Handball
From SPwiki
If you want to read about all the variations of games going by this moniker, we recommend the Wikipedia handball disambiguation entry. The governing body of the Streetplay flavor of handball--formally called 1-wall handball--is the United States Handball Association (USHA).
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Streetplay and handball
While rarely played on a street, handball is a uniquely urban game. Handball courts are a mainstay of NYC playgrounds, and the game involves probably the most intense physical effort of any the games described on Streetplay.com. Handball is the closest thing in the annals of Streetplay to being a real sport, i.e., something you might see on ESPN (we know of no other game we cover that has a national governing body). Perhaps because we were one of the first major sport-oriented websites to take them seriously, the NYC handball community has taken on the discussion area of Streetplay as its own, much as 21st century teenagers have adopted MySpace.com.
Basic rules
According to USHA one-wall rulebook, handball is played on a court 34 feet long by by 20 feet wide with a single front wall at least 16 feet tall (to accomodate the "top line" that is 16 feet from the ground). In the middle of the floor of the court lies the short line, with its back edge 16 feet from the wall. There are service markers, lines of at least 6 inches in length extending inward from the side lines, parallel to the short and long lines and located midway between them. The imaginary extension of these lines across the court indicates the service line. Lines on the court and wall are 2 inches in width. The court is normally outdoors and is surrounded typically by a chain-link fence.
Handball may be played as singles (two players against each other), doubles (two teams of two players), or, less commonly, "cut-throat" (three players rotating one-against-two).
The ball is "served" by one player/team standing in the service zone, by dropping the ball to the floor of the service zone and striking it on the bounce with the hand or fist so that it hits the front wall. The ball must hit the front wall first; the served ball must pass the short line before the first bounce, but must bounce within the court before reaching the back wall. When the served ball lands in front of the short line, it is called a "short," while a serve which reaches the back wall without bouncing is called "long." All these are service faults. If the server gets two faults in a row, he or she is out, and becomes the receiver. In doubles, the server's teammate has to stand in the service area in a service box until the ball passes the short line.
Once the ball is served, the receiver must hit the ball either directly ("on the fly") or after the first bounce so that it bounces off the front wall. However, if the receiver chooses to take the serve on the fly, he or she must first wait for the ball enter the receiving zone (the floor area behind the short line, inside and including the side and long lines). The ball must not bounce off the floor twice. The server then hits the ball on the rebound from the front wall, and play continues with the opponents alternatively hitting the ball until one of them fails to make a legal return.
After the serve and return, the ball may be played from anywhere, and may hit the wall so long as it does so before bouncing on the floor. Players cannot hinder (block) their opponents from hitting the ball. If the server fails to make a legal return, he or she is out, and becomes the receiver. If the receiver fails to make the return, a point goes to the server, who continues to serve until he or she is out. So, only the server/serving team can score points.
A match is won by the first side winning two games. The first two games of a match are decided by the first side to reach 21 points. In the event each side wins a game, a tiebreaker is played and decided by the first side to reach 11 points.
Equipment
A typical outfit worn during the game includes protective gloves, sneakers, shorts, and goggles. Eye protection is very important in handball, as the ball moves at high speeds in close range.
The black or blue rubber ball, 2.3 ounces in weight and 1.875 inches in diameter (smaller, heavier, and harder than a racquetball), is hit with the gloved palm (informal games often don't include gloves).
Small Ball vs. Big Ball
A "true" handball is referred to as a "small ball." A racquetball used to play handball is called a "big ball" (or "big blue"). A big ball bounces lower and slower than a small ball, and is much more hollow. A small ball is hard, bounces erratically, and is regarded as too painful by many. Some types of small balls are called the Red Ace (for men) and the White Ace (for women). Some brands of the big ball include Sky Bounce and Penn.
Formal games, such as tournaments and school competitions, involve the use of the small ball only. Informal games, commonly known as "street handball," use the big ball most often. However, there have been tournaments that have used the big ball – NYC Big Blue, for example.
Game characteristics
Handball can be significantly more physically demanding than racquetball or other racquet sports. However, handball offers excellent fitness rewards since it requires speed, agility, and stamina, and it utilizes many aerobic exercise disciplines that are balanced across the entire body.
Recent history
In the 1990s and 2000s, one-walled handball has made a comeback in New York City, particularly amongst adolescents. Several NYC high schools offer handball as an official sport, where teams can compete with other handball teams of neighboring high schools. Handball tournaments in NYC are very popular during the spring and summer seasons. Competitors are usually required to pay a fee to enter, and the top prize is usually a portion of the total entry fee.
A documentary film by Justin Sullivan on NYC handball called "Big Blue" was released in 2001 (see Big Blue: The NYC Handball Documentary)
Well known names in 1-wall
Some well-known American one-wall handball players are Joe Durso, John "Rookie" Wright, Albert Apuzzi, Desmond Macdonald, Steve "Chickenman" Sharpe, and Yuber Castro. One well-known American handball player in the 1970s was Sweaty Freddy.
Terminology
Note: these terms have been taken verbatim from the Wikipedia entry on American Handball.
- Ace
- A serve in which the retriever is not only unable to return the ball, but is also unable to touch the ball. Same concept as in Tennis. In some games, any return from a serve which does not make it back to the wall is called an ace.
- Killer (Kill)
- A spectacular shot in which the player hits the ball so low that it just barely touches the wall first before hitting the ground. This shot usually ends the rally, although it is still quite possible to pick up a kill. Although it helps the player win the rally immediately, it is a very risky shot, since there is a high chance of missing and hitting the floor. A variation of the killer is the corner-kill. A corner-kill is a killer that is aimed at the extreme left or right of the wall (without being "out" in one-wall). In one-wall, this shot requires even more skill and is even riskier than a normal killer because the player runs the risk of hitting the ball out in addition to the risk of having the ball hit the floor first. A corner-kill is often more difficult to pick up because players tend to hover around the center of the court, make a corner kill even harder to reach.
- Roller
- Similar to a kill but instead of having any bounce, the ball rolls off the floor right after touching the very base of the wall. This shot takes tremendous skill and luck to pull off, and is impossible to pick up, since the rally is already over once the ball touches the ground.
- Pass shot
- A shot where the ball passes an opponent fairly low and fast near one of the sidelines, out of the opponent's reach, thus winning the rally.
- Pops (Choke)
- A shot that touches both the floor and the wall simultaneously. The ball may either pop high up or bounce away from the wall momentarily and then come to an immediate halt. It is considered "out" and usually occurs when a player is attempting a kill.
- Cut
- A shot in which the player puts a heavy spin on the ball, causing the ball to bounce off the wall in an erratic motion. To perform a cut, the ball must be striked by a sudden twist in the hand and/or fingers. The main purpose of these shots is to throw off the opponent's rhythm of hitting the ball.
- Hook
- A serve that is whipped so that after bouncing on the floor it does not continue in a straight path, but veres off to one side. Hooks can be done to either the left or right no matter which hand is used to serve. Often used in small ball as the ball can gain a greater momentum. A good hook will make the person who returns the ball have to make a quick change in their form so that they don't mis-hit the ball.
- Whip
- A way of hitting the ball so that it is not simply slapped back to the wall. Instead, the player will put his hand in a cup shape so that the ball just glides off of his hand. An integral part of the hook serve. It can also relieve some of the pain that one would feel if simply slapping the ball.
- Under-Leg
- Only on a serve, if the ball passes under the server's legs, it is regarded as bad, and the server becomes the receiver.
- Tree-top
- In one-wall handball, the handball might hit the very edge of the top of the wall and pop up higher than normal. Even if the ball lands within the parameters of the court, it's still considered an "out".
Related Streetplay links
- Streetplay's handball coverage
- Ace-King-Queen (a.k.a. Chinese handball) (SPwiki entry)
