Table
tennis
Table tennis, also
known as ping-pong, is
a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball
back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard
table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, players must allow a ball
played toward them only one bounce on their side of the table and must return
it so that it bounces on the opposite side. Points are scored when a player
fails to return the ball within the rules.
Polo
Polo is a
team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to
score goals against an opposing team. Players score by driving a
small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal
using a long-handled mallet. The traditional sport of polo is played at speed
on a large grass field up to 300 yards long by 160 yards wide, and each polo
team consists of four riders and their mounts. Field polo is played with a
solid plastic ball, which has replaced the wooden ball in much of the sport.
Racquetball
Racquetball is
a racquet sport played with a hollow rubber ball in an
indoor or outdoor court. Unlike most racquet sports, such
as tennis and badminton, there is no net to hit the ball over,
and unlike squash no tin (out of bounds area at the bottom of front
wall) to hit the ball above. Also, the court's walls, floor, and ceiling are
legal playing surfaces, with the exception of court-specific designated hinders
being out-of-bounds. It is very similar to 40×20 handball, which is
played in many countries.
Rounders
Rounders is
a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking
and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball
with a round wooden, plastic or metal bat. The players score by running around
the four bases on the field. Game play centers on a number
of innings, in which teams alternate at batting and fielding. A maximum of
nine players are allowed to field at any time. Points (known as 'rounders') are
scored by the batting team when one of their players completes a circuit past
four bases without being put 'out'.
Softball
Softball is a variant of baseball played
with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor
game. Despite the name, the ball used is not soft. It is about 12 in. (30 cm)
in circumference (sometimes larger for slow-pitch), which is 3 in. (8 cm)
larger than a baseball. The infield in softball is smaller than in baseball;
each base is 60 ft (18 m) from the next, as opposed to baseball's 90 ft. (27
m).
Squash
Squash is a
high-speed racquet sport played by two players (or in doubles 4
players on court at a time) in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber
ball. For its fast pace and requirement of mental agility, it has been
described as "jet-propelled chess". The game was formerly
called squash racquets,
a reference to the "squashable" soft ball used in the game (compared
with the fatter ball used in its parent game racquets or rackets; see
below).
Stickball
Stickball is
a street game related to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up
game played in large cities in the Northeastern United States,
especially New York City and Philadelphia. The equipment
consists of a broom handle and a rubber ball, typically a spaldeen, pensie
pinkie, high bouncer or tennis ball. The rules come from baseball and are
modified to fit the situation, for bases or buildings for foul lines. The
game is a variation of stick and ball games dating back to at least the 1750s.
