Four Square - Different Versions (one Example Given)

Different Versions (one Example Given)

There are many variations of four square, some of which bear little resemblance to the general descriptions elsewhere in this article. For instance, in one version played in areas including the East Central United States, the court is 11' x 11', making each of the four squares 5-1/2' square -- compact enough for many playgrounds and even driveways of homes. The favored ball is a volleyball, and there is no reference to 'king' or most or any of the other terms mentioned above. The player in square four starts each round by serving to square two; the server's foot must be outside the square and directly behind its back corner, while his/her other foot must be inside the square. The ball is bounced once in the square and then hit, always underhand or sidehand as long as the hand does not go past vertical (which makes it an overhand, which is never allowed), to square two. The receiving player must let the ball bounce once in his/her square, but the ball must not bounce more than once even if it goes beyond his/her square following its first bounce. The court not only is divided by internal lines but rimmed with an outside line - if the ball hits an outside line, the ball is "in" and the hit is good, but if it hits an inside line it is "out." There can be no carries. The ball must be hit with the front of the open hand only, above the wrist. If the ball touches any other part of a player's body, that player is out and must move to square one, unless there are more than four players when the one who has just gotten out goes to the back of the waiting line. When a ball is served to number two, that player can hit the ball to any other square, as can all other players (1,2,3,4) until someone misses and is out. Normally in this version there is no scoring but it does lend itself to tournaments. In a tournament, seven officials are required - a scorekeeper, a timekeeper, a line judge seated behind each center line, and a service judge. All officials need to be close to the action, but with some distance permitted for active play so as not to interfere with players who often have to go outside their own squares, or beyond the foursquare court altogether, to return a ball. Players start by drawing numbers (1,2,3,4) to determine beginning position, and the game is timed. A player gets two points for moving into four and two points for staying in four (in other words, if another player gets out, regardless of whether number four had anything to do with it). A player gets one point for moving into two and one point for moving into three. If an excellent server is in square four, the player in square three often gets "stuck" not scoring any points because the players in one and two keep rotating, since the player in two repeatedly is unable to return four's serve. It is illegal for a player to intentionally put himself or herself "out," even if to gain advantage. The game (whether or not in tournament mode) can be very fast-moving and athletic, with dives, hard hits, slight taps into the corner of an opponent's square, low hits, and even bounces that are only slightly in (or "through") one's square but which travel quickly to another square - meaning that the player in whose square the ball bounced may have to invade another player's square to get the ball. If a player hits a ball that should've been hit by an opponent, no matter the circumstances, that player (the one who hit) is out.