8	Special Shots
Intermediate 9	Using Bisques
Intermediate 10	Tactics Against Better Players
Intermediate 11	Giving Bisques
Intermediate 12	Wiring
Intermediate 13	Pegging Out
Intermediate 14	Advanced Play
Intermediate 15	The Triple Peel
Intermediate 16	Glossary

Beating Aunt Emma	Tactics Against Dour Players
How to Beat the Higher Handicap Player?	Top players give advice to a scratch player on how to beat high handicap opponents with bisques.
Building Breaks using Bisques	Four problems: how do you make a four ball break from here? Solutions to the classic four balls in the centre of boundaries and in the corners.
Retro-Synthetic Break Building	Planning Six Strokes Ahead!
Lessons in Tactics	John Riches' Coaching booklets: this one covers intermediate to advanced tactics.
Practice Routines	Suggestions for practice routines aimed at players with a handicap of 12 or below.
Getting Boundary Balls into Play	Illustrations of how to Dig Balls off Boundaries and Build a Break
Running Angled Hoops	Dave Kibble describes how it is done
Cross-Wiring	Advice from top players on cross-wiring
Cannons	Simple Recipes For Arranging Balls For Cannons
Cannons For Beginners	More Details On Arranging Cannons - By Allen Parker
Sweep Shots	How to Play a Special Shot when your Back Swing is Hindered
Silver Gilt Coaching Principles	Course notes accompanying the Silver Gilt Coaching Course
The Mental Approach	John Riches' Coaching booklets: sports psychology applied to croquet
Stop Shot Techniques	Different methods of playing the stroke including hitting off-centre
The Pegged-Out Game	Leslie Riggall gives his view on tactics
Pegged Out Endings (PDF file)	Jonathan Kirby gives advice on Endings, Opening and Broken Play. From Chris Dent's site.

Advanced Level Material

Duffer's Tice, Anti-Duffer's Tice, the Dream Leave and the Tea Lady	A couple of openings, a leave and a shot used in Advance Play which have special names.
The Super-Shot Opening	Robert Fulford's Analysis
Croquet Leaves	Diagrams of the OSL, NSL, Diagonal Spread, etc.
The Longest Lift Shot	The location of the '19 yard' positions used in advanced leaves
Peeling Including The Triple Peel	Details of the Various Forms of Peeling and What can go Wrong
The Triple Peel	An animation by Michael Wright
The Triple Peel - Peeling Opportunities	When the Peels of a Triple Peel may be done Easily
Setting up a Delayed Triple Peel from a Diagonal Spread	Top players discuss how to make a triple peel after a missed lift.
Popping	Peeling the Opponent to get a Stronger Leave
When to POP	David Kibble and Samir Patel advise
The ‘Bombard’	An open-cannon solution to a situation which frequently arises at the start of a game under Advanced Rules
Options after peeling 4-back going to hoop 6	Leading players offer their advice on continuing the triple peel
TPO Tactics	Experts suggest leaves and tactics
Two Ball Contact Leaves	Marcus Evans considers some of the options
Third Turn 4-back Leaves	What to do if you get around to 4-back in third turn
Second Turn 4-back Leaves	What to do if you get around to 4-back in second turn
1-back tactics (c. 1968-1974)	1-back leaves from Keith Wylie's book
Advanced Game Commentary - Aiton vs Maugham	An insight into two top players' thoughts during a game where the innings changed frequently
Beating Better Players	Pete Trimmer on how to slay World Champions
Why Try Harder?	What motivates a croquet player to try more difficult manouevres
1-Back Leaves	Robert Fulford's Analysis of Leaves for the Sextuple
The Sextuple Peel	One Method to Achieve the Six Peels
Is the Sextuple Peel a Winning Tactic? (I)	Reg Bamford explains why the sextuple peel (SXP) is a winning tactic for him
Is the Sextuple Peel a Winning Tactic? (II)	Robert Fulford gives his perspective on using Sextuples as a Winning Tactic.
To SXP or TP?	Reg Bamford indicates how he assesses the likelihood of a sextuple being a winning manoeuvre.
Completing the Sextuple	Experts discuss their methods of executing a Sextuple
A Sextuple Match	An example of the tactics and play preceding a sextuple

Super Advanced Play

The "Super-Advanced" Rules	Information about the top-level game
Super-Advanced Tactics	Tactics used in the 2010 President's Cup Competition
Super-Advanced Play	Jonathan Kirby reports on the tactics used under these rules
Super-Advanced Tactics - Second Break	Players discuss second break options
Openings used in The MacRobertson Shield 2010	Chris Clarke analyses the openings used at this top level competition

John Riches' Croquet Booklets

Oxford Croquet is pleased to host John's publications. Eight booklets cover Tactics, Techniques, Sports Psychology and Refereeing. The booklets will be added at approximately monthly intervals over 2003/4.

Additional Material

Croquet - the Mental Approach	World Champion Reg Bamford discusses his mental preparation for top-level play. Filmed by Duncan Hector. Absolute Gold Dust!
Croquet Videos	A web site dedicated to links to videos of croquet games
Sports Psychology	A number of players give tips
Automated 'Automatic Handicap System' Card	A computerised handicap card which calculates the steps, index changes and updates the index for you. It is based on Microsoft Excel hence you will need Excel on your machine to use it.
Handicap Points Calculator	A circular slide rule for calculating the number of handicap points exchanged when games are played under Advanced Rules
Scoring Notation	Abbreviations Used in Croquet Scoring
CROQUET Version 2.1.6	Ian Lines's Croquet Game Download a self-installing and extracting executable file croq216.exe of Ian Lines's Croquet game. The file is about 4 Mbytes in size. Just save it to disk and then run/click on the .exe file and follow the instructions on the screen. It should then be installed and you can run it from the start button. The program installs as a demo. Registered users get a personal code. Please note that Ian has recently been adding some 3D views of the lawn using DirectX, and so you need to have DirectX Version 8 (8.0a or 8.1) on your machine before you install CROQUET. You may have DirectX 8 already (if you have XP) or you can download it free from: http://www.microsoft.com/directx/homeuser/downloads/default.asp You can check your current version of DirectX by running dxdiag.exe (which is probably in your Windows\system directory). The latest version is 2.1.6 (January 2009)
Kiwi Croquet	Kiwi Croquet is a free computer simulation of the game of croquet for Windows PC's (new release April 2010).

Author: Dr Ian Plummer

Updated 4.iii.13
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