Player guide
Blocking: what your body hides and closes off
A still body hides the ball from your opponent and closes off some of their returns. On one-wall that is a legal block, and where you finish your shot matters as much as where the ball goes. On three-wall, four-wall and 60×30 it is what you have to get out of the way of. This guide shows how much, and what each court allows.
What you expect, and what the geometry shows
| What you might expect | What the geometry shows | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A wide stance is there to hide more of the wall. | On one-wall its main job is to make you wider: the opponent has farther to go to get round you, about 1.3 ft on top of the run against about 0.5 ft upright. Each leg also closes its own low lanes. You do get lower, so it hides less wall as a side effect. | Your feet set how wide you are at the floor, where the receiver has to run. Return lanes |
| Your shadow is the same size wherever your opponent stands. | The closer the receiver is to you, the more you hide. Step back and it shrinks fast. | A body near the eye blocks a wider slice of everything behind it. What the receiver sees |
| A ball is hard to see only if it passes right behind you. | A ball that comes back close to your body stays out of sight for much of its flight, and the receiver picks it up late. | The line from the eye to the ball stays inside your outline until the ball is nearly on you. What the receiver sees |
| A body in the way shuts the whole front wall. | It shuts a few lanes and leaves others tight. The lob and the lanes on the far side of you usually stay open. | A return is one line. Only the lines that cross your outline are lost. Return lanes |
| A still body is a legal block on any court. | Only on one-wall. On three-wall, four-wall and 60×30 the side that just hit must yield position: play the shot, then clear. | The books differ by court, and one-wall is the home of the legal block. Where the block comes from |
| You can settle your block once the ball has gone. | You cannot, on any court. On one-wall your feet stay where the shot left them, with your stance, your lean and your natural follow-through, and nothing more. | A hop moves your whole body, and so the whole block, after the receiver has read the play. Where the block comes from |
| The closer the ball comes to you, the better. | On one-wall, close is your advantage, but a ball that touches you is an out on you. On the walled courts a ball that close is a screen and a replay. | On one-wall the best ball clears your body by a small margin. On the other courts you owe the receiver a clear view. Shot choice |
One-wall and the walled courts
Standing your ground is one-wall only. On three-wall, four-wall and 60×30 the side that just hit must yield position, and a ball too close to you to see is a screen and a replay: play the shot, then clear, giving the receiver a fair path and view. Everywhere, you may not move to block, a ball off the wall that touches you is an out on you, and you may jam the receiver with a hard ball straight at the body.
Geometry, not measured play
Every drawing and number in this guide is worked out from geometry: straight lines, a body of set sizes and a ball with no air. They will be updated as play is measured. For now, read each number as a guide to size and direction, for the case drawn.
Contents
What the receiver sees
A still body hides part of the wall, part of the floor and, for a moment, the ball. How much depends on your stance and, far more, on how close the receiver is.
Return lanes
The receiver's options are lines from the hand to the wall. A still body shuts some, squeezes others and leaves the rest alone. Where you stand decides which.
Where the block comes from
On one-wall your blocking position comes from where and how you make your shot: you keep your stance, your lean and your natural follow-through, and you may not hop or step to a new spot afterward. On three-wall, four-wall and 60×30 you play your shot and then clear.
Shot choice
On one-wall a block is decided before the ball leaves your hand, so it belongs in your choice of shot. On three-wall, four-wall and 60×30 the same sums show what you have to get out of the way of.
The numbers
Everything in this guide comes from straight lines, a set of body sizes and the courts as specified. Here is what it assumes and what it leaves out.
The words this guide uses
- Hitter: the player who has just hit the ball. Receiver: the player who has to play it next. The rulebooks call these the defensive and the offensive player.
- Shadow: the part of the wall or floor the hitter's body hides from the receiver's eye.
- Lane: one return the receiver might play, such as a kill to a corner. Open means the ball clears the hitter by 1 ft or more. Tight means it clears by less, so the receiver has to play round the body. Shut means the ball would hit the body.
- Legal hinder: the one-wall book's name for a hitter who stays perfectly still and is in the way. It is not a hinder at all, and play goes on. The GAA wallball rules call the same thing a legal block.
- Dead-ball hinder: interference that stops play, and the rally is replayed.
- Avoidable hinder: interference the player could have avoided. It costs the rally: a point or an out.
- Yield position: what the side that just hit must do on three-wall, four-wall and 60×30: get out of the way, so the receiver has a fair path and view.
- Screen: a ball that passes so close to a player that the other side cannot see it. In a rally on three-wall, four-wall or 60×30 a screen ball is replayed.
A note on the game
The game does not model what a body hides yet. Its players always see the ball perfectly, whoever is standing in the way. A ball off the wall that touches a receiver is an out on them, as this guide says. Its referee does tell the courts apart: a still player is left alone on one-wall and has to make way on the others. This guide describes real play, not the game.
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