# Shot choice: block on one-wall, clear on walled courts

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.

## One-wall: play the ball back close to your body

**Figure 22. One-wall: how close is close enough.** Geometry, one-wall: how far from your feet a drive comes back, about 1.5 ft up as it goes past you, with the receiver 8 ft straight behind you. A wide stance makes the touching stretch longer, and it hides the ball for less of the way.

> Figure 22 in words: For one-wall, two strips measuring out from the hitter's feet to the right. Upright: a ball closer than about 0.7 feet touches the hitter, which is an out on the hitter; from there to about 3.6 feet it clears and is hidden for part of the way; beyond that it is in sight all the way. Wide stance: the touching stretch runs out to about 1.2 feet, and the hidden stretch ends at about 3.0 feet.

The strongest use of a block is a ball that comes back near you. Figure 22 shows the three things that can happen. Too close and it touches you, which is an out on you: about 0.7 feet from your feet, standing upright. A little wider and it clears you but stays hidden for part of its flight, out to about 3.6 feet with the receiver 8 feet behind. Wider still and it is an ordinary ball in plain sight.

Aim for the middle of that stretch, with your margin on the safe side. Stand wide and the sum changes: your legs reach out to about 1.2 feet, and the ball is hidden for less of the way. If you mean to bring the ball back close to yourself, the wide stance works against you.

A ball like this is hard to hit as well as hard to see. The receiver has to come round you to reach it, with a shortened swing, and has less time to choose. It does not have to be a winner. A weak return is enough, because that is the ball you score from on the next play.

## One-wall: choose where to hit from

Before you hit, ask where the receiver's best return is. Then, if you have a choice, meet the ball so your body ends up across that lane. On the [return lanes](https://handball.theperfectship.com/guide/blocking/lanes.md) page, a hitter in the way shut the cross-court and squeezed the straight and the left-corner kill, just by where the shot was played from.

- A receiver close behind you: your body is at its biggest, so a ball near you is at its strongest. Look for it.
- A receiver well back: your shadow is small. Do not count on a block. Play to the open court.
- A receiver off to one side: stand so your body lies on the line to the far corner, where the receiver would like to go.
- A ball you can take with either hand: pick the one that leaves your feet on the receiver's side of it.

And remember the lob. No block stops it for long. A block that forces a lob has still done its work, as a lob gives you time and a look at the ball.

## Every court: the jam

You can jam a receiver on one-wall, three-wall, four-wall and 60×30. A jam is a ball hit hard off the wall so it comes directly at their chest. A ball that touches them anywhere but the striking hand is an out on them, and that is what makes it work: they have to get their body out of the way and their hand to the ball at the same moment, with no room to swing. From the short line, a 70 ft/s drive at a receiver 8 feet behind you is on them about 0.5 seconds after it leaves the wall.

A jam is not a block. A jam is a shot at the opponent: it is about where the ball goes. A block is where your body ends up. A jam needs nobody in the way, so it is a shot you can play on any court.

## Three-wall, four-wall and 60×30: play the shot, then clear

On these courts the side that just hit must yield position, so the one-wall plans above do not apply. Clearing is what you do after the shot, though, not a limit on the shot. Hit the ball where it does the most: the open court, a kill, or a jam straight at the receiver. Then give the receiver a fair path and a clear view.

The sums still help, as a measure of what to avoid. On four-wall, with the receiver 8 feet behind you, a drive that passes within about 4.5 feet of your feet is out of the receiver's sight for part of its flight. That is the ball that gets called a screen and replayed, so a winner you hit that way may have to be played again. Bring your drives back wider than that, or be off the line before the ball comes back.

The closer the receiver is behind you, the more you hide, so that is when clearing matters most. See [the steps and the calls](https://handball.theperfectship.com/guide/blocking/legal.md).

## Differences by court

**Figure 23. The same body on four front walls.** Geometry: every wall to one scale, from the dimensions in the court specifications. The hitter is on the short line, the receiver halfway from there to the back. The dark area is hidden: a block on one-wall, and on the other courts something the hitter has to clear.

> Figure 23 in words: Four front walls drawn to one scale, the hitter on the short line and the receiver halfway from there to the back. One-wall: a wall 20 by 16 feet, about 9% hidden. Three-wall: a wall 20 by 20 feet, about 8% hidden. Four-wall: a wall 20 by 20 feet, about 8% hidden. 60×30: a wall 30 by 27 feet, about 5% hidden. On one-wall that is a block. On the other three courts it is what the hitter has to clear.

The same body means different things on different courts. Figure 23 uses the same player on four walls. With the receiver halfway back, the hitter hides about 9% of the one-wall front wall, 8% on the larger three-wall and four-wall walls, and only 5% on 60×30. On one-wall that is the size of your block. On the other courts it is the size of what you need to clear.

**Figure 24. Open sides and side walls.** Geometry, seen from above: the same two spots on two courts. Side walls and a ceiling add lanes the body does not reach. Only the flight to the first wall is drawn. On four-wall this hitter has to clear.

> Figure 24 in words: The same two players on a one-wall court and a four-wall court, from above. One-wall: 3 open, 2 tight, 1 shut. Four-wall: 6 open, 2 tight, 1 shut. The four-wall court adds two pinches and a ceiling ball, and the pinch into the near wall goes round the hitter. On four-wall the hitter drawn here is in the way and has to clear.

Side walls give the receiver ways round a body. In Figure 24 the same two players stand on two courts. The lanes they share fare the same, but four-wall adds the pinches and the ceiling ball, and the left pinch, the right pinch and the ceiling ball are open. On one-wall there is nothing to go round with: a ball wide of the line is out, so your body and the side lines close the court together. On four-wall the hitter in that picture is in the way and has to move.

*The four courts. Dimensions are from the court specifications; the rest is geometry and the rulebooks.*

| Court | What the court and the book do | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| One-wall (20 by 34 ft, wall 16 ft) | Open sides, no way round. A still body is at its strongest, and the book calls it the essence of the game. | Build your game on it. Think about your block on every shot. |
| Three-wall (20 by 40 ft, wall 20 ft) | Side walls add the pinches, and there is no back wall. The four-wall book applies: the side that just hit yields position, and a screen ball is replayed. | Play the shot, then clear. Give the receiver a fair path and view. |
| Four-wall (20 by 40 ft, wall 20 ft) | Side walls, a back wall and a ceiling: more lanes, and a ball that gets past the receiver can come back off the back wall. The side that just hit yields position, and a screen ball is replayed. | Play the shot, then clear. A ball that comes back on top of you only gets a replay. |
| 60×30 (30 by 60 ft, wall 27 ft) | The same body on a far bigger wall, with players far apart. The GAA book asks the side that just hit to yield position. | Play the shot, then clear. There is plenty of room to get out of the way. |

## Singles and doubles

The books add two things for doubles. Both players on a side are entitled to a fair and unobstructed chance at the ball ([4.7 C](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rules/one-wall/4.7/c.md)), even if it was naturally their partner's. And it is an avoidable hinder if one partner, as the other is returning the ball, moves directly in front of an opponent ([4.8 B](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rules/one-wall/4.8/b.md)). So on one-wall your partner's block has to come from their own place on the court, just as yours does. On the other courts you both clear.

The geometry is plain enough: two still bodies cross more lines than one. In the one-wall scene on the lanes page, one hitter in the middle only squeezes the left-corner kill. A pair standing either side of the middle shuts the cross-court and squeezes the straight and the left-corner kill. That is why the partner rule matters.

How these numbers were worked out: [the numbers](https://handball.theperfectship.com/guide/blocking/model.md).

Part of the blocking guide: https://handball.theperfectship.com/guide/blocking.md