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Technical
Croquet Balls
Croquet balls have two directions of perpendicular milling resulting in a diamond pattern texture on the surface. The four points on the surface where this milling reduces to small circles are sometimes called poles. The properties of balls are defined in Law 3c of the Laws of Association Croquet - "A ball must be 3 5/8" [92mm] in diameter and must weigh 16 ounces [454g]". For tournament play however there is a bounce specification, a ball size and weight tolerance and for manufacturers an approval scheme leading to Croquet Association (CA) approval.
Croquet balls come in three sets of colours:
In addition for the American market there are striped primary colours - they have a white 1.25" girdle around the ball. Croquet balls are available for 'garden' play as well as for club and tournament play. The specifications for the latter are tightly constrained (see links above). Balls for garden use typically weigh less than 16oz and may lack any form of surface milling. The light balls will produce less damage the lighter 'garden set' mallets and some players prefer the way a lighter ball rolls on longer (garden cut) grass. There are currently two main manufacturers of plastic moulded approved croquet
balls.
Willhoite (America) - these are made in small quantities in Kentucky. Their plastic "Xtreme ball" has Croquet Association approval as a Championship ball and has a good reputation. Cost ~$220/set. Jaques (UK) - this company used to be the main world manufacturer of croquet balls, but a fire at their factory followed by commercial problems means that they no longer produce tournament standard croquet balls. Barlow (SA) - used to produce a good plastic ball but they closed their factory in February 2008. Articles on croquet balls from Croquet World Online
For a lineage of croquet balls see here For technical articles on ball properties see the Technical section. All rights reserved © 2004-7
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