Be a Saint

Rules

Be a Devil

These rules have little to do with any of the other so called "official" rules for croquet (see the Croquet links). Rather they have been refined over the many years of the Too Hot to match the unique challenges of the Too Hot course and the discriminating personalities of the Too Hot players. These rules are sometimes referred to as the "Off Road Croquet Rules"

  1. A player must shoot THEIR OWN BALL through the front of the wicket. THE ENTIRE BALL must go ALL THE WAY through the vertical plane of the wicket. That is, the ball must be ENTIRELY in front of the wicket, and must travel ENTIRELY through the wicket. This may happen in one turn, or in successive turns, providing that the position was not disturbed by another ball. Being roqueted or croqueted by another player's ball through ANY PART OF THE WICKET will mean that the ball must come ENTIRELY in front of the wicket again to be eligible to go through.
  2. A player gets an extra shot after going through their current wicket.
  3. A player may deem their ball "unplayable", and take a drop instead of a shot. This is strictly subject to the approval of the course referee.
  4. A player may use ONLY THE HEAD OF THE MALLET and must STRIKE the ball, unless they are unable to make a full backswing because of an obstacle. Only then are they allowed to use the side of the mallet and/or push the ball, subject to the decision of the referee.
  5. If on a player's first attempt at a shot, if the ball doesn`t move the width of a mallet, it is not considered a shot, and may be reattempted once. On a croquet, if NEITHER the player's ball nor the ball being croqueted moves a mallet width, the croquet must be reattempted once.
  6. A player may not alter the course to improve the lie of their ball. "Grooming" behind the ball to allow a swing is allowed, but not in front of the ball (subject to the approval of the course referee).
  7. If a player makes a roquet (hits another player's ball), they must do ONE of the following:
    1. Take another shot from where their ball lies.
    2. Croquet the ball they hit, then take another shot from where their ball lies.
    To croquet a ball, the player must place their ball beside the ball they roqueted, OPTIONALLY place their foot on their own ball, then swing and strike their own ball.
  8. Anything that happens to a player's ball on a croquet shot counts just as if it had happened on a normal shot.
  9. If a player roquets N balls on one shot, where N>1, they must do one of the following:
    1. Take N shots from where their ball lies.
    2. Croquet all N balls IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY WERE ROQUETED, then take N extra shots from where their ball lies.
  10. A player may not roquet the same ball more than once in the same turn and gain a shot for it unless they have gone through their current wicket between roquets.
  11. Extra shots are cumulative on the same turn (going through 2 wickets on the same shot gives two extra shots, etc.) EXCEPT when hitting the midway stake at which time all pending shots are cancelled, and the player gets one shot only from beside the st ake.
  12. Physical assault of the referee or any other player will result in immediate disqualification, and subsequent blacklisting. Verbal humiliation, however, is tolerated and, in fact, encouraged.
  13. When the first player in a round strikes the midway stake, the half-time rule must be observed. Pregnant and nursing women are exempt.
  14. All decisions of the referee are FINAL.