Dodgeball

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Völkerball (in Switzerland also Völk , in the former GDR also Zweifelderball ) is a ball game with a variable number of players in two parties and a field size that is not precisely defined. A game situation with five to six players on a volleyball field without a net is common. Two teams play against each other with the aim of hitting the players of the opposing team with the ball so that they are eliminated in turn. Dexterity, accuracy in hitting and catching, perseverance and speed are required.

In Germany, it is competitively run by women and girls as a gymnastics game in the German Gymnastics Federation .

Children play dodgeball (field in the children's village Wegscheide )

History of origin

According to Warwitz and Rudolf, the dodgeball game emerged from a ritual war game : the original idea of ​​the game symbolizes the battle between two peoples who face each other under their kings in a war of annihilation. The demarcated playing fields (the battlefield) are the territories. The ball is the weapon of attack. Each hit by an opposing player marks a fallen victim who must be eliminated from the game. As a counter-defense, the defenders only have the option to evade the shot or to intercept the shot and thus render it harmless. This changes the course of the battle, with the defenders becoming the attackers until the ball is lost again. The game (battle) ends with the complete annihilation of one of the two races.

The very old party game is still widespread among various indigenous peoples under this warlike basic idea: Warwitz / Rudolf describe the degeneration of an initially peaceful game among the Papuans in New Guinea into a tangible, bloody tribal feud with beatings and flails. After the losers saw themselves humiliated by the scorn and scorn of the victors , the ritual game known as the battle of nations or slaughter was transformed into a serious tribal war in a few minutes via a game of hate .

Even with Friedrich Ludwig Jahn , the creator of the German gymnastics movement (1778–1852), the dodgeball game , which he called gymnastics , was clearly a defensive player. It was only in the present day and in western culture that the rules of the game changed from an educational point of view, for example in the form that players who were shot down from the edge of the field could bring themselves back to active field action with their own hit. The actors today are generally no longer aware of the symbolic warlike background.

The playing field

The playing field is separated into two rectangular areas of equal size by the center line. The size of the pitch varies depending on the age group. In the EC age groups, the center line is 9 m and the side lines per pitch are 7 m long. For age groups B, A and women, the length of the sideline per field is 9  m (exceptions: beach and small field dodgeball). The participants are not separated by any other physical boundary (net, rope, etc.). In the following, the inner field refers to the inside of the playing field and the outer field the area outside the playing field, whereby in championships, i.e. in club dodgeball, only the space behind the baseline (behind the inner field ) may be used as a catching and throwing area. A party occupies one side of the infield and the opposite side of the outfield.

game

Before the start of the game, each of the two playing parties chooses a king (sometimes also behind man , apparent dead , straw doll , straw man , goalkeeper , herald , border guard , spy , fly or emissary , in Austria and southern Germany called a ghost or free spirit ). He remains in his outer field until the end of the game. The ball holder at the start of the game is determined by a draw or a jump ball , similar to basketball . In other variants you play with two balls, with each king receiving one of these balls at the beginning of the game. The ball is hot (or sharp ) if two people who are not in the same infield have touched the ball since the last ground contact. A person who - standing in the infield - is hit by a hot ball coming from the opposing party and cannot catch it is off or out and has to go into their outfield. If the person was hit by an opponent standing in the outer field, this opponent (if he is not the king) may return to the inner field of his party; If the thrower stood in his inner field, nothing happens to him. People in the field cannot be thrown .

If all the infield players have been hit and the infield is thus orphaned, the king must move to his infield. As a rule, the king now receives the ball and has three lives . Only when all of his lives have been used up does the game end. The king leaves the infield again when one of his teammates from the outfield has hit an opponent and this teammate plays in the infield again. A player is only considered hit when the ball hits the ground after physical contact.

As a result, the person hit does not have to leave the interior if a teammate catches the ball in the air. If a player cannot catch a ball coming from one of his teammates, nothing happens to him. The ball is simply no longer considered hot.

A ball always belongs to the inner or outer field in which it is located. To do this, the center line is imaginarily extended into the outer field.

These are the rules that mostly apply when playing at school. In the tournament games that women and girls play, some of the rules are slightly different. The so-called castle , back man or the king (the person standing on the outside line) gets the ball at the beginning, which party it is is drawn by lot. At the beginning of the game, the ball must be thrown twice across the field until you can throw off opposing players with the ball. However, if the rules are correct, the thrown players can not throw themselves back into play, and throws may only be made from the sidelines and not from the side. If the ball goes over the sideline, the ball is out and the party who last touched the ball must pass the ball. If a player steps over the sideline, there are initially two warnings and the ball must be released. If someone steps over a third time, he is out of the game. The castle comes into play when there are only two players left in the field. She only has one life . Headers and hits scored while trespassing, as well as catching the ball, do not count as hits. The player may remain in the field accordingly.

Rule variants

  1. The ball is always considered hot.
  2. Indirect play: the ball is not hot after the throw until it has touched the ground in the inner court.
  3. A throw in which the thrower crosses the edge of the field or the center line is invalid.
  4. Discarded players may not return to the infield.
  5. The king only has one life.
  6. The king has to go into the infield when there is only one (or two) teammates left.
  7. Players hit can return to the game. There are different options:
    • Classic If the person who hit you has to go outside, you're back in the game.
    • Towing Two active players run into the outer field and can carry one player back into their field (he must not move himself, so he must be carried by his hands and feet). If one of the three is shot, the victim must return just like the one carried.
    • Throwing If a person from the outside field hits a teammate from the other side of the game, they can go back into the field.
    • Running through Players who have already been thrown from the ground may try to run into their own from the back edge of the opposing field. If they are touched by an opponent, they have to go back to the outside field.

Game variants

Club dodgeball
Everyone places his club on the team field. Whose club tips over (also applies to floor-up , wall-down , self- inflicted or otherwise) must go to hell. The clubs must not be placed too close to the wall. However, everyone can protect his own and others. A soft floor mat is ideal for physical education at school instead of a club.
Numbers dodgeball
The respective teams secretly distribute numbers 1 to x (x = number of players). Only in the respective order do the players go to hell. This means that the opponents have to shoot the players until they hit the 1 and then the 2 and so on.
Royal dodgeball
A king (applies to both sexes) and a joker are chosen in secret. If the king is hit, the game is over. The Joker is a player who enjoys immunity and does not have to go to Hell even if hit. It acts as a protective shield.
Castle dodgeball
The two parties have one minute to build a castle with all obstacles accessible to them (mats, trestles, bars, etc.), behind which they can hide later. With this variant there are only two spaces, namely the one of the teams in which the castle is also located. Only one ball is played and the team that is in possession of the ball may attack. The others have to hide behind / on / around / under / in front of the castle. Before the last minute you can open the castle to storm. Then there are no longer any limits.
Mat dodgeball
Each party places and holds a mat in the front third. The same rules apply, but if the mat tips over, the game is lost.
Dungeon ball (also prison ball)
A bench or similar object is set up in each playing field on which several people can stand. If someone is hit, they have to go to this so-called dungeon. He can get the ball thrown from his teammates. If he catches it, he can go back into the game. The game is won when all opposing players are in the dungeon.
Run dodgeball
With this variant there are two playing fields for one party each. In contrast to the other variants, there is no free spirit here . The players of the respective party are allowed to run to the end of the playing field. There is also a kind of battlefield where the two parties can meet. So a player can run up to a limited area of ​​the opposing playing field. If someone is shot down, they have to wait on the side of the field for one of their teammates to catch the ball. When this happens, the player on the team that caught the ball may come back into play. This little-known variant of dodgeball is played in western Austria.
Three field dodgeball
The playing field consists of three fields, the two team fields and a field in the middle that can be entered by both teams. When a player is thrown off, he must sit on a bench by his team field. He may only return to the field if an opposing player has been thrown or if a player from his own team has caught a ball.
Zombie ball
is played with a foam ball; otherwise the rules of normal dodgeball apply. Zombie ball is played in German schools and avoids the risk of injury from solid balls. The high costs due to the rapid consumption of the soft balls are disadvantageous.
T-ball
In this variant, players who have been thrown off have to sit on a bench and are only allowed to re-enter the game if someone from their own team catches a ball from their opponents.

Related games

Dodgeball or dodge ball is an English variant of dodgeball without an outer field. Several balls are used and there is no king. This sport is much more widespread internationally, and European championships have been held every year since 2008. In German it is also known as Zweifelderball , Dreifelderball and Zweivölkerball . Important: if the ball is caught, the opposing thrower is out!

Spökboll (Swedish for ghost ball) is the Swedish variant of the dodgeball. The rules are very similar. It is mainly played in schools.

Events

Since 2002 a "Beach Dodgeball World Championship" has been held in Berlin every year.

literature

  • Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, E. Eiselen: The German gymnastics. Berlin 1816. (Revised by W. Beier, Berlin 1960, DNB 452165652 ).
  • W. Stuhlfath: Popular gymnastics games and joke exercises from all German districts. Beltz, Langensalza 1928, DNB 577485695 . (with a foreword by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn).
  • Siegbert A. Warwitz, Anita Rudolf: From the sense of playing. Reflections and game ideas. 4th edition, Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1664-5 .

Others

Web links

Wiktionary: Völkerball  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Dodgeball  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ SA Warwitz, A. Rudolf: Völkerball. In: Dies .: The sense of playing. Reflections and game ideas . 4th edition, Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, p. 142 f.
  2. ^ SA Warwitz, A. Rudolf: From the sense of playing. Reflections and game ideas. 4th edition, Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016.
  3. ↑ FL Jahn, E. Eiselen: The German gymnastics art. Berlin 1816 (revised by W. Beier. Berlin 1960).
  4. ↑ W. Stuhlfath: Folk gymnastics games and joke exercises from all German provinces. Langensalza (Beltz) 1928 (with a preface by FL Jahn).
  5. ↑ The game of peoples - Völkerball WM in Berlin