Golf Croquet

• The Rules of Golf Croquet
  • Wrong Ball Checklist
• Advantage Play:
  • Rule 21
  • CqE Advantage Play - especially "How to Play"
  • Useful Handicap Calculator
• Check your knowledge of the Rules with the online GC Rules Quiz
• Double taps when running hoop
• Hammer shot - don't!
• Croquet England [CqE] website coaching section GC Coaching Resources
• Top Golf Croquet coach Stephen Custance-Baker's weekly online sessions in late 2020 to help ordinary GC players play to the Rules ran under the auspices of the South West Federation. They are recorded and now available on YouTube
• Analysis of shots played and the Cowing Performance Analysis tool - Jenny Clarke article - Croquet World
• Ian Harrison's GC introduction series

Tactics

• GC Tactics Decision Tree
• Hoop 13 Tactics - Strategic Play When 6-5:
  • 6-5 Up: Running hoop 12 wins the game, so take the first opportunity to run it safely - whilst avoiding being in the the triangle of danger
  • 5-6 Down: Running hoop 12 keeps you in the game, but your opponent will have the first shot to hoop 13
    • Without these tactics, they are more likely to win:
    • Delay running hoop 12 until you've gained advantage for hoop 13
      • Do not risk losing control of hoop 12 during this delay, run it if you have to
      • Before running 12, evaluate the position of the opponent's balls relative to hoop 13
    • Ways to gain advantage for Hoop 13:
      • Ricochet: Use a shot off an opponent's ball to send your ball towards hoop 13
      • Block OB2: Since OB1 plays before the hoop is run, blocking OB2's line to 13 can be decisive
      • Set up a rush: Place SB1 a foot or so SW of 12 to rush SB2 to hoop 13 after it runs hoop 12
    • Playing to Hoop 13 on Unfamiliar Lawns:
      • Many lawns subtly roll toward the corners so aim slightly west to avoid hitting the hoop
      • Make sure you are on the playing side - aim to be long, never short - you must be able to clear the opponent

Some Videos

• Jump shots montage - jump shots are easy! - note no special action, it's a full swing whilst standing forward of the usual position
• 2013 World Championship final - Reg winning from 6-2 down - the best game ever played?
• 2015 World Championship final with tactical commentary from expert tactician Chris Clarke
• 2025 World Championship game with useful tactical commentary
• 2016 East Anglian Open - classic, unexciting, accurate play - Mulliner vs. Fulford

Association Croquet

• The Laws of Association Croquet
• Improve your play and keep a personal record of how you are doing with the Association Croquet Skills Test and its associated Record Card.
• Use the Practice Routines for AC Beginners to bring a purpose to your practice time
• Check your knowledge of the Laws with the online AC Laws Quiz
• How to play better strokes: Chris Clarke is one of the best players in the world and a great coach - watch his coaching videos on how to play a: drive, stop-shot, extreme stop-shot, half-roll, varying your half-roll ratios, full and pass rolls, sweep-shot.
• The Oxford Croquet website is a lifetime project for a great coach, Ian Plummer, who is responsible for introducing many now-highly-ranked players to the game. The coaching material and background articles on the site are excellent and extensive!
• Paddy Chapman (World Champion and great coach) has a coaching website croquetdev.com.
• A six-hoop four-ball break.

For Match Players

• Note the match catering and refreshments policy
• Note club etiquette
• Keep your handicap up to date on the Croquet England website
• SWF League Rules:
  • SWF Golf Croquet
  • SWF Association Croquet

General

• Croquet England's Coaching page
• Club Etiquette
• USCA Refereeing Hoop Shots (was it a double tap?)
• Reg Bamford: the mental game - how to think like a serious pro!
• Swing trainer - a device to improve your swing
• Croquet Magic - croquet fun with a camera
• Croquet Jargon - what the words mean!
• Laser swing trainer! Details of a pocket-sized laser-guided croquet swing trainer system that uses a cheap off-the-shelf mini laser level:
  • Swing trainer construction
  • In use for roquet and hoop running practice

Useful fact: In coaching notes, "the player of blue and black" is often written as Babs, with Ray (Red and Yellow) as the opponent. Common abbreviations are B (blue), K (black), R (red), Y (yellow).

Reg's 2025 Swing Trainer

Reg Bamford, multiple-time World Champion in both AC and GC, has developed a Swing Trainer. It's the first of three croquet products (the others being a high-spec mallet and an aiming target device) that he hopes to make available in due course.

The purpose of the Swing Trainer is to groove one's swing through repeated use. Having used one (albeit irregularly) for the better part of 45 years, Reg attests to its effectiveness. The brief to his design/manufacturing team was to create a Swing Trainer that

1. weighed no more than 5-7kg
2. could be assembled in under 5 minutes
3. could be transported easily (including on an international flight)
4. is so beautiful you wanted to lick it (seriously, that was one of his requirements!)

He feels close to achieving all four!

Here are some videos

• An explanation and description
• Hitting 8 balls in the Swing Trainer
• Hitting 16 balls after using the Swing Trainer

The Swing Trainer will be available for sale to individuals and clubs by the end of 2025. A website and more details will follow.