Four square

Four square is a sport usually played by children, but is sometimes played by youth and college students. It is popular in many countries including Australia, Bahrain, India,Canada, Kuwait, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States.

History / Origin

It is doubtful that the origins of four square will be positively determined because of the casual nature in which four square is played and how the game can be customized or developed by anyone who plays it. It is speculated that the game may have been first published among a list of "new games" several decades ago to which youth activity leaders and educators often subscribe, but the source publication has not been identified. This may explain the meme-like spread of the game and the common claims that the game was invented by a former gym teachers or distant relatives or the kid down the block. It is more common to cite the origins of specific play styles or rules, such as Michigan rules or Aussie rules, etc, and treat these ideas as shared origins instead.

Other Names and Flavors

Depending on the geographic or demographic area, Four Square may be known by many other names. Some of the most common names include:

Boxball or Handball(New York, NY, USA)
King Square or King's Court (Washington State, USA)
Handball,4 Square, 6 Square or 8 Square (Australia and New Zealand)

Basic Gameplay

Four Square only requires 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 your way from square one to square four by eliminating players in higher squares. The player in square four is regarded as the champion and has the privilege of both serving the ball and implementing any number of custom rules (see custom rules section). Generally speaking, the longer a player remains in square four then the more points or street credit that player earns.

As each time a player is eliminated, all remaining players move to the next highest 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.

Balls and Boundaries

The focus of the game four square is the ball. There are many varieties of balls with which this game is played, they range from 3-inch tennis ball sizes up to 10 or 12-inch football/soccer sized balls, and are generally high in elasticity. Generally the size of the ball is taken into consideration for the age and skill range of the players.

Four square is most commonly played on a square court divided into four smaller squares of equal size. Different communities use different size courts, and often different rules, but there is no regulation size court. For example, Boston based Squarefour uses a 16 foot square court, The International 4-Square League based in Little Rock uses a 20 foot square court, while the BCC YMCA uses a smaller 10 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'. Of course, balls landing outside the court are considered faults as well.

Starting Gameplay and Service

Each round of the game begins with the player in four square serving the ball. The serve is intended to put the ball into play fairly and must be reasonably returnable by the first recieving player. 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 owner 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 a single hand or both hands, but must be cleanly hit with no carrying or fumbling. 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

There are several specific items that would count as an error and cause a player to be eliminated. In the most basic rules of the game, players may be eliminated for the following errors:

A player fails to properly return a ball after it has touched his or her square. Failing to return the ball could mean that the player hit the ball out of bounds, into his or her own square, the ball was hit on an inside line (see Balls and Boundaries above), or the player failed to touch the ball after it has touched his or her square.
A player fails to hit the ball using a singular, distinctive hit. These are often referred to as double-hits, carries, or holds.
A player fails to abide by the custom rules for the round (see custom rules section).

Again, eliminated players move off the court and all remaining players move up to the next highest square leaving square one open for a new player to join.

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. In some locations, the first person in line is given the task of officiating the current round. This "line judge" is takes the authority in a four square game for calling which player is in error and who should be eliminated. A separate but popular way to resolve conflicts is to have a 2-person round (given a variety of names, such as "showdown", "death rally" or "duel"), in which the highest player serves and the loser of the round is out of the game. Another such method is a simple "rock-paper-scissors" game in which the loser is eliminated.

Common Varieties

American Regional Rules

Four Square in the United States more commonly played with the larger ( 8, 10 or 12-inch) rubber balls.
Court size is not standardized. For example, in New York courts are often made of four adjacent sidewalk squares.
It is most common to name the squares in numerical order.

Australian and New Zealand Regional Rules

In Australian and New Zealand schools it is common to play with 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"(dunce is also sometimes reffered to as "Jack"). "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.
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).
In the Australian rules if the ball lands on any of the lines(inside or outside), it is deemed "Lines" and the ball is stopped and gameplay restarted.
Tennis balls are most commonly used during gameplay.
It must be remembered that rules vary from school to school.

Popular Custom 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 and are intended to give a sampling of the potential and creativity of this simple game.

Individual Server Rules

The player in the top square is allowed the privilege of adding or removing elements from gameplay that may make it easier for him or her to remain in the game and/or eliminate an opposing player. At the start of each round the server is often entitled to change these rules, and is expected to annouce and/or explain what the new rules will be. Games with beginners generally choose to ban difficult moves and more experienced players make up more complicated rules.

For a composite list of common server rules frequently enforced in a game of Four Square, click here.

Side Games and Line Games

Creative players around the world dream up exciting varieties that break out of normal game play entirely. This Side and Line Games section will lay out some of the best known mini-games to take place on (or off) the court.

When the ball hits a line (or in some cases, a wall), the game will usually stop with a player being eliminated, a special rule will be enforced, or the players will go directly into a mini-game. Possibilities include the following:

The person who hit the line automatically getting "out".
The server calling a re-do.
The players continuing play as if the ball was in one of the players' squares, and if no player continues, it is a re-do.
Multiple players being eliminated if the line between them is hit by the ball.
A dispute resolution, as outlined in the Disputes section above.

Some servers call one of the following side-games:

Shark Attack: The person calling Shark Attack may hold the ball and run around on the lines to tag another player, and whoever they tag is eliminated.
Bubble (not to be confused with baubling/bubbling): If a player calling Liner chooses Bubbles, he or she stands in the intersection, bounces a ball and say "Bubbles times n" The number they call is the amount they have to let the ball bounce for before normal game proceeds. If the ball is about to stop bouncing, a player may tap it up. After the ball has bounced said number of times, normal play continues with the player whose court it lands on hitting it next.
Rocks: If a player calls Rocks, they bounce the ball hard and slam it into an opponent's court, usually a corner to make it harder. After the hit has been done normal play proceeds. This is also called Footy Rucks because it resembles a ruck contest in Australian Football.
Taps: If a player calls Liner and chooses Taps, they place the ball on the line; at that point, any player can run up and lightly tap the ball to another players square.

"Pantheon"

This is a Clairvaux Mackillop variant of four square. At the beginning of the game of Pantheon, four players are chosen to be part of the "Pantheon." One Pantheon player starts in, and the others are positioned randomly in the reserves line. The idea of the game is for all the Pantheon members to get into the square. It is the other players job to prevent the Pantheon members from getting in. If a Pantheon members gets another Pantheon member out, then that Pantheon member is also out. When all the Pantheon members are in then they win the round. If at any time there are no Pantheon members in then the Pantheon loses the round. After three rounds the Pantheon is changed and the game starts again. All normal "Elimination" rules apply.

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.

Another way to make the game more difficult is to keep score. Keeping count of the number of times one reaches square four will no doubt draw more fierce competition. Some communities have developed similar rules for competitive play, sometimes over a long period of time. Squarefour uses a system of scoring the number of rounds played by the number of times a player makes it to the top of the squares. Much like a batting average in Baseball, the resulting number reflects the skill of each player.

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 January to support the environmental work done in the lakes region. This hotly contested competition draws players from all over New England and has seen challengers arrive from countries including Canada, Israel and Bermuda.

The January 28, 2006, World Championships awarded top titles to Men's Champion Patrick Miller of Burlington, VT, and two-time Ladies Champion Dana Ostberg of Jamaica Plain, MA (both members of Squarefour). Awards were also given to two-time Senior Men's Champion Tom (Uncle Tommy) Stockwell, Senior Ladies Champ Eleanor Nicholson, Junior Champs Ben Stockwell and Erica Chute and the Audience Favorite Award was issued to the Boston College Four Square Team.

External links

Children's games | Ball games

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