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Tetherball may have been brought back and made popular today by the film Napolean Dynamite but those of us who grew up in the 80's knew what tetherball was long ago. Many a recesses were spent battling it out on the Tetherball court. I used to go back to the class room with rope burns on the arms and knocks on the hang from where you hit the little knob on top rather than the ball. Then if the ball is flat and you manage to hit the ball and not the knob on top then it still stings because it's freezing cold outside. We used to take a wrist band and wrap it around or hand or if your sweat shirt was long enough it wasn't uncommon to see some one's hand all tucked up in their sleeve using the cloth as protection. Sounds miserable right? Not even close....It's awesome. Tetherball is a game of skill and maybe...
...just a little bit brut strength and a whole lot of hand eye coordination. The nuances of the game are know only by those who played it a lot. While I still see the occasional kid playing it. I am making sure that my kids have a tetherball pole and and tetherball for the back yard. It's great exercise, it's hard to get hurt and it's a ton a fun for you and your kids. (or you and your grown up immature buddies. Great exercise. Your kids WILL play for hours. This is a great way to get them out from in front of the T.V.
The best thing about tetherball for parents is you don't need a lot of room so your kids won't be too far out of site, it's fun and it burns off a ton of energy. I'm actually surprised we don't see more tetherball poles out there...
Tetherball Equipment-
One Pole - placed firmly in the ground. I prefer the In-Ground Tetherball Pole .
One Tetherball on a rope - I prefer the Tachikara Official Size Tetherball - Yellow and you might as well get the Tetherball Replacement Rope for Tachikara Tetherballs . While the ropes last a while, they don't last forever and it sucks to have to wait for a proper tether ball rope to get there. If you are buying for younger kids you might want to think about getting the Tachikara STMB Super Soft Multi-Colored Tetherball
If you just want to get a set you can move around, people will ask you to bring it places I swear. If you just how up with it at picnics and BBQ,s....it will be a huge hit with the kids. Portable Tetherball Pole and Ball Set
TetherBall Field -
Once the tether ball pole is placed firmly in the ground draw a line that uses the pole as the middle of the line. Neither player is allowed to cross that line during the match. If so a penalty has been committed. (punishment will be discussed further down.)
TetherBall Rules-
Tetherball rules are a lot like the rules of beer pong. They are more like guidelines. There are several different versions and twists that people add so just make sure both players are on the same page prior to starting.
The basic object of tether ball every where is to get the rope the holds the ball to the pole to wrap all the way around the pole in the direction decided prior to serving. This is typically achieved by hitting the tetherball over your competitors head.
Once the server is decided, the server decides which way they want to serve. (We used to play that the defending champ got to serve first.) Once they decide which way they want to serve it is their goal to get the tether ball rope to wrap all the way around the pole until the ball hits the pole. The person who is receiving serve must try and get the ball and rope to wrap around the other way. Typically the server tries to serve the ball at a sharp angle over the receivers head. Atalented player can continue to hit the ball as it speeds by and at the angle where the receiver can never touch the ball until it is too late. Most people aren't that good but so one person doesn't dominate everyone often times rules are put in place where the server CANNOT touch the tether ball again until the receiver hits the ball at least once with their hands or forearms. It's tougher than it sounds or looks. It's a lot of fun to jump up and try and hit a ball flying around a pole on a rope really fast and hit it without hitting the rope.
TetherBall Penalties
There are several ways to get technical fouls in Tetherball. In the neighborhood, we used to play where you only got a penalty if it was on purpose or just a gross violation, and I don't mean disgusting
1. Hit the ball with anything other than your hands or forearms. (We played where if you REALLY wanted to use your face that was OK too.)
2. Stepping over the line.
3. Touching the pole
4. Catching or holding the ball.
5. Double hitting the ball. Once you hit the ball you can only hit it again once it goes all the way around, hit the pole or the other player touches it.
(6.) Some people play where you can't hit the rope. This needs to be decided prior to the game. Remember even if you allow rope hits it doesn't mean you can grab it or use it to stop the tetherball.
If one of the gladiators commits a foul then typically the game is over and the other player wins.
If you are playing friendly neighborhood games rules then you are allowed three fouls before forfeiting the game. The first two fouls are punished by taking the ball from about the height in which the ball was at when the foul was commit and the person who didn't commit the foul gets to serve the ball from that point.
If both players commit a foul then the tetherball and rope are unravelled and both players stand all the way back with each play holding the ball with one hand each. The ball is dropped by both players at the same time and neither can hit the ball until it touches the pole.
Here is the tetherball store so you can get all your tetherball equipment
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