The USCA Primer on Golf Croquet.
The American six wicket game is played by two sides.
Blue and black are one side while red and yellow is the other. In singles, a player plays both balls, either blue and black or red and yellow. In doubles, one partner plays blue while the other plays black throughout the game and the same for the red and yellow side. Each side takes turns with the balls being played in the order shown on the peg (blue, red, black and yellow). The choice of colors is determined by a coin toss.
Start Play: Each ball begins the game in order from the starting position located 3’ in front of the first wicket. The striker has only one stroke in a turn unless extra strokes are earned. Extra strokes can be earned by scoring a wicket, which earns one extra stroke, or by hitting another ball, called a roquet, on which it is alive (has not hit since scoring its last point), which earns two extra strokes.
After a roquet, the striker picks up the striker ball from wherever it has come to rest and places it in contact with the roqueted ball for it’s first earned shot. This is called the croquet shot where the striker ball must be hit in a direction that both balls are moved. After playing this croquet shot the striker’s ball becomes dead on the
roqueted ball and cannot hit it again until the strikers ball scores it’s next wicket.
After the croquet stroke, the striker gets the second earned stroke called the continuation stroke. The purpose of gaining this series of extra strokes is to bring the striker’s ball into a position suitable for scoring it’s next wicket in order (thus scoring another point and clearing deadness on other balls it had previously hit). Sometimes, multiple wickets are scored in such a series of strokes and this turn is known as a break.
Continuation strokes are not cumulative. You cannot run a wicket, hitting another ball in the process and collect three extra shots nor does running any two wickets in one stroke, earn more than one extra stroke. Note that if the proper wicket is not run during a turn, any deadness
accrued remains in the following turns of that colored ball until the wicket is scored.
When a ball goes out-of-bounds in a stroke, the striker’s turn ends unless it is the striker’s ball in a roquet stroke. A ball is considered to be out-of-bounds when more than halfway over the boundary line. After each stroke, all balls out-of-bounds are replaced 9 inches from the point where they went out.
Scoring: A ball scores a point by going through it’s next wicket in the proper order. If a ball is hit through a wicket in the wrong direction, or through any other wicket, it does not score a point. If it is helped through it’s next wicket by another ball, either by partner’s or opponent’s balls, this is called a peel and it does score the wicket, but no continuation shots are earned. Colored clips indicate the next wicket that same colored ball can score and are placed on top for the first 6 wickets and on the vertical leg for the final 6 wickets.
Rules: you can find the official rules for American 6-Wicket HERE