Four square

Four square is a ball game played among four players on a square court divided into quadrants.

Basic gameplay

Four square requires only a ball and a court made of four squares. With such little required equipment, almost no setup, and short rounds of play that can be ended at any time, it is a popular playground game. Gameplay varies significantly from region to region; this section will make basic gameplay clear regardless of the regional flavor. Refer to sections below to learn about special, custom or regional rules and variants.

The objective

The objective of the game is to work one's way from the lowest square into the highest square by eliminating players in higher ranking squares.

In this example, the player in square four is regarded as the highest rank and has the privilege of both serving the ball and implementing any number of custom rules (see custom rules section). Players are eliminated when they cause errors and each time a player is eliminated, all remaining players move to the next available square until square one is open. A new player, who has been waiting in a nearby line will then join in square one to start a new round. Any number of players may be waiting outside the court for their turn.

Boundaries

Four square is played on a square court divided into four smaller squares of about equal size. Different communities use different size courts. For example, the Becket Chimney Corners YMCA uses a 14 foot court, the Boston based Squarefour court is 16 feet, while The International 4-Square League uses a 20 foot court.

Most commonly, the outside lines of the court are considered 'inbounds' meaning a ball may land on any portion of an outside line and still be in play. Often, the inside lines are considered 'out of bounds' and balls landing on any portion of an inside line are considered faults. A popular abbreviation of these rules is known as 'inside-out, outside-in'. Balls landing outside the court are considered 'out of bounds' as well.

Starting gameplay and service

Each round of the game begins with the player in the top square serving the ball or by placing the ball in the middle of the court, this is known as a bus stop. During a bus stop all other players run to the ball as fast as they can. The serve is intended to put the ball into play fairly and must be reasonably returnable by the first receiving player. In the event of a bus stop the last player to touch the ball is out. From this point on, regular gameplay follows until a player is eliminated.

Regular gameplay

Players must allow the ball to land once in a square, and the occupant of that square is required to return the ball into any other player's square by hitting or striking the ball with his or her hands. This hit may be done with a single hand or both hands but must be cleanly hit with no carrying, fumbling or catching, otherwise the player doing so is eliminated. Once the ball lands in a new player's square then that player must continue to return it, and so forth, until one player makes an error and is eliminated from the court.

Errors and elimination

Players may be eliminated for the following errors:

A player hits the ball out of bounds. (Dubbed as "out".)
A player hits another player before it hits their square. (If the player who got hit went for the ball then the player that got hit is out.)
A player hits the ball before the ball hit their square. (Dubbed as "steal".)
A player steps into another player's square. (Dubbed as "shadow".)
The ball hits a player's square twice. (Dubbed as "double")
A player does not hit the ball underhand.
A player who hits the ball straight into another player's square. (Dubbed as "foul".)

Eliminated players leave the court, another player moves into the lowest square, and all remaining players move up to the next highest square.

Officiation and judging

Four square is a fast game and often played by younger children. It is difficult to self-govern a game of four square under these circumstances and it is important to create some form of officiation or judging. You should have an official line judge.

Tactics and Specials

The King, or player in "square four" chooses the rules of the game. A commonly chosen rule would be the "Larry". The "Larry" originiated in Knightdale, NC; and was dubbed this from the name of it's creator: Larry "Tripp" N. The "Larry" rule is that where one can strike the ball in the air before it hits the ground of the square. The exact details of the creation of the "Larry" are slightly shady, however, the place was the Knightdale Rec Center, and now the world of Four Square can rejoice for it's greatest rule has had some light shed upon it.

Common varieties

Customized and stylized rules

The potential to customize and reinvent special rules for four square is limitless. Here we chronicle a sizeable volume of user submitted rules from all over the world. These are not necessarily standardized rules but are intended to give a sampling of the potential and creativity of this simple game.

For a composite list of common server rules, see Individual server rules in Four Square.

American regional rules

Four square in the United States is more commonly played with the larger (8, 10 or 12-inch) rubber balls or other varieties.
Court size is not standardized. In New York, for example, courts are often made of four adjacent sidewalk squares.
There is no standard for naming the order and terms of the squares, some regions use numbers, letters or titles to represent the rank of each square.
Often, the player in the server's square is allowed to declare custom rules to be observed during their service.

English regional rules

Due to the speed of using tennis balls as standard, the rules for England are altered, to create slightly fairer, yet more difficult gameplay.

After the ball is returned, it must bounce in a players own square, before another player's.
If the ball is hit into another player's square prematurely, the shot is called 'Direct' and the offending player is out, and thus moved to the back of the queue.
If the ball lands on a line, and the players are unsure of which square it landed in, a 'Line' is called, and the game is restarted (known as a 'retake').
The ball may be hit by any body part, this allows for very skilled players to feint and dummy, hitting the ball in intricate ways, rarely, but sometimes, with their feet, so as to confuse other players.
A player may only hit the ball with one hand/body part, if more than one part of the body touches the ball, a 'Double Touch' is called, and the offending player returns to the back of the queue.
The square numbers are reversed, with 4th square being the lowest rank, and 1st being the highest.
Underarm serves are illegal, as the ball can literally be bowled very low, and the first returner has no chance of a clean hit.
Sometimes, a game will get very low, very fast, or very gentle. The game ends when the majority of the queue call 'Pea Roller' and the last player to of touched the ball is 'out'.
If any player makes a mistake, to the degree that they are 'out', if another player 'plays on' or hits the ball further, the offense is passed the last player to hit the ball, and thus, that player is 'out' instead. The addition of this rule, makes the English variation very unforgiving, but breeds very aware players, thus increasing the general skill level present in the game.
If desired, the court can be an indefinite length or width, with a simple cross in the centre, and its potruding lines spanning as far as the game requires.
Sometimes the two higher ranking squares are larger or longer than the other squares, to add a handicap to the better players.

Australian and New Zealand regional rules

In Australian and New Zealand schools it is common to play with 2, 6, 8 or more squares, although the most common version still uses only four. The court is usually two squares wide, the additional squares adding length.
The courts of Australia unlike America are not numbered. However squares are given the titles "Ace", "King", "Queen" and "Dunce". "Ace" being the best, followed by "King" then "Queen" and finally "Dunce". The amount of substitutes present determine which of these square's players can be substituted when out. Sometimes the squares are named "King", "Queen", "Jack" and "Dunce".
In the Australian rules a player is required to hit the ball into their own square and have it bounce into other courts from there, and hitting it directly into the other persons court is called "a full" (hitting the ball into another square on the full) or "straight in".
In the Australian rules if the ball lands on any of the lines (inside or outside), it is deemed "Lines" or "Liner" and the ball is either stopped and gameplay restarted or the call "Lines" which means that one drops the ball on the line of fault, and whichever box the ball bounces in plays on. "My favours" is a term that is sometimes used to determine who is in charge of the "lines" call for each line fault. Whoever says "My favours" first gets to do the call.
Tennis balls are most commonly used during gameplay.
Some schools use an "elimination round" if the game must be called due to the end of recess or other free time. The game play is identical to that of a normal situation, however when a player is out, whether through a winner or an error, they are eliminated from the game entirely, until just two players are left to play off for the title of elimination champion.
It must be remembered that rules vary from school to school. In particular, school children often invent ways for the game to be played on irregularly shaped courts formed by any network of lines or expansion gaps on a concrete or paved surface - even going around corners and venturing into passageways, incorporating rebounds off the walls or roof into the gameplay.
Another less common variant is incorporating a double/team play aspect into the game, where players compete in a partnership. A less common rule that sometimes stems from this variant is allowing a smash 'set'. This is usually achieved in defense of a particularly hard to reach attack: one player 'lobs' the ball up within his own court, after letting it bounce once his partner can then deliver a counter-attack.
Australians play the rule of "Challenge" which means one opponent may hit the ball to another and call challenge. If the ball is hit back to the opponents who called Challenge then there is a challenge where only the 2 opponents can hit it back to each other.
If in a challenge against an opponent you may call "Une Gomme" which the French word for Eraser or erase the challenge, the oppenent must hit the ball away for it to be erased.
In East Australia they play the rule of Alliance where 2 or more people join in a group and beat other alliances.
The Ruck is when King bounces the ball and the players have to keep tapping the ball in the air til it eventually falls in someones square.
When you want to hit the ball to another player you must hit it in your square first.

German School Rules

The game is played with 4 squares marked A, B, C, and D, A being the highest rank, and D being the lowest. There can also be a waiting line behind a given area.
The ball can bounce in a square more than once and if too low, can be hit underhand. But no catches and long ball possession times are allowed. It a player does this, the player is eliminated.
If the ball bounces in your square, it has to bounce anywhere else in the SDQ (Square Divided into Quadrants) otherwise, you're eliminated.

GAME STOPPERS:

'LINE': When the ball bounces between 2 lines or the outer line, line has to be called and then, 'A' bounces the ball with a lot of strength in the middle. [This rule is not always applied to games]
'ROLL': When the ball rolls outside the SDQ, it doesn't count as elimination. It is a roll. When roll is called because the ball rolls out, 'A' has to throw the ball up so that it lands roughly in the middle where anybody can get it [This rule is not always used]
'SHOESHINER': When a player hits the ball on another players shoe (by a mistake), both players (the person who bounced it on the person's shoe and the person who's shoe was hit) must say shoeshiner. Whoever says it last is eliminated.
'INTERFERENCE': When the player in the waiting line get too close to the square and they save the ball if it goes out, an interference is called and the player must go to the back of the waiting line.
'INVASION': When a person in D steps into another square other they his own, an invasion is called and the person which invaded is out.

There is a ball saving technique called POPCORNING. The way the people in Germany play it is that they try to eliminate others mostly with high and far balls. A fast runner can run really far and seemingly catch the ball, but they aren't; they're tossing it up about a quarter of an inch in the air. Popcorning is only allowed to be used if it is for saving yourself, not for attacking others. There are many different rules about popcorning such as a given amount of seconds that popcorning is allowed and even style of popcorning rules. Popcorning is not used by everyone: it is not used by certain foreigners to Germany such as Americans and Australians.

Names and varieties in various countries

Australia: Hand Tennis, Handball, Downball, Tenison 8, Kingpin
New Zealand: Handball, 4 Square, 6 Square or 8 Square
USA: Boxball or Handball (FL, NY) Square Ball (MA), Four Square (WA, NC), Blockball (MD)
Canada: Champ, Smash (QC)

Making the game harder

If the ball is replaced with a tennis ball, the game of four square becomes far more difficult. This is commonplace in England and Australia, to the point where it is actually the schoolyard norm, with the majority of players using tennis balls.

This can be continued further by using a racquetball, which is both smaller (2 1/4 inches to a tennis ball's 3 inches), and faster (bounces more, and is not slowed down by fur, as a tennis ball is.)

Another way to make the game more difficult is to keep score. Keeping count of the number of times one reaches square four can create a more fierce competition. Some communities have developed similar rules for competitive play, sometimes over a long period of time. Squarefour and The International 4-Square League both use systems of scoring that give numbers or averages related to the total rounds a player stays in the fourth square.

World Championships

The Four Square World Championships 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. This competition draws athletes from all over the USA and has registered athletes from many countries including Canada, Israel and Bermuda.

The January 29, 2005, World Championships: 25 registered competitors

Ladies Champ Dana Ostberg, Jamaica Plain, MA
Senior Men's Champ Tommy Stockwell, Bridgton, ME
Team Award to Squarefour, Boston, MA

The January 28, 2006, World Championships: 43 registered competitors

Men's Champ Patrick Miller, Burlington, VT
Ladies Champ Dana Ostberg, Jamaica Plain, MA
Senior Men's Champ Tommy Stockwell, Bridgton, ME
Senior Ladies Champ Eleanor Nicholson, Bridgton, ME
Junior Champs Ben Stockwell and Erica Chute, Bridgton, ME
Audience Choice awarded to Boston College's Four Square Team, Boston, MA

The February 3, 2007, World Championships: 66 registered competitors

Men's Champ Jasper "The Quiet Storm" Turner, Sheffield, MA
Ladies Champ Justine Petrillo, Cambridge, MA
Senior Men's Champ Tommy Stockwell, Bridgton, ME
Senior Ladies Champ Audrey Castro, Portland, ME
Team Champions University of Connecticut Four Square Team
Audience Choice awarded to Ben Popik, Brooklyn, NY
Most Improved awarded to Mark "Merk. O" O'Connor, South Portland, ME

External links