Foursquare
| Type: | ball game |
| Number of players: | four or more |
| Location: | playing field (hart court) |
| Equipment: | tennis ball |
| Duration: | as long as you like |
| Preparation: | markers for the field (chalk, adhesive tape, ...) |
Foursquare is a simple but challenging ball game for any number of participants. It is played on a field with about 4 by 4 meters size (hard court). In each round, four players are active. Players change frequently, so a significantly higher number of players can actively participate.
Equipment
- A small ball, like a tennis ball
- markers for the playing field, like chalk (when you can draw on the floor) or adhesive tape
Preparing the playing field
The playing field is a square of 4 by 4 meters. It is evenly split into four smaller squares, numbered 1 to 4 clockwise.
Procedure
Four players start the game; each of them is standing in one of the four fields. The other players queue, waiting to take part.
The game itself is somewhat similar to "ping pong". The ball is played with the flat hand, starting with the player in field 1. It has to drop in the player's own playing field, then in an opponents field. The player in that field has to hit the ball then and shoot it to another field (again, the ball has to drop in his own square first, then in the square he "attacks"). This sequence continues until one player does not reach the ball before he drops again, or does not hit his own field with the first drop, or misses an opponents field with the second drop.
When a player makes an error, he is out of the game (he may queue at the end of the line of waiting players). All players standing in a field with a lower number than the now empty field advance by one position, and the first player of the queue moves to the field #1. Then, the next round starts.
The initial shot of each round is done from field #1 diagonally to field #3.
The game does not have any real target. Players always come and go. Of course, each player tries to move to field #4 and stay there for as long as possible.
Variations
- You can change the position of the fields, i.e. not position them clockwise.
- You can add an extra area in the center of the field. This region may not be hit for the second drop (as quite unreachable shots can be made without this rule). This only applies when shooting to a neighboring field; this central area may still be used when attacking diagonally.
