Four Square - Elimination

Elimination

Players may be eliminated from the court because of errors or fouls they commit. Eliminated players leave the court, the remaining players move up to the next highest square, and a new player joins the court in the lowest square. Eliminated players wait in line for their next turn.

• Failing to hit the ball into another square
• Hitting the ball out of turn
• Hitting the ball incorrectly (such as on the full into another player's square)
• Hitting the ball out of bounds
• Missing the ball from another player
• Letting the ball drop twice on a player's own square
• Hitting a shot from another player when it was double bounce or not hit correctly. This is often referred to as "playing the handy". "playing the doubles", "full played", "played it", etc.
• Holding the ball or carrying the ball

In casual games, the highest ranking player may modify the game's rules at the beginning of each round. Many modifications either expand or constrain the legal methods of ball handling. Children refer to these modifications with elaborate local and regional nomenclatures: e.g., double-taps, underhand-only, blackjack, and bus-stop. Common modifications include: whirlpool (the ball must be passed clockwise or anti clockwise until king or queen says end whirlpool), No returns (If the player passes a ball back to a server who has said no returns is out), Pass back soft (pass back the ball with a low amount of push pressure. Children have also played with "unfriendly" and "friendly" moves.