Ball hitting

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Ball hitting (also le Mail / Mail the game or le Mall / the Mallspiel ) is a now largely fallen into oblivion sports game. It belongs to the ball sports and was played in the late Middle Ages and early modern times in northern Central Europe.

history

Ball hitting is an original form of golf. The sports in which a wooden ball was driven by a club already existed in many countries in different variants in ancient times. The invention of ball hitting can be ascribed to the Celts , as can similar ball games.

Ball hitting has been rediscovered since the beginning of the 21st century.

Definition of terms

In German it is called ball hitting, in French le Mail or le Mall. The game was most popular in France. It was banned in the meantime, under Louis XIV it was the game of the nobles. Mail paths were specially created. Paille-Maille is a variant of ball hitting.

Toy tools

1. The heather

The heather is the striking tool. It consists of a block of wood (the hammer) and the handle. Tradition-conscious ball clubs use a hawthorn or willow branch for the handle.

2. The ball

The wooden ball has a diameter of approx. 7 cm with a flattened side so that it can be placed on the stick. The ball is painted in different colors to make it easier to find it in the woods and fields. One team receives a blue ball, the other a red ball.

3. The stick

The stick is the wooden stick on which the ball is placed. Its length is approx. 1 m so that you don't have to bend down so much when striking. It is as pointed as possible at one end, and as flat as possible at the other end.

Basic rules

The main thing in the game is to drive a wooden ball with a club to a target according to certain rules. The game is played on the open field, a starting point and a direction of play are determined. The first player in each party starts with one stroke. Now it is the turn of the party whose ball is further back. The winner is the party whose ball has advanced the furthest in the given direction after each player has hit once. Another special feature of this game is that the ball is struck from where it was left by the previous player, be it on the field, on a path, in the stream or in the forest.

Teams

When hitting the ball, the players present are chosen by lot in 2 teams (parties). If there is an odd number of participants, one player is the so-called chick and is the last player in both parties. Each party is led by its master. You are responsible for your party. In addition, there is the so-called master's strike at the end, here only the two masters play against each other.

swell

Johann Christoph Friedrich GutsMuths ((grand) father of German school gymnastics and educational games) describes a collection of movement games in his book "Games for exercise and relaxation of the body and mind", published in 1796. This is also where the ball hitting, or le Mail, occurs. JCF GutsMuths points out in his book that ball hitting has almost been forgotten in Germany. This suggests that at this point in time (1796) it had to belong to the "old" games.

From the book “Games for the exercise and relaxation of body and mind” by JCF GutsMuths: “A la chicane you play in the fields, alleys, paths, everywhere, and you are forced to take the ball as it is without improving your situation allowed to. A tree or some sort of pass between two trees, bushes, etc. is set as the goal; Whoever gets there with the fewest strokes or who gets the ball out the furthest with the same number of strokes has won. "

  • Games for exercise and relaxation of the body and mind, p.139ff Das Kugelspiel

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