Ball (sport)

“ Gaze at me while I aim another blow; lo,
I've missed because I looked at her! With sighs
I murmur an apologetic solo.
The proudest athlete here might stoop,
To hit a ball just through a hoop,
And say the game—with her—beats golf and polo.
[Pg 81]
CRICKET—THE PRIDE OF THE VILLAGE
"Good match, old fellow?"
"Oh, yes; awfully jolly!"
"What did you do?"
"I 'ad a hover of Jackson; the first ball 'it me on the 'and, the second 'ad me on the knee; the third was in my eye; and the fourth bowled me out!"
[Jolly game.
[Pg 82]
ADVICE TO YOUNG CROQUET-PLAYERS
1. ”

“ The theory of base-ball is as simple as that of any field sport in vogue, and therein lies one of its attractive features. But yet to play the game up to its highest point of excellence requires as great a degree of mental ability, and the possession of as many manly physical attributes, as any known game of ball. The theory of base-ball is as follows:—In the first place, a level field for play is selected, about three hundred feet wide and five hundred long. ”

“ To the lower side of the foot-ball attach a piece of rubber gas pipe, and make the end fast to a ring in the floor. That prevents the ball from flying all about the room when struck, and brings it back quickly. ”

“ Thus, if the ball, in its passage out, rubs against the left side of the barrel, it will whirl towards that side; and as the right side of the ball will, therefore, turn up against the air during its flight, the resistance of the air will become greatest on the right side, and the ball be forced away to the left, which was the direction it whirled in. It happens, moreover, from various accidental circumstances, that the axis of the ball’s rotation frequently changes its position several times during the flight ”

“ Often a skilled player will match himself against a number of inferiors; this is called a three or four ball match.
SHINNY Of course every boy who can wield a stick has played at this fine, simple old game. One does not need many tools for this sport. A stout shinny stick, curved at the business end, like the best walking sticks, and a ball, or even a chunk of wood, if not too heavy, and large, will do. ”

“ Cricket unto football yields,—
That is all!
Yes—in hot or humid weather,
At all seasons of the year,
Life is little without leather
In a sphere.
In the scrimmage, at the stumps,
'Neath the goal, behind the sticks,
Life's a ball, which Summer thumps,
Winter kicks.
Our "terrestrial ball" is round,
(Is it an idea chimerical?)
Man, by hidden instincts bound,
Loves the spherical.
In rotund, elastic bounders,
Plainly the great joy of men is,
Witness cricket, billiards, rounders,
And lawn-tennis.
Classic Title for Dr. Grace.—"The Centurion."
[Pg 11]
He. ”

“ Prize-Fighting is not the aim of boxing. This noble exercise ought not to be judged by the dishonesty or the low lives of too many of its professional followers. Let it stand alone, an athletic practice, on the same footing as boating or foot-ball. ”

“ Fair Play.—The only fair way of opposing one another in playing, is by shouldering and bucking, which can only be done within the distance of six feet from the ball. The ball must be struck with the open hand, not the fist, or any mechanical device. The ball can be stopped with any part of the body. When a ball driven fairly hits the curtain, whether it goes through the goal or not, it shall be called a goal.
11. Ball.—The ball used in playing shall be a regular lawn tennis ball. A new ball shall be put into use for every match game. ”

“ Behold the ball is mounted upon a little pyramid of mud which rejoices in the name of a tee, to the end that the smiter may get the more cleanly at it. A ball is only teed at starting from each hole; after each first stroke the player must hit the ball as he finds it. What an ordeal this is. All that crowd we saw before, ladies, &c., &c., and all kinds of cads, are drawn up in two parallel rows, leaving a vista of certainly not more than five yards. ”

“ Meanwhile the ball is beating round beneath their feet, their skates are clashing steel on steel. I hear the shuffling kicks, the battling strokes of clubs, the husky mutterings of passion half suppressed; I hear the panting breath and the impetuous whisperings between the teeth, as they push and wrestle and jam. A lucky hit now sends the ball a few feet from the fray. A ready hand improves the chance; but as he lifts his stick a youngster’s nose gets in the way and spoils his stroke; he slips, and falls upon the ball ”

“ Six or eight young men stand around in a circle, with their garments tucked up so as not to impede their movements. A light, hollow wickerwork ball is started by one of them, and the object of the game is to keep it going as long as possible. They must not touch the ball with the hand, but they show great skill and activity in catching it with the foot, either side of the ankle, the heel, the toe, the knee, the shoulder. ”

“ Thus in many other ball-games the ball is hit when it is further off from the striker’s foot—as in Golf, Racquets, Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Fives. In Cricket, except in such strokes as the pull and the cut, the ball should be hit when it is near to the striker’s foot. ”

“ To play the balls as shown in the illustration following the player must strike the cue-ball a little below the centre, and with a deadened stroke, caroming gently on the second ball; the object-ball about one-third to the right. This carom should be practised until each position has become familiar to the player.
In either practice or ordinary play the beginner should never play carelessly, or strike at random, but with some definite object in view; and if no eligible stroke presents itself, endeavour to leave the balls as safe for your opponent as your skill will permit. ”

“ The ball is the smallest ball we use, the striking face of the club is the smallest thing used in field sports for hitting a ball, and, most important, perhaps, of all, it is farther away from the eye than any other ball-striking implement, except, perhaps, the polo stick, in which game we, of course, have a much larger ball and striking surface. ”

“ He possessed, and still possesses, a wonderful command of length, with plenty of spin from the off—a considerable variation of flight—a slower ball with several inches of break from leg, delivered, by the way, from almost the palm of the hand, and a ball that, as it comes sailing up the pitch towards you, has every appearance of being intended for a leg break, but which in reality is simply propelled with a large quantity of "top on." ”

“ I take one long preliminary swing to prepare the shoulder muscles for the coming strain, and with my right foot firmly braced on the slab, I lurch forward with a high, straight throw, the weight of my body adding impetus to the ball. ”

“ The players of one line, at a signal, throw the balls to those opposite them. They then turn and throw against the wall, if the game is played indoors.
BALL DULL The object of this game is to train the perceptions, the muscular sense, and the muscles themselves. The weight of the ball is suited to the players. The two-pound weights are used for girls.
The couples are far enough apart to allow space for full play. One of each couple has a ball for himself and his partner. The throwing of the balls to one of the opposite side is simultaneous, when a leader gives the command. ”

“ There is no doubt whatever that double swerves may be obtained by the axis of rotation of the ball altering during the flight of the ball. I can remember quite clearly at a meeting of the All-England Lawn-tennis Club at Wimbledon, a player informing me quite seriously that a lawn-tennis ball would swerve two ways in the air. At that time I was under the impression that I knew all there was to be known about the flight of the ball. ”

“ It exists in practically all ball games where the ball is struck by a bat or other implement of that kind. Its existence, of course, is well known in cricket. I have played lawn-tennis for twenty years, and I do not believe that I have at any time during that period seen my racket hit the ball when actually playing. I have seen it do it when I have made up my mind to watch the ball and forget other matters, but in actual play one does not do this. One plays the stroke with the utmost naturalness. The ball is coming towards one and one gauges the distance and strikes. ”

“ At some uncertain but momentous date, an impetuous player must, after missing the ball with his hand, have kicked out petulantly with his sandalled foot, and so unconsciously made the first experiment in the art of drop-kicking, or punting. Swiftly and strongly the ball flew, farther than it could be cast by the strongest arm or smitten by the lustiest hand; and this must inevitably have been the first step to the later development of the game played with the follis, when it was kicked with the foot or struck with the hand at discretion and convenience. ”

“ The player who wins the choice of balls and lead must either roll his ball down towards the lower cushion, as an object for his [800] adversary to play at, or else compel his adversary to lead off as above described.
2. In leading, the player’s ball must be played from within the string-line, and struck with sufficient strength to carry it beyond the deep-red ball on its appropriate spot at the foot of the table. But it must not be played with such strength as to repass, after coming in contact with the lower cushion, the deep-red ball. ”

“ Girls still strike, as then, balls with the palm of the hand to keep up their bouncing, or fling them against the wall to drive them back on the return, or pass the ball from hand to hand in the ring or row. Boys in those days, standing on the corners of a triangle, sent back the ball on the fly or the bounce, giving with one hand and taking with the other, much as they do to-day. ”

“ As long as the arm was held stiff no curve could be imparted to the flight of the ball in the air, but with the increase of pace came the possibility of doing this by a movement of the wrist as the ball left the hand, the twist thus given causing the ball, by the pressure on the air, to swerve to one side or the other, or downwards, according to the position of the hand and fingers as the ball is let go. ”

“ A ball, more or less light and soft, is bowled or tossed at any fixed object, which, in turn, is defended by a player armed with a stick, stump, hair-brush, or other instrument. The player counts as many points as he can run backwards and forwards, after hitting the ball, between the object he defends and some more or less distant goal, before the ball is returned. He loses his position when the object he defends is struck by the ball, or when the ball is caught, after he has hit it, before touching the ground. Such is the degraded form of cricket, and such, apparently, was its earliest shape. ”

“ WE present to our readers a new game of ball, which seems to have those elements in it which ought to make it popular among the Associations. It fills the same place in the gymnasium that foot ball does in the athletic field. Any number of men may play at it, and each one get plenty of exercise ”

“ They are passionately fond of athletic sports, such as archery, wrestling, and racing; but the favorite pastime is a kind of foot-ball. The game is played between two parties, with a large elastic ball, on a square piece of ground prepared expressly for the purpose. ”

“ As we suggested just now, a ball should occasionally be held in the otherwise idle fingers, a Lawn Tennis ball being at first preferable until the fingers have stretched and grown powerful. Various grips and movements should thus become familiar. A{201} box-full of old balls might be used in order to practise bowling or fielding: the Lawn Tennis ball exhibits the effects of a break or curl in the air far more clearly than a Cricket ball. The practice may be by the player himself against a wall, or with another player, a stump being put between the two, and a third player acting as wicket-keep. ”

“ The carom is good, and the points count for the player, even though his ball should be lost; and he continues to play. [A ball is considered lost which goes into a pocket, jumps off the table, or remains on a cushion.]
9. A pushing stroke subjects the player to the loss of the point or points he may have made by that stroke, and puts his ball out of hand.
10. A player who plays before all the balls have ceased rolling loses his stroke, and his hand is out.
11. When the cue-ball is in contact with one or more balls, all are taken up and placed as at the commencement of the game ”

“ The ball used is a rather small one, and is made of rattan, hollow, light, and elastic. The player keeps it dancing a little while on his foot, then occasionally on his arm or thigh, till suddenly he gives it a good blow with the hollow of the foot, and sends it flying high in the air. Another player runs to meet it, and at its first bound catches it on his foot and plays in his turn. The ball must never be touched with the hand; but the arm, shoulder, knee, or thigh are used at pleasure to rest the foot. ”

“ With the grip established, the next fundamental is the stance and address. Draw an imaginary line from the ball to the hole; stand behind the line with heels together—feet at right angles to each other, the left foot pointing toward the hole; the player stands bending 76 slightly from the hips with arms stretched down full length; the right elbow points to the right thigh; the left points toward the hole; the club swings as a pendulum; the sole of the club addresses the ball at right angles to the imaginary line. The player’s eye should be right above the ball. ”

“ There are, of course, no such rules as in a specialized ball-game of civilization; and I saw no disputes. There may be eight or ten, or many more, players on each side. The ball is never touched with the hands or feet, or with anything except the top of the head. It is hard to decide whether to wonder most at the dexterity and strength with which it is hit or butted with the head, as it comes down through the air, or at the reckless speed and skill with which the players throw themselves headlong on the ground to return the ball if it comes low down. ”