Croquet has long been considered the favorite game of aristocrats. This game has been played with pleasure not only by gentlemen, but also by ladies from high society for several centuries. Nowadays, the game is loved and accessible to all age and social segments of the population. Croquet does not require any physical effort or special training; at the same time, it develops motor functions, tactical thinking, improves coordination of movements and, in the end, simply gives pleasure from communication.

The point of the game is that the player, hitting the ball with a long-handled wooden mallet, guides it through a series of wire hoops, installed in a certain order, to the opponent’s peg. After hitting the ball on the peg, you need to return back. 

The game can be played one on one (singles) or in pairs (doubles). At the beginning of the game, each participant is given 1 hit. If the shot was successful and the ball went through the goal, the participant is entitled to an additional shot. When hitting the ball, you can hold the hammer in a way that suits you. Both teams have balls of certain colors: one team has black and blue balls, the other has red and yellow balls. In a doubles game, a participant can, without alternating with a partner, lead one ball throughout the entire path; in another case, he can play in turn with any ball of his team. 

Each ball is played along a set route, passing through each hoop twice, and at the end the ball must hit a peg in the center of the field. The team that completes the route with both balls the fastest wins. For passing the hoop, each ball receives 12 points, plus one for touching the peg. In total, a team gets 26 points for two balls. The game does not require specially equipped areas; a flat grass surface is quite suitable. Paris Saint-Germain Football Academy The game does not require specially equipped areas; a flat grass surface is quite suitable. Paris Saint-Germain Football Academy The game does not require specially equipped areas; a flat grass surface is quite suitable. 

There are several varieties of croquet, although the differences between them are not so significant; they consist of small changes in the rules of the game, the placement and size of the hoops. A grassy, ​​trimmed area is suitable for playing. Among the most popular types are: classic English, golf croquet and 9-wicket.

Association croquet, also known as classic English croquet. In this croquet, an extra move is given when the ball hits the goal or when a castling occurs in the team. Golf croquet. Unlike the classic one, additional moves are not provided here. Croquet "Nine wickets". Based on the name, it has 9 gates and a larger field than the ones mentioned above.

The ancestors of croquet may well be considered games that were played by the ancient Romans, chasing small balls across the field. Using curved sticks, they dribbled the ball along a specific route, hitting pegs or trees with it. In some cases, balls were sent into holes, much like modern golf. True, a game more similar to croquet first appeared in France in the 13th century. This was a favorite pastime of shepherds, who, with blows of their staffs, hammered balls of animal hair into a kind of gate made of bent willow twigs. In addition, there is a description of a similar game of "Land Billiards" (from 1351), played by French nobles. 

There were other similar games with rules that everyone modified to suit themselves. Several centuries later as you can read at https://cricmod.com/ the game came to Ireland, where more specific rules of the game had already been invented and special balls and wooden mallets were invented. After the game came to England, additional rules and tactics for the game were developed. Representatives of high society immediately became interested in croquet, clubs for croquet lovers appeared, and later the game became popular among ordinary people. Croquet became famous not only in England and all its colonies.

The first Wimbledon tournament took place in 1870, and in 1900 and 1904 rocky, a form of croquet, was included in the Summer Olympics. During the period of exceptional popularity of the game (1914-1926), many championships were held, about 120 per year. Later, croquet began to give way to the more popular tennis. After decades of calm, the game received a second wind: in the 80s, croquet acquired the status of a professional sport, in 1986, 12 states formed the International Croquet Federation, today there are 30 states in the WCF. In 1989, the World Croquet Championships were held for the first time in London.