title: Croquet: The Sport
author: Jack R. Osborn
description: Nine-wicket croquet, sometimes called "backyard croquet", is played mainly in Canada and the United States, and is the game most recreational players in those countries call simply "croquet". In this version of croquet there are nine wickets, two stakes, and up to six balls. The course is arranged in a double-diamond pattern, with one stake at each end of the course. Players start at one stake, navigate one side of the double diamond, hit the turning stake, then navigate the opposite side of the double diamond and hit the starting stake to end. If playing individually (Cutthroat), the first player to stake out is the winner. In partnership play, all members of a team must stake out, and a player might choose to avoid staking out (becoming a Rover) in order to help a lagging teammate. Each time a ball is roqueted, the striker gets two bonus shots. For the first bonus shot, the player has four options:[28] From a mallet-head distance or less away from the ball that was hit ("taking a mallet-head") From a position in contact with the ball that was hit, with the striker ball held steady by the striker's foot or hand (a "foot shot" or "hand shot") From a position in contact with the ball that was hit, with the striker ball not held by foot or hand (a "croquet shot") From where the striker ball stopped after the roquet. The second bonus shot ("continuation shot") is an ordinary shot played from where the striker ball came to rest. An alternate endgame is "poison": in this variant, a player who has scored the last wicket but not hit the starting stake becomes a "poison ball", which may eliminate other balls from the game by roqueting them. A non-poison ball that roquets a poison ball has the normal options. A poison ball that hits a stake or passes through any wicket (possibly by the action of a non-poison player) is eliminated. The last person remaining is the winner.
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  # Do Claim the Tempting Athlete
  
  
  ## Jewel Family Romance
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Cami Checketts
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  # Copyright
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _Do Claim the Tempting Athlete: Jewel Family Romance_
  
  
  Copyright © 2020 by Cami Checketts
  
  
  All rights reserved.
  
  
  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
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  # Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Free Book](part0003.html#2RHM0-ec63e50c8a51472eb6ca3a2d8949c936)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 1](part0004.html#3Q280-ec63e50c8a51472eb6ca3a2d8949c936)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 2](part0005.html#4OIQ0-ec63e50c8a51472eb6ca3a2d8949c936)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 3](part0006.html#5N3C0-ec63e50c8a51472eb6ca3a2d8949c