EXtreme croquet

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The correct title of this article is eXtreme croquet. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.

eXtreme Croquet is a variation on croquet mainly distinguished by its lack of any requirement pertaining to out-of-bounds or field specifications. A close relative of the croquet played in most backyards and gardens, but expanded by more adventurous enthusiasts and played throughout the world in conditions that would make players of the original, more gentile, game cringe.

Play during a game of Extreme Croquet

A typical eXtreme Croquet game starts with location scouting, searching for terrain that might present interesting and novel challenges such as trees, roots, hills, sand, mud, or moving or still water. The wickets are normally set up according to the "British" figure-eight standard well-known to Americans, but often deviate somewhat to take best advantage of the location. Play proceeds following the usual croquet rules, with alterations generally designed to handle circumstances not found in the garden game. An unquantifiable resilience and spirit characterizes the play of the game, replacing the calm and sophistication commonly associated with tournament play.

A certain amount of experimentation and development has occurred with the equipment used to play. Traditional croquet sets typically do not stand up well to the rigors of "extreme croquet", and various methods have been used to strengthen the mallets, balls, and even the wickets. This has lead to the origin of mallets with bevelled faces to add "loft" to the ball, and two-story wickets.

Some say the variation had its origins in 1920s America, while others claim the eXtreme version is simply retroactive, appealing to croquet's supposed origin as a 15th century French shepherd past-time. Today, many clubs or societies keep track of one another by their websites. Notable among these is the Connecticut Extreme Croquet Society, for its storied history as well as its lucrative domain name http://www.extremecroquet.org. Due to these singularities, the Connecticut group is often singled out for media attention as various outlets hear of this purportedly new phenomenon.

Due to its inherently anarchistic nature, eXtreme Croquet will forever be without a governing body, meaning different societies play by necessarily disparite rules. Many organizations opt to list these on their websites, offering other groups a look at their own unique interpretation. Variations include the following:

When one ball strikes another, the striker may choose to continue play as the strikee's ball.
A player receives an extra stroke for passing through a second story of a wicket.
A player may strike the ball with any part of the mallet, including a billiards-reminiscent style.
The first player through the second wicket determines the direction of play.
As each player reaches the starting post after clearing all wickets, he is "poison" and must declare his status to all players.
A non-poison player can eliminate a poison player by sending the latter through a wicket.
Passing through a wicket out of order is punished by sending the ball back to the previous post.
Roqueting another player's ball adds a bonus stroke.
Small children and dogs are legal obstacles, and if they interfere with the ball's placement, the player must still "play it where it lies." Training of small children or dogs is strongly discouraged.