American handball

American handball is a fast-paced sport played by hitting a rubber ball against a wall.

Players use their hands to strike the ball so that opponents cannot return it legally. A return is illegal if the ball touches the ground twice or goes out of bounds. This sport is popular in urban areas like New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia. It is often found in public parks, beaches, and high school yards. The game relies on quick reflexes and precise hand-eye coordination.

In a standard four-wall game, the court is a rectangular box.

It features a square front wall and long, high side walls. The floor contains a short line and a service line. The area between these two lines is called the service zone. The back wall is usually high and may include an above gallery for officials and spectators. Some modern courts use glass for the back or side walls to help people watch the action.

There are three primary versions of the game. Four-wall handball takes place in a fully enclosed court. Three-wall handball uses a front wall and two side walls, but has no back wall. This version adds the challenge of returning the ball without a back-wall rebound. One-wall handball, sometimes called wallball, uses a single large, high wall.

This version is cheaper to build, which makes it very popular in playgrounds and gymnasiums. In New York City alone, there are approximately 2,299 public one-wall courts.

To begin a four-wall match, the server stands in the service zone. The server drops the ball and strikes it after one bounce. The ball must hit the front wall first. It can hit one side wall before its first bounce on the floor. The ball must land past the short line but before the back wall. If the ball lands in front of the short line, it is a "short" fault. If it hits the back wall without bouncing, it is a "long" fault. A server is "put out" after two service faults in a row.

Once the ball is in play, the receiver must return it. The receiver can hit the ball "on the fly" or after one bounce. If they hit it on the fly, they must wait for the ball to cross the short line. The ball can bounce on the floor a maximum of two times. Players can also "hinder," or block, their opponents from reaching the ball. Only the server or the serving team can score points. Matches are usually played to 21 points, and a full match requires winning two out of three games.

Handball has deep historical roots. Games involving hitting or throwing balls appear in ancient Egyptian records and the writings of Homer. The Aztecs played a famous version called the Mesoamerican ballgame around 1500 BC. In Europe, similar games like Basque pelota and Gaelic handball developed over centuries. Some wall games were even banned in the past. In 1287, the Synod of Exeter banned a version of the game to protect church buildings. In 1427, King James I of Scotland blocked a palace window to stop people from playing against it.

Modern American handball grew significantly in the late 1800s. The earliest U.S. records mention courts in San Francisco in 1873. One-wall handball became very popular in New York City when beach-goers hit tennis balls against wooden jetties. National championships have been held annually in the U.S. since 1919. The United States Handball Association has organized these since 1950.

Handball has also influenced the creation of other sports. In 1930, Earl Riskey invented four-wall paddleball by using wooden paddles on handball courts. In 1949, Joseph Sobek invented racquetball in Connecticut by using a strung racquet.

Players often wear goggles because the small "ace balls" move at very high speeds. These balls are denser and faster than the larger "big blue" balls used in one-wall games.