Handicaps & Bisques

Affiliated to the Croquet Association

About Handicaps and Bisques

To enable players of differing abilities to have a fair and enjoyable game, bisques are allocated according to the players' individual handicaps. When a player's turn in a game ends, a bisque can be used to allow this player another turn before handing over to his opponent.

All club members are allocated a handicap according to their ability - eg beginners who have just completed their coaching will be allocated the highest handicap of 24. Handicaps may change during the season according to a player's performance in matches.

How bisques are allocated between two club players:

Low handicappers play a differential handicap game, ie the number of bisques the higher of the players has will be his/her handicap minus the handicap of the opponent. So Person A on handicap 16 playing Person B on handicap 10 will receive 6 bisques. Their opponent has none.

High handicappers will play full handicap but as their games will be shortened to 14 points they will have a reduced number of bisques. A chart showing how many each handicap level has will be displayed on the notice board.

THE HANDICAPPING SYSTEM OF THE CROQUET ASSOCIATION

A new player is given a provisional handicap of 24. As this player improves the handicap becomes lower. The lowest permitted handicap is -2 (minus 2). In a handicap game, the higher handicapped player receives free turns (bisques). The number of bisques given is the difference between the handicaps of the two players. Below handicap 5, handicaps fall in stages of a half and, therefore, half-bisques may be given. These are free turns in which no point may be scored for the striker's ball. Between 24 and 12, handicaps fall in twos and may be altered at the discretion of the club handicapper. Below that figure handicaps may only change as the result of actual play. Changes are automatic and are calculated according to the following system of index trigger points:

Members’ Handicaps as at 5 April 2011
Bill A	16	Terry H	24	Fred S	7
Liz B	20	Neil K	3½	Joyce T	24
Sarah B	-1½	David M	14	Ken T	24
Fane C	18	Viv P	22	John T	8
Dave D	24	Carol P	22	Thelma T	14
Alan F	24	Julian R	7	Peter T	8
David H	18	Gerry R	18	David W	16
Madeline H	22	Eddie R	18
Peter H	14	Simon R-C	20
Robin H	16	John S	11

The beginner, having a handicap of 24, has an index of 850. Every time he/she wins a handicap game his/her index goes up by 10 points and if he/she loses a game it falls by 10 points (though not below 850). Thus by winning 5 straight games, the beginner's index will reach 900 and his/her handicap will change automatically to 22. If several games are then lost, the handicap remains at 22, unless the index falls to the 850 trigger point once more. The handicap change is triggered only by the index point indicated in the table. Thus, once you have triggered a new handicap, you have at least 5 handicap games in hand before your handicap can rise again.

FILLING IN THE HANDICAP CARD
1. On page one fill in your present handicap and the index number which corresponds to it. As soon as a new trigger point is reached you should fill in the new handicap and index number.
2. After each game, record the result and any change in your index as follows:

Handicap	Index	Handicap	Index	Handicap	Index
-2	2600	3	1700	11	1200
-1½	2400	3½	1650	12	1150
-1	2250	4	1600	14	1100
-½	2100	4½	1550	16	1050
0	2000	5	1500	18	1000
½	1950	6	1450	20	950
1	1900	7	1400	22	900
1½	1850	8	1350	24	850
2	1800	9	1300
2½	1750	10	1250

1	Hp/1p	OPPONENT NAME		INDEX
RES			HCP	+/-	NEW
+7	H	John Brown	12	+10	860
+2	H	Jack Spratt	6	+10	870
-3	H	Mary Jones	3	-10	860