1: Set nine wickets and two stakes in a double diamond, a stake at each end.Short grass plays best. The lawn can be any shape.
2: Each player has a mallet and one ball, and plays in the order of the colors.Blue, red, black, yellow, then green and orange.
3: Start from a spot halfway between the starting stake and the first wicket.Every ball comes into the game from there.
4: Hit your ball through the wickets in order, out to the far stake and back.Out along one side of the diamonds, back along the other.
5: A turn is one shot, unless you earn a bonus shot.Strike only your own ball, and only with the end face of the mallet.
6: Score your next wicket or hit the turning stake: one bonus shot.The turning stake is the one at the far end.
7: Hit another ball with yours, a roquet: two bonus shots.The second half of roquet rhymes with play.
8: Bonus shots do not add up: you never have more than two in hand.Earn new ones and any left over are lost.
9: The first to run every wicket and hit the starting stake wins.With partners, a side wins when all its balls have finished.
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The wicket order, 1 to 14 9
1: Wickets 1 and 2: the two in line in front of the starting stake.Run both in one shot and you earn two bonus shots.
2: Wicket 3: the first side wicket, ahead on your right.Going out and coming back, the side wickets are the ones on your right.
3: Wicket 4: the center wicket.You will come back through it later as wicket 11.
4: Wicket 5: the second side wicket on the right.From here the course runs back to the center line.
5: Wickets 6 and 7: the two in line before the far stake.They are run again on the way back as 8 and 9.
6: Hit the turning stake.It scores a point and earns one bonus shot.
7: Wickets 8 and 9: back through the same two, heading home.A wicket run from the wrong side does not count.
8: Wickets 10, 11 and 12: a side wicket, the center again, the last side wicket.These two side wickets are the pair you did not use going out.
9: Wickets 13 and 14, then hit the starting stake to finish.That is 14 points for wickets and 2 for stakes per ball.
Bonus shots and what ends a turn 9
1: One bonus shot for scoring your next wicket in order.The ball has to come to rest clear of the wicket.
2: One bonus shot for hitting the turning stake.Wicket 7 and the stake in one shot earn two.
3: Two bonus shots for a roquet, your ball hitting another ball.It can be a partner's ball or an opponent's.
4: The first roquet shot may be played from a mallet head away from the ball you hit.Or from where your ball stopped.
5: Or set your ball against the ball you hit and strike yours: a croquet shot.With your ball held still under a foot or a hand, it is a foot shot or hand shot.
6: The second roquet shot is an ordinary shot from where your ball lies.It is called the continuation shot.
7: Through a wicket and then into a ball: only the wicket counts, for one shot.You may then hit that ball again to earn two.
8: Into a ball and then through a wicket: the roquet counts, the wicket does not.You have two shots to run it properly.
9: The turn ends when you have no bonus shot left to play.A swing that misses the ball altogether counts as a shot.
Colors, sides and order of play 9
1: Four balls, two sides: blue and black play red and yellow.The order of play is always blue, red, black, yellow.
2: A coin toss decides which side chooses its colors.Blue and black play first and third.
3: Singles: two players with two balls each.You play whichever of your balls is next in the order.
4: Doubles: four players, one ball each, partners on the same side.Blue's partner plays black.
5: Six balls, two teams: blue, black and green against red, yellow and orange.Green plays fifth and orange sixth.
6: Six balls, three teams: blue and yellow, red and green, black and orange.The order of play does not change.
7: One ball each, everyone for themselves: two to six players.Draw colors by lot. Some call this cutthroat.
8: When a ball has finished, the rest carry on in the same order and skip it.A ball that has hit the finishing stake is out of the game.
9: Played out of turn? No penalty: put the balls back and let the right ball play.Found out late? Only the last ball that was played out of turn goes back.
Rovers, boundaries and poison 9
1: A wicket counts only if the ball stops clear of the side it came in from.Slide a mallet head down that side of the wicket. If it touches the ball, no wicket.
2: A wicket run out of order or from the wrong side neither scores nor costs anything.Carry on to the right one.
3: Knocked through your wicket by another player's shot? The point counts.You get no bonus shot for it.
4: After a roquet, hitting the same ball again earns nothing until your next wicket.Hitting it costs nothing.
5: Rover: a ball that has run every wicket may stay in play to help its side.It may hit each other ball once a turn and earns nothing for running wickets.
6: Any player may knock a rover into the finishing stake to put it out of the game.The rover's side still scores the stake point.
7: With boundaries: a ball more than halfway over the line comes back in a mallet length.Place it straight in from where it crossed, about 36 inches.
8: No boundaries, and a tree or wall is in the way? Move the ball up to a mallet length.That is about three feet.
9: Poison, if all agree: a ball through every wicket knocks out any opponent's ball it hits.It is out itself if an opponent hits it or it passes through any wicket.
Laying out the lawn 9
1: A full-size court is 100 feet by 50. A typical backyard court is half that, 50 by 25.Scale the distances to the lawn you have.
2: One stake stands at each end, on the center line.On the typical court each is 3 feet in from the end.
3: Two wickets stand in line in front of each stake.Keep at least 3 feet from stake to wicket and from wicket to wicket.
4: One wicket stands at the center of the court.It is run twice, once each way.
5: Four side wickets, two on each side, stand between the center and the ends.On the typical court they are 3 feet in from the side lines.
6: Plant every wicket firmly, all at the same width.Push both legs well into the ground.
7: Boundaries are optional: string, chalk, or a flag at each corner.Mark them before the first shot.
8: Clip a clothespin in your ball's color to the wicket you need next.Move it at the end of the turn in which you score the wicket.
9: Agree before the first shot: boundaries or none, foot shots or none, poison or none.Our advice.
How this list was compiled: Written for this site on 2026-10-09, in our own words. These sheets are the nine-wicket backyard game, not the six-wicket games played at clubs. Read on 2026-10-09: English Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, in its article Croquet, section Nine-wicket, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croquet (nine wickets, two stakes, as many as six players, each with one ball, the double diamond, out along one side and back along the other, cutthroat, the two bonus shots for a roquet; and from its other sections, the six hoops of the club games and how roquet is said); and the backyard pages of the United States Croquet Association's nine-wicket site, read in the Internet Archive's copies of 2014 and 2015: Backyard Croquet: Basic Rules, https://web.archive.org/web/20140719110428/http://www.9wicketcroquet.com/rules/26/backyard-croquet-basic-rules (the court, the starting spot, the colors and sides, one shot a turn, bonus shots and how they are taken, wickets scored and not scored, play out of turn, boundaries, rovers, 14 wicket points and 2 stake points a ball), its Quick Reference Guide, https://web.archive.org/web/20140719110428/http://www.9wicketcroquet.com/rules/72/quick-reference-guide-for-backyard-croquet-rules, and its Challenging Options, https://web.archive.org/web/20140719110428/http://www.9wicketcroquet.com/rules/28/backyard-croquet-challenging-options (poison). The order of the wickets and the measures of the typical backyard court were read from the two diagrams on the first of those pages; that the side wickets lie on a player's right both ways is our reading of the diagram. This page has no tie to the association. The worked turn and the advice on what to agree first are ours. Licence: own work
How it works
Backyard croquet is the nine-wicket game: two stakes, nine wickets in a double diamond, and up to six players with a ball each. Most play is in the United States and Canada. The sheets follow the US association's rules.
Read the full guide
Game of croquet: how to play one turn
You are for wicket 3. Your shot hits the red ball: a roquet, so two bonus shots. You place your ball a mallet head from red and shoot through wicket 3. That earns one new bonus shot, and the second roquet shot is lost. You play toward wicket 4 and stop short. The turn is over.
Out and back: 14 wickets from nine
Five of the nine wickets are run twice: the two at each end and the one in the center. The four side wickets are run once each. With the two stakes, that makes 16 points for a ball that finishes.
Send your ball a little past a wicket, not just through it: one that rolls back has not scored.
Questions and answers
How many people can play croquet?
Two to six in the backyard game, with one ball each. With four balls, two players can take two balls a side, blue and black against red and yellow, or four can play as partners.
What is the order of colors in croquet?
Blue, red, black, yellow, then green and orange when six balls play. The stakes carry the colors in the same order. Blue and black are one side, red and yellow the other.
What happens when you hit another ball in croquet?
It is a roquet and earns two bonus shots. Take the first from a mallet head away, from where your ball stopped, or with the two balls touching. The second is an ordinary shot from where your ball lies.
Can you put your foot on the ball in croquet?
In the backyard rules, yes. After a roquet you may set your ball against the one you hit and hold yours steady under a foot or a hand while you strike it. That is a foot shot or a hand shot.
How many wickets are in croquet?
Nine in the backyard game, with two stakes. Five are run twice, so each ball scores 14 wicket points and 2 stake points. Association croquet, golf croquet and the American six-wicket game use six.