July 9, 2010

Meet the real 4 Square.

In Short:
Four square is played with a rubber playground ball on a square court with four players. When the ball is bounced into your square you must then bounce it back out without hitting twice in your own square, otherwise you are out. The object is to eliminate players in higher squares so that you can make it to the ‘four square’ and score the most points.

The Court:
Four Square is played on an 16′ square court divided into four smaller squares that meet in the center. We draw a court on our backyard b-ball court with chalk. We do no measuring of our squares. As long as they’re sorta equal, you’re all good.
Squares are numbered 1 through 4. New players enter into square number 1 and the ball is served out of square number 4. Players may stand, walk or run anywhere in the court, though it is best to stay in a position to protect your own square.

The Ball:
A rubber playground ball works best for this game. During play the ball may be hit with one or two hands, from the elbow to the fingertips, open or closed fist, in the same manner as official volleyball.

Normal Game Play:
The player in the highest rank, called four square or ‘royalty,’ serves the ball into the lowest ranking square, called one square. After a single bounce in one square, the player must hit the ball (return) into any other legal square before it bounces again. Each time the ball is bounced in any square, that player must hit it into any other player’s square (return) to stay in the game. The game continues until a player makes an error by letting the ball bounce twice or hitting the ball out of bounds.

Serving the Ball:
The ball is always served from four square into one square. The serve is always delivered from the back corner of the square, sometimes called the ‘mailbox.’ Serves are meant to place the ball fairly into play and must be returnable by the player in square one, generally taking its first bounce near the center of square one. As they say on playgrounds, “No blood on serves.”

Progression of Squares:
Each time a player is knocked out, that square becomes vacant and all the players move up to a higher numbered square to make the one square available for an incoming player. Knocked out players must go to the end of the line and await their next turn in play.

The Boundaries:
The lines on the court are like the lines on a tennis or volleyball court and each has a specific rule. ‘Outside lines” refer to the outermost square of the court, ‘inside lines’ refer to the line dividing individual squares of the court which cross in the center.
Inside Out: Bouncing the ball on the inside line is a bad play. This means that when player returns a ball bounced in her square, she must bounce it cleanly outside of her square. If she bounces it on an inside line of her square, its not good enough and she is out.

Outside In: The lines on the outside of the court are in play, always. If a player bounces the ball into another square and the ball hits the outside line, it is still in play. However, if she hit the ball too far and it bounced outside of the outside line, it is out of bounds and she is out.

Interference:
If the ball is touched by another object which is not one of the four players or the floor, this is called interference. The round is started again. Players waiting in line may not touch the ball when in play.
It should be mentioned here that there are times when one cannot hit the ball. When a ball bounces in a square it is that player’s responsibility to hit the ball into another square, and failure to do so would be a fault making her out. Other players may not interfere with a player’s turn by hitting the ball and preventing her from returning it.
Specifically, if the ball lands in another player’s square then other players are not allowed to touch that ball until it has been hit again. This tactic is called ‘poaching’ and is not allowed. However, there is nothing stopping one from hitting the ball before it touches a square.

We don’t usually keep score, but if you want to be all competitive, then you can assign points to the player who stays in the four square the longest during each round.