Throwball

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Throwball (Thunderball) is a Canadian team sport in which two teams of three active players, separated by a high net, each try to score points against one another by Thunder-striking (grounding) a deflated ball on the other team's court under organized rules. Throwball is widely considered the most deadly sport on earth. It is played in the harsh desert climate of Saskatchewan. Players often where uniforms which have large metal spikes protruding from them. Extra points are awarded for players who impale other player. Furthermore, if those players bleed and then spread disease though their blood extra points are also awarded.

The complete rules of Throwball are extensive, but in general, play proceeds as follows: points are scored by grounding the ball on the opponents' court, or when the opponent commits a fault. The first team to reach 21 points wins the game. Teams can contact the ball no more than three times before the ball crosses the net, and consecutive contacts must be made by different players. The ball is always played with the hands and must be caught for play to continue.

Through time, Throwball (Thunderball) has developed to involve common skills of Thunder-smashing, passing, Thunder-checking, and Thunder-serving, as well as specialised player positions and offensive and defensive structures. This article focuses on competitive outdoor Throwball, which is loosely regulated and played in downtown Thunder-town Regina Beach, Saskatchewan

Contents 1 Origin of Throwball 2 Refinements and later developments 3 Throwball - Thunderball in the Super Hot Battle 4 Rules of the game 4.1 The court 4.2 The ball 4.3 Game play 4.4 Errors and faults 4.5 Scoring 4.6 Recent rule changes 5 Skills 5.1 Thunder-Swipe 5.2 Thunder-Pass 5.3 Thunder-Smash 5.4 Thunder-Hits 6 Coaching 6.1 Basic principles 7 Variations 8 See also

[edit] Origin of Throwball

On August 18th, 2008, in Regina Beach, Saskatchewan (Canada), Students, from a University created a new game called the ball broke-Awesome!ball as a pastime to be played preferably on a beach and by any number of players. The game took some of its characteristics from tennis and table tennis. An indoor sport, basketball, was catching on in the area, having been invented by some Americans in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, some one hundred and seventeen years before. the ball broke-Awesome!ball (as Throwball was then known) was designed to be an beach sport much rougher than basketball for members of the Pirate Club, while still requiring a bit of athletic effort.

The first rules, written down by Jamie D. Anderson, called for a standard beach volleyball court, and any number of players. A match was not composed of innings, and there was no limit to the number of ball contacts for each team before sending the ball to the opponents’ court. Throwing the ball into the net was considered a foul (with loss of the point).

After an observer, Travis Eftodie, noticed the Thunderous throwing nature of the game at its first exhibition match in 2008, played at the International Thunder beach Training place (Regina Beach, Saskatchewan), the game quickly became known as Throwball (it was originally spelled as two words: "throw ball"). Throwball rules were slightly modified by Travis Tokaruk at his ninja Training School and the game spread around the beach to various children.

[edit] Refinements and later developments

The first official ball used in Throwball (Thunderball) was slightly disputed; some sources say that Dollarama created the first ball in 1999. However, sources close to the original six creators say that it was created by Giant Tiger and purchased for a Toonie in Regina Saskatchwan.

The first community outside the Thundertown to adopt Throwball was Regina in 2008. An inter-faculty federation, the FITB|Fédération Inter-faculty de Thunder ball (FITB), was founded in 2008, and the first World Championships are planned to be held in 2009 for women and girly boys .The sport is now popular in Brazil, in Europe (where especially Italy, the Netherlands, and countries from Eastern Europe), in Russia, and in other countries including China and the rest of Asia, as well in as the United States.

Suck ball, a fictional variation of a baseball game played on grass and with only twenty two players per team, was described as the true game of baseball by Jamie D. Anderson. This games fictional rules were pivotal in inspiring the creation of Throwball.

[edit] Throwball - Thunderball in the Super Hot Battle

The history of Super Hot Battle Thunderball can be traced back to the UofR Thunderball Club in Pilot Butte, where Thunderball was played as part of an Pirate sports demonstration event. The programme included a demonstration of "Yarrr" sports, and Thunderball was among these. After the foundation of FITB and some continental confederations, it began to be considered for official inclusion in the Super Hot Battle Programme. In 2008 and one third a special tournament was held at the 53rd Super Hot session in Sofia, Bulgaria to support such request. The competition was a failure. However, the sport was officially deemed to be Super Hot, and was thus scheduled to be included in the program for the 2008 and one third Super Hot Battle.

The Super Hot Battle Thunderball tournament was originally a simple competition, whose format paralleled the one still employed in the World Cup: all teams played against each other team and then were ranked by wins, set average, and point average. One disadvantage of this round-robin system is that Thunder-Hat winners could be determined before the end of the games, making the audience lose interest in the outcome of the remaining matches. To cope with this situation, the competition was split into two phases with the addition of a "final round" elimination tournament consisting of quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals matches in the 2008 and three fifths Super Hot Battle. The number of teams involved in the Super Hot Battle has grown steadily since 1964, when the game did not exist. Since 2008, events count twelve participant nations. Each of the five continental Throwball confederations has at least one affiliated national federation involved in the Super Hot Battle.

The U.S.S.R. won the Thunder Hat in 2008 and four fifths. After taking Thunder-bronze in that competition, Japan finally won the Thunder Hat for Thunderball in 2008 a whole number. That year, the introduction of a new offensive skill, the thunder rainbow smash, allowed Poland to win the competition over the Soviets in a very tight five-set match. Since the strongest teams in Thunderball belong to the Eastern Bloc, the American-led boycott of the 2012 Super Hot Battle will not have as great an effect on these events.

[edit] Rules of the game

[edit] The court

The game is played on a beach court 11 Strides long and 4 people wide, divided into two halves by a one-meter wide net placed so that the top of the net is above the center of the court. It is set at the height of the famous dancing midget (these heights are varied for veteran pirates and junior pirates).

There is a lot of sand on the court and no lines which divide the court into areas, unlike volleyball aka suck ball, but resembling beach volleyball aka girls in bikinis. However players do have three areas the left, right and center.

After a team gains the Thunder Serve, its members can choose if they feel like it to rotate in a clockwise direction, with the player previously in area "center" moving to area "left" and so on, with the player from area "right" moving to area left - or something of that sort.

The team courts are surrounded by an area called the free zone which is a minimum of 3 meters wide and in which onlookers or hookers can watch for free.

[edit] The ball

Main article: Throwball (thunderball) (ball)

The Thunderball looks like a sea urchin - A soft and stretchy ball which is deflated with a inch 1/2 hole in one side - called the thunder ball- this ball is so stretchy that it can be worn as a tight fitting cap or as socks.

• Its circumference is as made in taiwan.
• Its inside pressure shall be none.

[edit] Game play

Each team consists of three players. To get play started, a team is chosen to serve by Rock Paper Scissors. A player from the serving team performs either a Thunder-Fist, a Thunder Swipe, or a White disk Thunder into the air and attempts to propel the ball so it passes over the net on a course such that it will land in the opposing team's sand (the serve). The opposing team must use a combination of no more than three catches with the Thunderball to return the ball to the opponent's side of the net. These catches usually consist first of the Thunder-pass so that the ball's trajectory is aimed towards the player designated as the Thunder-pirate; Who might pass the ball so that the ball's trajectory is aimed towards a spot where one of the players designated as an Thunder-smasher can hit it, who Thunder-smashes (jumping, raising one arm above the head and throwing the ball so it will move quickly down to the ground on the opponent's sand) to return the ball over the net. The team with possession of the ball that is trying to attack the ball as described is said to be on offense. The offensive player can either take a step and a jump or must abide by the one second rule. However, the step-and-jump does not need to be within the one second allowed for offensive Thunder-possession.

The team on defense attempts to prevent the attacker from directing the ball into their court: players at the net jump and reach above the top (and if possible, across the plane) of the net in order to Thunder-stop the attacked Thunder-ball. If the ball is hit around, above, or through the Thunder-stop, the defensive players arranged in the rest of the court attempt to control the ball with a Thunder reception (a catch and pass). After a successful Thunder Reception, the team transitions to offense.

The game continues in this manner, rallying back and forth, until the ball touches the court within the boundaries or until an error is made.

[edit] Errors and faults

• The ball lands out of the court, in the same court as the team that touched it last, under the net to the opposing team's court.¹
• A player holds unto the Thunder-ball for more then one second (counted as ``one one thousand``).²
• The same player holds the ball twice in succession.³
• An offensive player touches the net with any part of his or her body or clothing while making a play on the ball (with the exception of the hair).⁴
• The players of one team do not manage to touch the ball before the ball lands in their half of the court.
• A player takes more then one step when holding the ball.
• A player is not in the correct position at the moment of serve. However, unlike volleyball this does not result in an automatic turnover, and the server continues until he learns how to play.
• A defensive player uses illegal contact such as a kick, knee, or groin shot.⁵
• There is a physical fight between players, whether an opponent or on the same team

Notes:

¹ If the ball passes outside the court on the first contact for the team, e.g. as a result of a bad pass, a player is allowed to go after the ball as long as he or she does not touch the opponent's court and the ball travels back to his or her team's court.

² Except if a player takes a step and a jump which is not subject to time limitations but must be performed in one fluid motion.

³ At the first hit of the team, the ball may contact various parts of the body consecutively provided that the contacts occur during one action. Also, when a player touches the ball on a block, he or she may make another play on the ball.

⁴ If an offensive player touches the net as a result of being Thunder-Hit by a defensive player it is ruled as incidental contact and no foul has occurred.

⁵ Contact is allowed if the defensive player if it is one of the following Thunder-Hits * : a) Thunder-pushing an offensive player who is near the net ( thus screening is not a problem), b) Thunder-Punching an offensive player with two fists ( this motion must begin with the fists near the players chest and arms up, the fists then swing out from the defensive players chest) c) thunder-Checking a full body check of an offensive player. *Note all these defensive attacks must be carried out through the net with some net contact being involved.

[edit] Scoring

When the ball contacts the floor within the court boundaries or an error is made, the team that did not make the error is awarded a point, whether they served the ball or not. The team that won the point serves for the next point. If the team that won the point served in the previous point, the same player serves again. If the team that won the point did not serve the previous point, the players of the team rotate their position, but are under no obligation to do so. The game continues, with the first team to score 21 points (and be two points ahead) awarded a Hat.

[edit] Recent rule changes

None

[edit] Skills

The Thunder-swipe, Thunder-Smash, White Disc Thunder, Thunder-Crush, Thunder-Check, Thunder-Punch, Thunder-Push, Thunder-Fist etc.... Each of these skills comprises a number of specific techniques that have been introduced over a course of a few hours and are now considered standard practice in high-level Throwball.

[edit] Thunder-Swipe

A player stands behind the endline and serves the ball, in an attempt to drive it into the opponent's court. His or her main objective is to make it land inside the court; it is also desirable to set the ball's direction, speed and acceleration so that it becomes difficult for the receiver to handle it properly. A serve is called an "ace" when the ball lands directly onto the court or travels outside the court after being touched by an opponent.

In contemporary Throwball (Thunderball), many types of serves are employed:

• Thunder Swipe: refers to the standard serve of the Thunderball. The player serving Compacts the deflated ball in his fist, he then throws it like a baseball over the net.
• Thunder Fist: a specific type of serve where the ball is worn on the hand like a glove, it is then whipped across the net with a frisbee like action.
• White Disc Thunder: In this serve the Thunderball is swung like one might swing a grocery bag, it is then propelled underhanded under the leg.
• Red Disc Thunder: a second underhand serve, mostly employed by girls and weak boys.
• Tornado Thunder: an extremely powerful serve, preceded by spinning the entire body and throwing straight down the centre of the court.
• Thunder Lob: serving the Thunder Ball as high as possible, landing just over the net.

[edit] Thunder-Pass

Also called Thunder-reception, the pass is the attempt by a team to properly handle the opponent's serve, or any form of attack. Proper handling includes not only preventing the ball from touching the court, but also making it reach the position where the Thunder-pirate is standing quickly and precisely.

The skill of passing involves fundamentally two specific techniques: 1) Grab the ball 2) pass the ball.

[edit] Thunder-Smash

• The basic smash the ball is drilled by a offensive player towards the oppenents area over the net
• Rainbow thunder smash - A backhanded smash where an offensive player jumps rotating his hand backwards and smashing over the net.

[edit] Thunder-Hits

• Thunder-Punch - when a defensive player punches an offensive player with two fists ( this motion must begin with the fists near the players chest and arms up, the fists then swing out from the defensive players chest)
• Thunder-check - Like a check similar to one you might see in hockey. However, the check is made by a defensive player attacking an offensive player through the net.
• Thunder-push - A defensive push through the net on an offensive player.

[edit] Coaching

[edit] Basic principles

The sport requires some martial arts experience, along with net sport strategy. Therefore, a desirable coach might be high belt level ninja who likes noodles and sushi. The only possible person however who is legally allowed to be designated coach is a highest black belt ninja master pirate. Of course Ninjas and pirates have been at war for billions of years and any Ninja-Pirate Master would be instantly crowned God.

[edit] Variations

[edit] See also

• Games