NationStates Jolt Archive

Anyone heard of or play this great sport that will tire you in a few minutes? For those who don't know, basically, you have a 10ft(3.3m) pole stuck in the ground with an 8ft(2.6m) rope attached to the top of the pole and to a ball which is a bit smaller than a volleyball and somewhere between the pressure/hardness of a football(soccer ball) and a basketball. Then, one player serves the ball by hitting it and the players both try to hit the ball to make it fully wind around the pole in their direction. Anyone? Anyone at all?

Anyone heard of or play this great sport that will tire you in a few minutes? For those who don't know, basically, you have a 10ft(3.3m) pole stuck in the ground with an 8ft(2.6m) rope attached to the top of the pole and to a ball which is a bit smaller than a volleyball and somewhere between the pressure/hardness of a football(soccer ball) and a basketball. Anyone? Anyone at all?
a ball?

I used just swing on the rope hanging from the pole... :D

I used to... a long time ago.

I had a knock-off in the '80s with a tennis ball and some large paddles. I think the brand name was "Zim-Zam".

Ahh erecting poles on the ground and playing with balls attatched to them. I know that game.

I am sorry, just so sorry for that.

Tetherball is great. You can slam the ball 127mph into the other guy's face!

Oh the blood from an exploding nose!

I've hit the ball back and forth with others as a kid but i don't think anyone ever knew the rules.

So you stick a pole in the ground and tie a ball to it. Then what?

I had a knock-off in the '80s with a tennis ball and some large paddles. I think the brand name was "Zim-Zam".
That's another version of it, more British though I think.

I've hit the ball back and forth with others as a kid but i don't think anyone ever knew the rules.
There is no official set of rules or organization to set rules. It's mostly private and local rules.

So you stick a pole in the ground and tie a ball to it. Then what?
Then one player serves it(the ball) to the other by hitting it with their hand. and they hit it back and forth until one person makes it wind around the pole enough to prevent further winding in that direction. There are also fouls and whatnot.

Yeah, I've played that.

Took me a long time to learn how, because like usual, the rotten brats in my school wouldn't say (as if I was supposed to automatically know, by osmosis) :mad:
Finally someone spilled the beans (probably a new kid who moved from somewhere else!) and then it was easy enough.

You can slam the ball 127mph into the other guy's face!

Oh the blood from an exploding nose!A couple of kids did get their noses broken, but I wasn't there to see it. I remember that the second kid's parents raised a stink and the school almost took down the tetherballs (there were 2 set up) because of it.

So you stick a pole in the ground and tie a ball to it. Then what?
You hump it as hard as you can.

Fergi America']Yeah, I've played that.

Took me a long time to learn how, because like usual, the rotten brats in my school wouldn't say (as if I was supposed to automatically know, by osmosis) :mad:
Finally someone spilled the beans (probably a new kid who moved from somewhere else!) and then it was easy enough.

A couple of kids did get their noses broken, but I wasn't there to see it. I remember that the second kid's parents raised a stink and the school almost took down the tetherballs (there were 2 set up) because of it.
I hope they went back to their bubble and died. So what, if you get a broken nose. Life is full of broken noses.

You hump it as hard as you can.
We must have very different uses for the word hump.

You hump it as hard as you can.
That's uncalled for. :P

We must have very different uses for the word hump.
I'm pretty sure we don't. :D

That's another version of it, more British though I think.

Like ping pong here is table tennis everywhere else because some jackass copyrighted it? :p

I hope they went back to their bubble and died. So what, if you get a broken nose. Life is full of broken noses. Well, they went away eventually, and didn't get their way. I don't know where they went, but they got several "travel suggestions" mentioning a very hot place! :D

The tetherballs stayed up while I was there, and they were still there the last time I checked (which was a few years after I got out). But, who knows what the school board's legal department has made get changed now...

Tethercat is much more fun.

Tethercat is much more fun.
*calls ASPCA*

*calls ASPCA*
*gets Napolean XIV stuck in head*
Thanks. jerk.

I had a knock-off in the '80s with a tennis ball and some large paddles. I think the brand name was "Zim-Zam".

It was called Totem Tennis in Australia.

Tethercat is much more fun.
Isn't that from a famous Far Side cartoon?

Isn't that from a famous Far Side cartoon?
http://mahi-mahi.com/images/covers/tethercat.jpg

http://mahi-mahi.com/images/covers/tethercat.jpg
LOL that's it! TY :)

ETA: omg, 1988! I'm oooooooooooooooooooooooold :(

LOL that's it! TY :)
No problem. :D

ETA: omg, 1988! I'm oooooooooooooooooooooooold :(
lol, that's about a year before I was born...

lol, that's about a year before I was born...
TY again. I was already old in 1988 :rolleyes:

In Britain we have swingball which is the same..

FRAK YEAH!http://209.85.48.10/3630/189/emo/cannibal.gif

I don't like tetherball. I usually end up getting hit by the ball. Either that, or the ball goes over my head and I can't jump high enough to hit it (I'm 5'6''. Not too short for a girl, I guess, but it's still a height disadvantage against most males)

But then, I despise most sports, except for shuffleboard. Whenever we played basketball in Team Sports, I usually got hit by the ball, sometimes two or three times in one period.

Ah yes. I remember that time at the Christian workcamp (that sounds weird every time I say/type it) a friend of mine hit the tetherball, it whipped around, and knocked him in the face, knocking him over. Goood times.

I gots a set in the garage.:cool:

I remember playing tetherball so much as a kid. That and four-square. The problem with four-square is that sometimes someone would decide to be a cheapass and throw the ball in the very corner of your square at an angle so you couldn't reach it. I hated that.

Do you mean this activity:
http://mahi-mahi.com/images/covers/tethercat.jpg

I remember playing tetherball so much as a kid. That and four-square. The problem with four-square is that sometimes someone would decide to be a cheapass and throw the ball in the very corner of your square at an angle so you couldn't reach it. I hated that.
I remember tetherball as the server creating an arc over the other persons reach so as long as he could keep it going that was pretty much it. Because of it tetherball became, "Hey, watch this kid wrap a rope around a pole."

Do you mean this activity:
http://mahi-mahi.com/images/covers/tethercat.jpg
Thats what i was talking about.:)

Anyone heard of or play this great sport that will tire you in a few minutes? For those who don't know, basically, you have a 10ft(3.3m) pole stuck in the ground with an 8ft(2.6m) rope attached to the top of the pole and to a ball which is a bit smaller than a volleyball and somewhere between the pressure/hardness of a football(soccer ball) and a basketball. Then, one player serves the ball by hitting it and the players both try to hit the ball to make it fully wind around the pole in their direction. Anyone? Anyone at all?


Yes ah the memories!:D