tetherball

New Look!

2007-02-22T13:51:00.000-08:00

I put a new look on the site, it's basicly the same template as before but, with the new blogger system, purty handy ;)

why a tetherball?

2007-02-14T12:24:00.000-08:00

Going through a sporting goods store, you see many balls for sale... Volleyballs, Basketballs, Soccer Balls, Base Balls etc. and you may get to wondering "Which one is really the one I want to play?" well, you can chose a volleyball, but it's very hrd to play that with just two people... and Basketball is fun, but it is quite a bit more running than anything, Soccer is just foot work, and can hurt sometimes! and Baseball, well, it's a mixture.

Tetherball on the other hand is a game that involves a lot of jump. It's pretty hard to play tetherball without a good jumping ability. that ball can get above your head and arms reach but when you jump about a foot up, you've got it! It also requires a good jump across the court. One thing that tetherball has that most games don't, is cradling the ball. when you've got that ball going on a rap, hitting it with a fist will be hard to hit and likewise with your head :). However, open handed cradling, will get you the best control.

well, anyways, I suppose it really depends on your taste, tetherball is a pretty simple to get up to speed on and is lots of fun! keep it up...

yes!

2007-01-26T10:01:00.000-08:00

Got a new Tetherball last week and I tell ya, it's great being able to play now! I checked kmart.com and apearantly they have tetherballs but walmart doesn't... anyhow, I had my sister go and pick me up one but she couldn't find any at kmart so she took a look at some sporting goods store in town and there it was! so yay! now I can play :D

Long time no TB!

2006-12-24T15:34:00.000-08:00

sorry for not posting in so long! My tetherball got poped a while back and well I haven't really played since.
The story actually goes that a friend of mines' dog, bit it! He was playing tetherball with him and was doing alright but I guess it was just too tempting :). I tried repairing it but, it seems to not be doing so well... it won't hold air or anything so, I guess all that's left is to get a new one. Maybe somebody will think of me for christmas :).

Which reminds me... MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!
I hope you're having a great christmas! Tetherball is a sport that gets you all warmed up when you're outside and it helps keep ya fit for the winter! So, keep up the tetherballin!

seeya!

Let's talk about hand positions...

2006-08-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

Hand positions are a good thing to learn when you play tetherball. Like, when you get served a ball and try to get it hit, are you gonna do it open handed? You can but it's Generally not a good idea for two reasons: 1. It hurts because the palm and fingers of your hands are some of the most sensitive parts of your body. 2. Because the ball isn't as likely to go as far. Simply because of the muscles you use.
Now, let's get on... the two main Hand postions to use are (1)The fist position(making a fist and using the end oposite to your thumb), And(2) The Open Hand Position(open handed, using the palm and fingers of your hand). The Most used(and the position you want to keep your hands in most of the time) is the fist position. You use it to serve and to hit when comming the oposite direction of where you're trying to go. It's good to keep your hands in this position most of the time because you're much less likely to jam your fingers because they're not sticking out as much. However, your Open Hand Postion is vital too, once you get the tetherball going the way you want it to, you want to keep it going! and that's when it's good to have your fingers sticking out because they provide more mass so you're half as likely to miss the ball. Once you get the ball going, you want to make it always sail over your oponants head far enough that they can't reach it. Depending on where at on the court you are, it depends on whether you should make the ball go up or down. If you've got the tetherball going and you've got your back to the line, then it's good to point your tetherball down so that it will come back up by the time it gets to your oponant. But, if you are facing the line, then it's good to get your tetherball as high as possible. If you have a higher pole, the tetherball will go slower and if you have a shorter pole, it's gonna go faster! The longer pole makes for a longer game and plus you have to cover more distance. And by the way, if you play tetherball very much, you either want to place your pole where there's no grass or in a spot where you don't mind the grass dying because, you'll tear up all of the grass within the circle if you play very much.
There, I hope that helps!

hello again!

2006-08-04T14:39:00.000-07:00

Now I've got another reason why tetherball is great!
You can play it with yourself, or someone else!
Unlike other sports with one-on-one, you can actually practice it by yourself easily! And you'll improve your game play by practicing by yourself. Now, here's the best tetherball rules I've seen: "Games and Matches:
A game is won when one player has wrapped the rope as far as it can go in her own direction.

The outcome of each game is powerfully influenced by which player serves, as explained below. For this reason, a match must consist of several games, with the players taking turns at serving. The players can choose how many games must be won to win the match, but the margin of victory must be at least two games, otherwise the player who serves the first game will be at a disadvantage.

Serve:

In tetherball, possession is everything. Once a good player gets control of the ball, her opponent is in trouble.

In the most common rules of tetherball, one player serves, then either player can hit the ball from that point on. Under these rules, the server has an immense advantage. She has complete control of the ball from the start of the game, and if she's an advanced player facing an opponent of equal skill, she should be able to hit the ball over her opponent each time it comes around, wrapping it to win the game without her opponent even touching the ball.

The better rule requires the server to wait until either the opponent strikes the ball or the ball has wrapped four times before she can strike the ball again. This actually gives the receiver the advantage, because he gets the first chance at unrestricted control of the ball. His advantage, though, is tempered by the fact that the server can wind the ball at least one wrap in her own direction and use an angled serve to prevent him from getting a clean first hit on the ball. This makes the contest as fair as it can be, although winning one's serving games is still about as rare in advanced tetherball as breaking serve is in advanced tennis.

Direction:
Given the disadvantage of serving, the server may choose in which direction to hit for each game in which she serves. For each new game that she begins, she may choose either direction.

Penalties:
In many versions of tetherball rules, all violations result in loss of game. A fairer system distinguishes between intentional and unintentional violations.

Unintentional violations include the following:

* Stepping off sides.
* Touching the rope.
* Carrying or throwing. When hitting a ball back against the direction from which it comes, the ball should bounce off the hands immediately, with no lingering contact. When hitting a ball that has passed the opponent and continuing it on its way, the ball still cannot be carried or thrown, but a less distinctive impact is to be expected. Serves must be hit, not thrown.
* Double hitting may or may not be intentional, but we give the benefit of the doubt. A player can hit the ball only once per wrap around the pole, except if the ball hits the pole between hits. He could conceivably "dribble" the ball against the pole, but this would be of little advantage, because he would not gain any wraps, and his opponent would likely get an opportunity to steal the ball.

When one player commits any one of these violations, the ball is stopped and returned to the place it was wrapped when the violation occurred. Both the number of wraps and their height should be re-created. The other player gets to serve, then either player can hit the ball from that point on. If a player commits three unintentional violations, in any combination, the opponent wins the game.

The only intentional violation is grabbing the pole. The penalty is immediate loss of game.

If both players commit a violation at the same time, then a "pole drop" is performed. Both players place one hand on the ball, holding it three feet out from the pole, directly above the line dividing the forward ends of their two sides. They release the ball simultaneously. Once the ball hits the pole, either player can hit it, and play continues normally.

Other rules:
All specific violations are listed above. Other violations would fall under the category of "unsportsmanlike conduct," which we needn't explain here.

Tactics such as hitting the ball in the opponent's direction to gain control are essential to the game, and rules outlawing them only limit the fun and sophistication of the game. Also legal are punching the ball, jumping directly in front of the opponent, and any other tactics that are consistent with good sportsmanship and not specifically prohibited above."Taken from: toteth.com/rules.html (I would also recomend checking out their entire site, they have some good content on tetherball there).

Tetherball doesn't require much running to play but you do need to be quick across the court. It's not very big but it's still good to be able to jump!

those are just a few things on tetherball!

seeya!

Benjamin

welcome!

2006-07-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

welcome to tether-ball.blogspot.com! This site was made for the purpose of showing people why tetherball should be a more recognised sport!
First, good exersize! Tetherball is very good exersize for the body. it exersizes your pectorals, biceps, forearms, calves, thighs, abdamin and other muscles. Most Tetherball polles are about 10 feet tall but I prefer about 15 feet, it just has a better feel to me! If you like tetherball, give me a comment, I'd love to hear from fellow tetherball players!

tetherballin',
Benjamin