Kentucky Clay Court - Croquet Rules

KY Nine Wicket Layout

Court and Equipment Characteristics:
Smooth Clay court - very fast speed.
Wickets set in Concrete and buried under the clay.
Steel wire is used to mark the court boundary.
Wickets only slightly taller than the ball - not possible to jump overtop a ball.
Balls are smooth in texture, solid and similar in weight to a Jacques Eclipse ball.
Notice the layout with hoop 3 level with hoop 2.  Start about 6' back from hoop 1.
The mallets are custom made.  The mallet face consists of two playing surfaces, one hard surface called fiber and one soft surface made of rubber.
The handles are generally short, though many new mallets are made using longer handles.
Clips and deadness boards (or a clipboard with a deadness sheet) are used only during tournaments.
Clocks are generally not used, unless players are waiting to play.  During tournaments, a 3-5 hour time limit is set for a best of three match.

1. The colors of the balls are Red, White, Blue and Black.  The players follow this order of play.  Red is teamed up with Blue and White is teamed up with Black.  It is unusual to play a game of singles only.
2. The order of the hoops follow the diagram of the court.  The hoops are numbers from 1 to 16 each hoop counting for 1 point.  The peg in the middle is number 8.  Players refer to the hoops by these numbers (there is no 1-back, 2-back designations).
3. The hoops must be run in the order shown,  note that you may go thru the basket (middle hoop) in either of two directions shown.  The hoop must be run in a straight direction, i.e. you may not start by running the hoop in the NE direction and then half way through decide to exit through the NW direction.
4. When you hit a ball, referred to as a bump or a roque, you are entitled to two strokes;  the first is the croquet stroke and the 2nd is the continuation stroke.
5. During the croquet stroke, you place your striker ball in contact with the ball you hit.  You may hold your ball with your hand and drive the other ball away. (This is referred to as a tight.)  Or you may strike your ball into the other ball causing both balls to move.  During a croquet shot the croqueted ball must at least 'shake'; you may not shoot away from the croqueted ball without causing it to move.
6. You become dead on the ball you hit and may not hit that ball again until you go through your next hoop.  In subsequent turns, you remain dead on the balls you hit until you go through your next hoop.
7. When your ball has gone through all the hoops (except for the peg at 16), you become a rover ball.  A rover ball is alive on all balls at the beginning of each turn.
8. A ball crosses out of bounds when the center of the ball is beyond the boundary line.  The boundary line is either marked with a string or a metal wire.  In general this line should not impede or prevent a ball from crossing the boundary.
9. If a ball is not out of bounds, it remain where it lays, which might be right next to the string.  When placing your ball in contact after a bump for a croquet shot, you may not place your ball out of bounds.   Notice that this may limit your possible options.
10. If you knock your ball or your partners ball out of bounds, your ball(s) become placed on the nearest 'penalty spot' in the zone your ball went out of bounds.  If the spot is already occupied with another ball, your ball is placed on the opposite spot.  
11. If you knock your opponents ball out of bounds, the opponent may place his ball on the boundary line where the ball went out of bounds or on the spot.
12. There are three zones. Zone I is south of hoops 3 and 13.  Zone II is south of hoops 5 and 11 and north of zone I.  Zone III is north of hoops 5 and 11. When you are on a 'penalty spot', you may not roque a ball in that zone.
13. All other balls that are hit after a roque, either by the striker ball or by the bumped ball, are replaced.  If a ball occupied a spot that the bumped ball now occupies, the bump ball comes back in contact with the ball occuping that spot at the spot the ball contacted the moved ball.
14. Striker faults bring all the balls back to where they started prior to the stroke.  Faults include hitting a ball you are dead on; causing damage to the court by striking the court with your mallet during the follow through or prior to hitting the striker ball; hitting a ball other than the striker ball; letting go of your ball when holding it during a croquet shot. 
15. The strikers ball can go out of bounds after hitting a ball it is alive on.  The roqueted ball may not go out of bounds or the turn ends (and rule 11 applies).  Some local customs discourage sending an opponent's ball out of bounds if it gives an apparent advantage to the striker.  Some have suggested calling deadness on the striker; others have suggested allowing the opponent to bring the balls back to the positions prior to the stroke in question.  The official rules have not been modified and no penalty is prescribed in the official rulebook.
16. The game ends when both partners balls have scored the 15th wicket and the striker drives the partner ball and the striker ball into stake (16th point) in one shot or the partner ball into stake 16 in the croquet shot and then the strker ball into the stake on the next stroke.  If the striker fails to peg both balls out in this manner, the games continues and neither ball is removed from the game.
17. Games are usually not timed, but if players are waiting for court time, then a 1 hour timer is started.  When the clock expires, the game is over and the team with the most points scored at the buzzer is the winner.  No additional shots may be played after time is called.