Downball Or 4 Square

[NateR31]

4[]

[MRDVS]

We called it Kings.

Downball is played against a wall you weird people.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

exactly downball was played against the wall...

errrrrrrrrrrrrr

[mook1]

ahh good old 4 square...! yeah its 4 square...

i recon downball (the against the wall game) was more fun..

[GKTECH]

4 square...

Damn I use to love that game..

[hijaked]

yea, at my primary skooll we had a book of little schoolyard games.

we had painted squares on the ground, most of them were 4 or 6, and we had them ranked king,queen jack.

downball was played against a wall... we never used tennis balls tho, big bouncy dodgeball type ones, to make the f**kers run!

my favourite was 'kick the can' i wished we played them still

maybe there should be a SAU schoolyard game special day, for big kids!

Edited December 1, 2005 by hijaked

[Bec]

Kick The Can rocked!!!

[Frunknmont]

Downball was the sh@t with one of those little superballs- the little bouncy things, gave it that bit extra trying to reach high enuff to wack that little bastard

[dezz]

its clearly 4 square.

downball is against the wall

[paulr33]

so did all of you who voted 4 square only ever play in 4 squares, we played upto 8 squares sometimes. the best and funniest i recall was "around the world"

[dezz]

nah played as many squares as we needed at the time.

[paulr33]

so why did u call it 4 square then???

Allowed and Banned Moves

Players may make certain hits that are considered cheap, unfair, or bad sportsmanship because of the difficulty of receiving the ball. Games with beginners generally choose to ban difficult moves. Some advanced variations will only allow the servers to hit the ball a certain way, such as high bounces. Servers usually specify if they allow or disallow the following:

"Around The World": Any player in possession of the ball may call Around The World regardless of rank at any moment. If it is called, the calling player can hit it to an adjacent square, and that person must hit it to the remaining adjacent square until it reaches the player who called it, at which point the game returns to normal.

"Around The World Permanent": The same as Around The World, but it must continue until a player gets out, even if it reaches the caller. Also known as "Around The Toilet".

"Babies": (Variant Name: Minies, Lemon Drops, Dribbles) A name for a hit that bounces less than 10 cm off the ground and goes across a very small horizontal distance.

"Black Jack": When the person catches the ball before it bounces in their square, dubbing the passer out.(e.g. king serves to jack, jack catches it before bounces in Jack's square. King is now out)

"Bobbling": A way to get around holding the ball, one bounces it lightly between their hands before serving the next ball.

"Bods": The player is allowed to use a specified part of their body to hit the ball, their head or foot for example. In some countries, this rule is called "Soccer Rules" and the ball may only be hit by the head or foot. Soccer Rules can be a suprise attack that often eliminates players quickly.

"Chicken Drops: A move, generally accepted as incredibly "cheap" or "low" by players, in which the ball is placed by the server onto an opponent's square, immediately placing him "out"

"Chicken _____" or "Duck _____": When the ball hits any part of the body other than the hands or chest: a "Chicken Foot" is when the ball hits a player's foot, etc.

"Don't Accept": Also known as a "Better" or "No Return". If there are Outs on Serves, the first receiver still may choose to "not accept" a serve if they made no attempt to hit it. This is also called "One Bad" and sometimes considered a fault on the serve. Of course, a second fault would be "Two Bad" means the server is out (too bad for you)!

"Double Bounces": The ball MUST bounce twice in a player's square before he hits it. If it hits only once before the player plays it, he is out. If it bounces once in and then once out, the hitter is out. If the ball bounces more than twice, the person whose square it bounced in is out. This game is never played with catches. It may also be played with higher amounts than double bounces, but triple is almost impossible for all but the server and quadruple is.

"Footsies": A term for when the ball is hit by the leg or foot rather than the hand. It can be harder to hit the ball in a player's own square with the foot, though the hit can be much more powerful than a hit with the hand. Some players play that when this happens, all players put there foot where all lines meet. The person who 'calls' footsies counts to 3, when he throws the ball at the feet. At 3 the players may move their feet. If it hits a players foot they are out.

"High Bounces": Also known as "Slammies", "Volcanoes", "Bombers", "Cherry Bombs", "High Towers", "Spikes", "Smashes", or "Megas"; a high bounce is when a ball goes higher than a height of about 1 meter above the receiver's head. More than for being hard to receive, this move is often discouraged for risk of the ball getting on a roof, and for taking much more time than a normal hit.

"Hold": Also known as "Grabs"; The name for when a player holds the ball for longer than they are supposed to set by the server. Usually a player can only hit the ball and not hold it, but some rules allow holding the ball for half a second or less if using a special move.

"Interceptions": After the ball hits the server's square and before the ball lands in the receiver's square, any player besides the server or receiver may grab the ball and hit it normally as if they received it. This often happens if the ball passes through one players' square but does not bounce in it.

"Lobs": Also knows as; "Straights", "Fools" or "Upball". A player, upon receiving the ball, hits the ball straight into another's square, rather than hitting it into his own and then theirs. This rule is often turned on at the beginning of the game to make it interesting, and/or easier.

"Liner": When the ball hits a line, the game will usually stop, and square 3 will bounce the ball in the cross in the middle of the squares. Square 4 may choose to overrule square 3 by taking the liner instead. On a liner, the square holding the ball may choose to either bring a player to the front, right next to the ball, or send the player to the far corner of their square. Furthermore, they can choose to order the players to turn around and/or sit down when at the far corner. Some servers choose for there to be "play-ons" if the ball hits a line: the players continue play as if the ball was in one of the players' squares, and if no player continues, it is a redo. Some servers choose for lines to be automatic outs, or even say multiple players can get out if the line between them is hit by the ball. Some servers will just declare a re-do. Liners are the most controversial rule, as there can be arguments as to whether the ball landed on a liner or not. No square may demand they are right, there must be negotiations. This is often why re-does are called. Some times even, special variation moves are played like "Bubbles", "Rocks" or "Shark Attack".

"Psyche Out": A hit where a player makes like they are going to hit the ball very hard (such as a "High Bounce") but instead barely taps it so the other player will miss it.

"Peppermint Sticks": A hit in which the ball comes at such an angle as to immediately bounce into another square, rather than towards the reciever.

"Poaching": This is named after the illegal hunting of animals when its not the right season. Similarly, poaching is the term for players hitting the ball when it is clearly not their turn. Poaching may be legal or illegal depending on who is in square four and who her enemies are.

"Outs on Serves": Usually, the first person served to and the server are unable to get out on the first hit, but to make the game move faster sometimes players can get out even on the first hit.

"Roll": A player hits the ball so low that the ball rolls. Usually the player who rolled it is out. In some games, if the player is accurate enough to make the ball roll in the other square but bounce in their own, the player whose square it rolled in is out. Sometimes also, a mini-game called "Rolly Polly" is played. The players have to sit down and roll it to eachother. You stay in your own squares. If the ball rolls out, or bounces, you are out and normal play begins.

"Self-Serve": When the player in square 4 is about to serve, he may choose to envoke the Self-Serve. This is a semi-stealth attack where the player will choose to either throw the ball up in the air and hit it as a normal shot, or bounce it in his own square before making the shot. It can be used to trick players in certain cirumstances. The general rule, however, is that once it has been executed, it is switched off again. If he performs the self-serve another time without declaring it, he is out for a double bounce in his square.

"Skimmies": Similar to Babies in their low height, skimmies are hits that skim across the court quickly. They are initiated by a hit with a fist close to the ground or an underhand "bowling" motion.

"Skunk": Also known as a "Sting", "Torpedo", or "Bazooka". This is a ball that is intentially hit at a player (instead of their square) to cause it to hit him/her without it hitting their square first. The method only works if players cannot hit the ball before it touches their square. (See rules above).

"Slog": A low-boosted move of hit and timing when a player hits the while it is about to touch the ground, the player hits it low with hand straight out under-armed. If the hit does not bounce in the player's square, it is out.

"Spinners": Also known as "Twisters" and "Screwballs". This is ball that has a spin imparted on it when hit, which causes it to bounce unusually.

"Kamikaze"*: Also known as "suicides". This is a serve in which the server serves the ball near the line usually allowing the hitter the hit it hard and having almost no space for the server to hit the ball.

[Ruffels]

4 Square mutha Fu(ka

[dezz]

im not even gonna bother reading that shit.

its called 4 squre and any other added squares are just a variation of it. beyatch.

[krzysiu]

like said before. There is no argument lol. Its either 2 sqaure, 4 square, 6 square. Whateva the hell you like. Downball is against a wall.

That is all

[dezz]

like said before. There is no argument lol. Its either 2 sqaure, 4 square, 6 square. Whateva the hell you like. Downball is against a wall.

That is all

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[FATGTS-R]

I called it 4 square and yes downball was against a wall.

We also played "brandy". Basically, it was chasey, tiggy,tag etc but with a tennis ball that was always pelted at somebodys head lol.

But thats not the question here. 4 SQUARE!!!!

[blind_elk]

Sorry, can't contribute to this argument - the ball hadn't been invented when I was at school !!

[SABBAi]

Downball was against the wall.

I was good at both... ah the memories.

[meggala]

4 square down ball aqgainst the wall.

my favorite game was "british bull dog" similar to this version.

One or two of the bigger players take position in center of room, facing group. At "Go," the entire group charges and tries to reach the other side of the room or a given area, without being caught. To catch someone, the "bull dogs" in the center must lift player off the floor long enough to yell "1-2-3 British Bull Dog." When a player is caught, he becomes a "bull dog" for the next charge. . If a struggling player is not lifted completely off the floor, while the group slowly counts to ten, he is declared free for another charge. Game is run until everyone has been caught. Play safe and have players take off watches, glasses and other breakables. Last man charging the line without being caught is the winner.

it was played on the oval lost of ripped clothes etc. but the soft co6ks banned it cause it was too dangerous.

great game

meggala

[krzysiu]

hahha i remember that maggala. Was awsome. Good old primary school days.