Gaelic Handball - Rules

Rules

Handball is played in a court, or "alley". Originally, an alley measuring 18.3 m by 9.15 m (60 feet by 30 feet) was used with a front wall of 30 feet, off which the ball must be struck.

A smaller alley was also introduced, measuring 12.2 m by 6.1 m (40 feet by 20 feet) with a front wall 6.1 m (20 ft) high. The first alley of this size was built in Ireland in 1969. This smaller size is now the standard in the international version of the game, but both alleys are still used in the Gaelic game, with two separate championships ran by the GAA in the two codes.

The objective of a game is to score a set total of points before your opponent does. Points are only scored by the person serving the ball. In other words, if a player wins a rally but did not serve at the start of that rally they only win the right to serve, and thus the chance to score after a subsequent rally. The serving player has two opportunities to hit the ball, from the "service area" (between the two parallel lines), off the "front wall" and across the "short line" (which is located exactly halfway down the court from the front wall).

Players take turns at hitting the ball off the "front wall" before the ball bounces twice on the floor of the court following their opponent's previous shot. Most handball games take place in a four-walled court but there are also three-walled and one-wall versions of the game.