Four square
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 The layout of a four square court. |
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| Players | 4 minimum |
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| Setup time | < 5 minutes |
| Skill(s) required | Manual dexterity Strategy Social skills |
Four square, also known as squareball, blockball, boxball, handball and in Canada, champ, is a ball game played among four individuals on a square court divided into quadrants. It is a popular playground game with little required equipment, almost no setup, and short rounds of play that can be ended at any time. This particular sport was set up in 1964 and has been introduced around the world. The UK director of four square (Sam Phillips) has been working on promoting this as a national sport.
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[edit] Abstract
Four square is usually played with a rubber playground ball on a square court with four maximum players, depending on the rules (Big Four Square, Six Square, etc.). The object of four square is to get another player into duns.
[edit] The court
Four square is played on any hard surfaced court, such as wood or asphalt, with boundaries measuring 50' by 50' at a max (this is only an estimate). The court may be extended. The court is divided into four smaller squares each 36' by 36' at a min. Each of the four squares has a rank and is occupied by a single player. The ranks are arranged so that either the highest ranking square is positioned facing the lowest ranking square or the ranks increase as one moves clockwise. The ranks from highest to lowest are kings, queens, jacks and duns.
The lines on the court are boundaries. The interior lines separating player squares are out of bounds. The ball may not touch any portion of an inside line or the player who hit the ball is in error. The lines marking the outermost edges of the court are considered in-bounds. If a ball lands on or touches the inside lines then the game ends and the last person to touch the ball is eliminated.[1]
[edit] The ball
Four square is played with an 8.5" rubber playground ball inflated to 22 lbs however a tennis ball can also be used. During regular play, the ball must be hit with the player's hands only.
The ball must be struck once and for a single instant only. Carrying, catching, or holding the ball during play is not allowed. Prolonged contact with the ball can give players unfair control over the play. kicking the ball must create a perceptible change in the ball's velocity (speed or direction) to be legal.[1]
[edit] Elimination
Players may be eliminated from the court because of errors or fouls they commit. Eliminated players leave the court, the remaining players move up to the next highest square, and a new player joins the court in the lowest square. Eliminated players wait in line for their next turn.
- Failing to hit the ball into another square
- Hitting the ball out of turn
- Hitting the ball incorrectly (such as on the full into another player's square)
- Hitting the ball out of bounds
- Missing the ball from another player
- Letting the ball drop twice on a player's own square
- Hitting a shot from another player when it was double bounce or not hit correctly. This is often referred to as "playing the handy". "playing the doubles", "full played", etc. A third otherwise-legal play (by whomever hits it, including the original offender) can nullify the first two infractions - referred to as, e.g. "full played forgotten."
In casual games, the highest ranking player may modify the game's rules at the beginning of each round. Many modifications either expand or constrain the legal methods of ball handling. Children refer to these modifications with elaborate local and regional nomenclatures: e.g., double-taps, underhand-only, blackjack, and bus-stop. Common modifications include: whirlpool (the ball must be passed clockwise or anti clockwise until king or queen says end whirlpool), No returns (If the player passes a ball back to a server who has said no returns is out), Pass back soft (pass back the ball with a low amount of push pressure.[2] Children have also played with "unfriendly" and "friendly" moves.[citation needed]
[edit] Terms
There are a number of commonly agreed terms for 4square.
- Airbourne or handy, hitting the ball with your hand and making it go into another square without it bouncing in your first, resulting in being out
- Into, players going into others squares, resulting in either a play on or Replay (note sometimes kids use terms called friendly-fire or invaders to escape this, however, most of the time this is not allowed.
- Re-Serve, foul serve
- Re-Play, a case of unclear situation in which 2 serves
- Interference, a term when another person interrupts the game, for example, walking through the court
- Fault 123: If king serves the ball and gets himself out, he can use his faults to defend himself. There is usually a minimum 2 faults and 3 maximum rule for the number of faults allowed.
- Tea party, when two players pass between themselves excessively, thereby excluding the other two players from the game.
[edit] Game scalability
Four square is a popular game for children and school playgrounds. It is important to scale the game's difficulty and supervision appropriately for different age groups and ability levels. Schools, churches and camps often change the size of the court, the type of ball, or aspects of the rules to best suit the players' abilities.
[edit] World championships
The Four Square World Championships, a competitive adult four square tournament, take place in Bridgton, Maine, USA, each winter season. Peter Lowell of the Lakes Environmental Association hosts this annual fundraiser each winter to support the environmental work done in the lakes region of Maine, USA. This competition draws athletes from the USA and Canada, and has registered competitors from Israel to Bermuda. As of February 26, 2011[update],[3] the titles are held by:
- 2011 Div I Men's World Champion, Marc Hirsh, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
- 2011 Div I Women's World Champion, Christina Laverentz, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
- 2011 Div II Men's World Champion, Tom Tivoli, Maine, USA
- 2011 Div II Women's World Champion, Sue Grodberg, Malden, Massachusetts, USA
- 2011 Judges Choice, Sydney Adams, Granville, Massachusetts, USA
- 2011 Audience Choice Award, Matt Eckhardt, Philadeplhia, Pennsylvania, USA
- 2011 Team Award, Raging Narwhals, Biddeford, Maine, USA
(Division I includes ages 13 through 39. Division II includes ages 4 and up.)
Prior world championships have been held on January 29, 2005, January 28, 2006, February 3, 2007, February 16, 2008, February 28, 2009, February 27, 2010,[4][5] and February 26, 2011.
- 1987 Floyd Fisher of Champaign, Illinois outlasted 124 others to win the World 4 Square Championship in Oslo, Norway
[edit] World record
On February 25 and 26 2011, 15 Manchester College students played the game for 30 hours to break the world record.[6] The world record was previously held by eight Argentinean players for 29 hours in 2008.
[edit] Downball
Downball (also known as handball) is an Australian variation of four square played throughout Australian schooling institutions. It is played on courts usually consisting of 4–6 squares, in which each player occupies one square at a time. The game is played with a tennis ball, which is served by the player in the "king" or "ace" square. The object of the game is for the player to navigate their way to the "king" square by eliminating opponents. Eliminating opponents can be achieved in the following ways:
- A player fails to touch a ball as it bounces(limited to one bounce) through their square
- A player touches the ball twice in their own square
- A player hits the ball and it bounces twice in their own square (This of course include a serve from the "king or "ace")
- A player hits the ball into another square without first bouncing in their own square (This is known colloquially as a "straight" or "full")
- A player hits the ball and it proceeds to roll through their square or another players square. (Naturally, this is known as "rolls" because of the rolling nature of the ball)
- A player hits the ball and it lands out of the boundaries of the court
- Interfering with other players or the ball
- Elimination does not occur if hitting the ball on interior lines as "Liners" (due the fact the ball touches the line) occurs and the two players whose boundary the ball landed on have a ruck and this is the only time a straight is allowed to be hit due to the inability to be able to hit the ball into your own square then another at the ruck
[edit] Downball Moves
In Downball there are many different moves which help advance to "king". Some of them are:
- Sweeper: One of the most common. A player hits the ball low and fast, in the motion of a "sweep".
- Lowee: A player hits the ball lightly allowing the ball to land over but near the line.
- Backhand Lowee: A player twists their hand so the fingers are facing behind them, and let the ball "slide" down their arm. Creating a slow ball close to the line.
- Bullet: Is when a player "smashes" the ball with a lot of strength in order to make the ball go past the opposing player.
- Ghosty: (This move is only allowed if the player in "King" spot allows it.) It is when the ball lands in an adjacent square from a player. The player is allowed to "interfere" by waving,clicking etc, their hands in the trajectory of the ball without touching the ball or leaving their square.
- Header: (This move is only allowed if the player in "King" spot allows it.) It is when a player uses their head to knock the ball to another players square. Allowing the player who "Headered" it to be able to do "Straights" or "Fulls" on their "Header".
- Footsies: (This move is only allowed if the player in "King" spot allows it.) Same logic as a "Header" except the player uses the foot to hit the ball instead.
Other moves may be made up depending on player's ideas and imagination.
[edit] Land (Canada)
A version of the game that allows play without a ball. It is played outdoors in a sandy location. Four squares are drawn of the same dimension as Foursquare and a small stick is selected as the "ball". It is decided who starts, and one of the four children tosses the stick into one of their neighbour's squares. At this point everyone runs away from the squares as far as they can before the "tagged" child (the one with the stick in their square) can touch the stick. When the stick is grabbed the three runners must stop and stand. The holder of the stick now attempts to hit one of the runners with the stick. If successful, the "tagged" child may use the stick to draw a new border into the runner's square from the edge of their square creating a much larger piece of land for themselves. But if the "tagged" child misses, the rules are reversed and the runner gets to claim land. The new landholder then has the stick and selects the next target and the game continues until one child has all the land. Surprise becomes a strategic element when the "tagged" child runs away with the others not realizing the stick has landed in their square, creating an impossible to win situation due to the distance the other players have gotten to.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Official Rules of Four Square. Squarefour.org (2004-09-10). Retrieved on 2011-06-18.
- ^ Monstrous Collection of Cool Rules. Squarefour.org (2010-02-23). Retrieved on 2011-06-18.
- ^ Nearly 100 players compete in Four Square World meet. Sun Journal (2011-02-27). Retrieved on 2011-06-18.
- ^ World Champion of Four Square Crowned in Maine (Video) – New England Spotlight. NESN.com (2010-03-02). Retrieved on 2011-06-18.
- ^ The Four Square World Championships attract a competitive and creative field of players to the annual gathering in Maine. – ESPN. Sports.espn.go.com (2010-03-04). Retrieved on 2011-06-18.
- ^ Manchester College students try to break a World Record to raise money for church camp – CNN iReport. Ireport.cnn.com (2011-02-25). Retrieved on 2011-06-18.
