How to Select and Buy Croquet Equipment

Croquet equipment may be purchased from the online Pro Shop at the National Croquet Center, or directly from one of the many equipment manufacturers.

Equipment comes in three broad categories of size/weight/quality/longevity/price.

Lightweight and Inexpensive Toy Sets

Scaled to be playable by children, these sets are typically found in toy stores and discount outlets selling for anywhere from $30 to $150.00 or more. They include nine wickets (for the traditional backyard-style game), six mallets, six balls, and two stakes. In this class, the heavier and bigger the equipment, the better the result. Most of these sets, however, are rather fragile and will soon wear out with regular play and have to be replaced.

Adult-Size Sets

These sets sell for between $200 and $400. They typically include four balls, four mallets, nine wickets, two stakes, wicket clips, and rule book. Bridging the gap between the lightweight toy equipment and tournament-class components, these sets are designed to be used for either 6-wicket USCA style play OR for Backyard Croquet.

Class "A" Tournament-Quality Components

If you're serious about the sport of croquet, you'll want the kind of equipment used in croquet clubs around the world — components designed and manufactured to serve the requirements of the top practitioners of the sport. There are many manufacturers of quality equipment (much of it virtually handmade), and almost all of them sell separate components rather than sets. The prices of the components you would need for one lawn fall roughly in the following ranges.

Wickets (6 or 9): $35 to $100 each
Stake (1 or 2): $20 to $35 each
Mallets (4 or 6): $90 to $300 each
Flags (4): $20 to $50 per set
Deadness Board (1): $40 to $200

Other accessories will also be necessary, but they are very inexpensive and can be manufactured at home or bought cheaply at your local hardware or variety store: string and boundary settings; game clocks; wicket clips, and a rubber hammer for driving the wickets into the ground.