How to play golf croquet
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00:00 Croquet is a sport that involves hitting solid plastic balls with a mallet through hoops
00:06 embedded in a grass playing court.
00:10 There are several versions of croquet.
00:13 This video will explain how to play the golf croquet version, which incidentally has nothing
00:19 to do with golf.
00:21 It is a very popular version having simplicity, competitiveness and social atmosphere.
00:28 It is easy to learn and play but also requires strategic thinking and accuracy.
00:38 Croquet is played on a grass court measuring 32 x 26.6 metres.
00:46 Six steel hoops are embedded in the grass and a centre peg is fitted as an obstacle.
00:56 Four solid plastic balls are used and played in order blue, red, black and then yellow.
01:06 The six hoops are played in sequence with hoops numbered from 1 to 6.
01:15 They are then played again but in a reverse sequence named 7 to 12.
01:26 If the final score is tied then a 13th hoop is played to decide the winner.
01:34 So let's see golf croquet in action.
01:39 The four players are put into two teams and allocated to a court.
01:46 The game starts with a coin toss.
01:51 The winning side then hits off the blue ball aiming to achieve a good hoop running position
01:57 at hoop 1.
02:01 This is followed by the red, then the black and yellow ball.
02:08 This blue, red, black, yellow sequence continues for the whole game.
02:38 Once a ball passes through the hoop in the correct direction then that hoop has been
02:43 run and that team scores a point.
02:49 Play then continues to the next hoop in the sequence.
03:15 Different playing techniques can be used such as hitting an opponent ball away, promoting
03:22 your partner ball to a better position, placing your ball so as to block or hinder your opponent,
03:32 doing a stop or stun shot so your ball travels a short distance and your opponent's ball
03:40 goes far away.
03:43 Or even striking the ball to make it jump over an opponent's ball.
03:50 The mallets come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours and are also gripped by players
03:57 in several ways.
04:01 Striking of the ball can start from a static position or can be done using a swinging style
04:09 called casting.
04:12 Regardless of how much of a battle a game has been, all games always finish with a friendly
04:18 handshape.
04:21 At the Toronto Croquet Club we have four full-sized courts and normally play golf croquet every
04:29 week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.
04:34 Come along, give it a try.
04:36 We have plenty of spare mallets.
04:40 But give us a ring first on 0447 338 445.
04:49 You will be made most welcome.
04:51 (gentle music)
04:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]