What is Croquet?
It is a traditional court game, sometimes confused with cricket. The name “croquet” is a French word, which means a bent stick, as such sticks were used in the past in one of the versions of this game.
According to some sources, the origins of croquet may be derived from 12th century’s French game, called Paille-maille. From France, this game was transferred to England by, among others, King Charles II Stuart.
In England, this game died out at the end of the 17th century, but revived under its current name in the mid-19th century.
Until the end of XIX century, croquet has also gained in popularity in the USA. Its spectacular and competitive variety, called Roque, was introduced there.
To this day, it enjoys prestige at the best British and American universities, including in Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, Yale or the University of Virginia.
How to you play croquet?
In the most common variations, the object of the game is to hit the ball with a wooden, hammer-shaped stick through 6 or 9 goals, spaced differently apart, and then hit a wooden peg (or pegs), placed at the end or in the centre of the playing field.
In the British garden modality, we have 6 goals placed in two triangles as shown in the diagram below. The game begins by passing the ball through the first goal, and then trying to hit the next one, opposite the first one. Then, the players follow the rectangle to the next two goals.
Afterwards, players hit the ball through the first of the central goals, pass the peg in the middle, hit the second, middle goal and return to the peg. Hitting it ends the game.
Croquet is good for everyone
Croquet is a game, that was formerly played by English ladies in ruffled dresses on a crinoline. In this way, they spent their afternoons in their manors and the adjoining English or French parks and gardens in the past three centuries.
Today, it is still a quite popular sport, especially in the Commonwealth countries, but not only. It has its recreational and professional modalities.
In the recreational variant, it is a great, calm, but interesting sport for all.
Both children and adults love playing this game that requires a lot of precision. The entire families also have fun, organizing, for example, children-versus-parents games.
Where can you play croquet?
Croquet is an attractive game, you can play in some places, like open-air museums.
You can also play this game during my practical activities for everyone.
Croquet is “addictive”
Croquet is not a dynamic game, but it is surprisingly “addictive”. It can be played by children, adults, whole families, the elderly, as well as groups with special needs. It is easy to adapt to the needs of the players. You can play its different variations, change the number of goals, their setting, the way of the game and other rules of the game. This makes it an attractive, traditional sport for everyone.
