USCA stock photo shows the string line boundaries utilized for six-wicket croquet

A Subtle Difference

After a month off due to a very busy website schedule in November, it was time to get the Nine to Six series back on track. This month, we are looking at the boundary rules for nine-wicket and the U.S. six-wicket games. At the USCA nine-wicket national championship, option two and three of the advanced rules are utilized which effectively means that boundary rules mimic the U.S. six-wicket rules with just one subtle exception. In the nine-wicket game, a ball is considered out of bounds once it touches the line as opposed to six wicket where a ball would not be ruled out of bounds until half of the ball crosses the line.

My personal opinion is that ther are two reasons for this minor difference. First, the slower speed of the nine-wicket long grass fields means it's a little easier to roquet a boundary ball as it is less likely to roll out. Creating a smaller margin balances the lawn speed difference to a degree.

Secondly, you are more likely to see painted lines in nine-wicket as opposed to the thin string lines used in six-wicket play. From a practical standpoint, it is just much easier to judge out of bounds on a thick painted line at the moment the ball touches the line.

Again, I want to emphasize the above paragraphs are based on the rules used for advanced nine-wicket play. The base nine-wicket rules regarding boundaries are much more like Association Croquet played internationally. That means there is virtually no penalty for out of bounds and out of bounds balls are set in at 36 inches instead of the nine inches used in American rules for six-wicket and advance nine-wicket.

The Nine to Six Series (Highlighting Differences Between Nine-wicket and Six-wicket Croquet)

Part One -- Clearing Deadness
Part Two -- Post Roquet Options
Part Three -- Boundaries
Part Four -- Wiring
Part Five -- Rover Balls

More on this series: The series endeavors to describe changes that nine wicket players will encounter when they try out the U.S. rules six wicket game. There's a lot of quality information on six-wicket on the internet, but some of it seems pretty complex and is presented all at once. The aim here is to slice this into smaller concepts to allow players to absorb as needed. Also, I need to clarify that I have been playing the six-wicket game for just one-year and have not attended tournaments. So, more experienced players should feel welcome to chime in using the comments and clarify if I am leading people astray. I do think my inexperience is useful in that the concepts are fresh in my mind. Also, for players making the jump to six-wicket, I assume the basics of the game are understood.