Four Square
A square divided into four, four players, and a ball struck with the palms from square to square; fault and you go to the back of the queue.
Four square is a game with a queue. There are always exactly four on the court and the rest stand at the side waiting, and every fault by somebody else moves the whole queue one step forward.
Because of that the game barely ends: it runs continuously while the players on court keep changing. Victory as an event does not exist here — there is a , who holds out longer than the rest.
The ball is struck, not caught
The ball is played with palms and forearms, and it must strike the ground once in the square of whoever it is sent to. That is what makes a game of four at once possible: the buys the receiver the fraction of a second they need to reach it.
Hence the demand on the surface. On grass, sand and gravel the bounce disappears, and the game goes with it.
Rubber Ball
Under these rules: One ball; the surface must be hard and even, or the bounce cannot be relied on.
A springy ball with a predictable bounce off a hard surface.
The whole game rests on the ball bouncing once and to waist height. An underinflated ball kills the bounce; an overinflated one sends it over everybody's heads.
Chalk
Under these rules: To mark a square about five metres across and divide it into four.
A stick of chalk for drawing markings on asphalt.
Chalk markings last exactly as long as they need to: until the next rain. So the pitch is drawn again each time and fitted to wherever the game is happening today.
The rules of four square
The court
A square about five metres across is marked out and divided into four equal squares. Space is left around it so that players can run out after the ball.
The squares rank in order: the top one is the king's, then the second, the third, and the bottom one, which is where newcomers enter.
The players
Exactly four on court. The rest queue beside the bottom square.
The serve
The king begins the rally. They drop the ball in their own square, strike it underhand after the bounce, and send it diagonally — into the bottom square.
Serving overhand is not allowed. A serve onto a line, past the intended square or outside the court is the king's own fault.
The rally
Once the serve has been received, the ball may be sent into any other square.
It must bounce once in the receiver's square, and the receiver must return it before a second bounce and land it in somebody else's square.
Hits are made with the hand and forearm. Catching, holding and carrying the ball are not allowed.
Faults
A player is out of the rally if they let a second bounce fall in their square, send the ball outside the court, land it in nobody's square, or break the serving rule.
Rotation
After a fault comes the : the player at fault goes to the back of the queue, everyone below them moves up one square, and the first in the queue enters the bottom square.
The king then serves a new rally.
The king's rule
Before a rally the king may declare an extra condition: no overhand hits, underhand only, no spin. It holds for the whole rally, and only if everybody heard it.
Worth knowing
The numbering of the squares differs: in some places the top square is the fourth, in others the first. Who owns the inner lines, how many touches are allowed, whether the ball may be caught and whether overhand hits are permitted are settled before the start.
Glossary of terms
- Bounce
- The ball touching the ground inside a square. It must bounce exactly once in the receiver's square.
- King
- The player in the top square. They serve, and may declare an extra rule for the rally.
- Rotation
- The shift of every remaining player one square up after somebody's fault; the freed bottom square goes to the first in the queue.