# USHA alone: one body, three codes, online rules (1978-) In: [Learn](https://handball.theperfectship.com/learn.md) > [History](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history.md) > [Eras](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/eras.md) > USHA alone: one body, three codes, online rules (1978-) Era, United States. from 1978. American four-wall, One-wall (small and big ball), Three-wall. Status: Machine-reviewed. A person has not yet read this page through. With the A.A.U. gone, the USHA governs four-wall, three-wall and one-wall under one rulebook family, publishes the rules on the web ('as of January 26, 2025', with board-minute changes marked in green), keeps a continuous national-champions record (four-wall to 2026, three-wall and one-wall to 2025) and, in its one-wall rules, admits the big ball ('gloves are optional ... big balls can weigh less'). The Irish bodies now borrow from it: the GAA's 2019 1-wall rules and its 40x20 'International 4-Wall' rules are USHA text ([H-21](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-21.md), [H-24](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-24.md) supported). ## The take What the USHA inherited from the A.A.U. is the game and a few phrases (the instruction to be liberal in calling hinders echoes the wording of 1920), not the text: the A.A.U.'s 1931 book and the USHA's 1990 rules share 5.7% of their five-word runs, and nothing in the borrowing layer links them. The text link, if there is one, runs through the unified rules of 1958-60, which are not transcribed ([H-03](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-03.md)). The USHA's authority now reaches Ireland by borrowing, not by treaty. ## Moments in order - **1978** (Hypothesis, not yet settled): Start by hypothesis ([H-04](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-04.md), [H-107](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-107.md)): the USHA as sole US governing body. Source for the whole era: [US Handball Association, "Four-Wall Rulebook" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.ushandball.org/four-wall-rulebook/) - **about 2005** (Documented): A secondary page says the USHA's 'last complete rulebook' appeared in 2005 (a secondary source): rules move from print to the web page. Source: [US Handball Association, "Four-Wall Rulebook" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.ushandball.org/four-wall-rulebook/) - **January 2019** (Documented): GAA Handball's one-wall (Wallball) playing rules describe themselves as consistent with the USHA one-wall rules; 84.7% of its five-word runs (6,251 of 7,380) come from the USHA one-wall text of 2014-01, none of the 229 runs new in the USHA's revision of 27 January 2019 are in it, and 352 runs are Irish Handball Council wording of 2009 ([H-21](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-21.md) supported; the edge is machine-reviewed). The GAA's 40x20 book of 2020 took 891 runs directly from the USHA four-wall text of 2015-17 ([H-24](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-24.md) supported). Source: [GAA Handball Playing Rules: 1-Wall (Wexford GAA copy) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Playing-Rules-1-wall.pdf). Also: [Wexford GAA Handball, "Playing rules: 60x30 softball, 40x20, 4-wall" (updated March 2020) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Playing-rules-60x30-softball-40x20-4-wall-updated-March-2020.pdf) - **26 January 2025** (Documented): USHA Four-Wall Rulebook and One-Wall Rulebook 'as of January 26, 2025' (Four-Wall Rulebook (2025), One-Wall Rulebook (2025), [Three-Wall Addendum - Changes from Four-Wall Rules (2025)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-threewall-2025-01-26.md)): court 20 x 40 x 20 ft; one-wall 20 x 34 ft with a 16-ft wall and a 16-ft short line; ball 1 7/8 in, 61 g; gloves and eye protection compulsory; two fault serves; dead-ball and avoidable hinders; changes kept in board minutes. Source: [US Handball Association, "Four-Wall Rulebook" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.ushandball.org/four-wall-rulebook/). Also: [US Handball Association, "One-Wall Rulebook" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.ushandball.org/learn-handball/one-wall-rulebook/) Read the rulebook: [Three-Wall Addendum - Changes from Four-Wall Rules](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-threewall-2025-01-26.md) - **2026** (Documented): USHA national four-wall champions listed through 2026 (USHA national four-wall handball championships). Source: [US Handball Association, "National Champions" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.ushandball.org/about/national-champions/) - **20 June 1990** (Documented): 'The Official United States Handball Association Handball Rules With Interpretations', adopted 20 June 1990 and printed in 1991, in 46 pages by one catalog record ([The Official United States Handball Association Handball Rules With Interpretations and One-Wall and Three-Wall Addendum Revised 1991 (1990)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-fourwall-1990-06-20.md); [H-131](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-131.md)): the earliest USHA rule text transcribed, from later web copies (the June 1972 magazine prints an earlier USHA four-wall text, The USHA prints 'Official USHA Four-Wall Handball Rules' in its June 1972 magazine, naming the rules chairman and a Seattle drafter of the first official USHA rules). It already uses 'avoidable hinder' and 'dead-ball hinder'. Source: [Colorado Handball Association, "The Official United States Handball Association Handball Rules" (Wayback snapshot of 19 May 1998)](https://web.archive.org/web/19980519203944/http://www.cohandball.com:80/official_united_states_handball_.htm) Read the rulebook: [The Official United States Handball Association Handball Rules With Interpretations and One-Wall and Three-Wall Addendum Revised 1991](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-fourwall-1990-06-20.md) - **14 October 1994** (Documented): 'The New and Official' USHA One-Wall Rules, adopted 14 October 1994 ([The New and Official United States Handball Association One-Wall Rules With Interpretations 1995 (1994)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-onewall-1994-10-14.md)), on the USHA's web site by January 1997: the earliest USHA one-wall text held; gloves compulsory, no big-ball exception yet. Source: [US Handball Association, "Current Rules" (Wayback snapshot of 31 January 1997)](https://web.archive.org/web/19970131180607/http://www.ushandball.org:80/handball/RULES.html). Also: [US Handball Association, "USHA One Wall Handball Rules Master Page" (Wayback snapshot of 31 January 1997)](https://web.archive.org/web/19970131170533/http://www.ushandball.org:80/handball/handball.html) Read the rulebook: [The New and Official United States Handball Association One-Wall Rules With Interpretations 1995](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-onewall-1994-10-14.md) - **31 January 1999** (Documented): The Official USHA Handball Rules, 1999 ([The Official USHA Handball Rules, 1999 (1999)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-fourwall-1999-01-31.md)); the one-wall rules were revised between January 1998 and August 1999 ([H-146](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-146.md)). From here the four-wall text is held in a near-annual series to 2025. Source: [Colorado Handball Association, "Part 1" (Wayback snapshot of 14 September 2000)](https://web.archive.org/web/20000914195049/http://www.cohandball.com:80/rule_book/rulesvr99%20with%20interpretations.htm) Read the rulebook: [The Official USHA Handball Rules, 1999](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-fourwall-1999-01-31.md) - **December 2004 to 16 January 2005** (Documented): A Three-Wall Addendum, 'changes from four-wall rules' ([Three-Wall Addendum - Changes from Four-Wall Rules (2004)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-threewall-2004-12.md)), and the 2005 rules ([The Official USHA Handball Rules, 2005 (2005)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-fourwall-2005-01-16.md)), the year a secondary page calls the last complete printed rulebook. Source: [US Handball Association, "Four-Wall Rulebook" (Wayback snapshot of 13 October 2007)](https://web.archive.org/web/20071013173352/http://ushandball.org:80/content/view/50/225/). Also: [US Handball Association, official rules page (Wayback snapshot of 4 January 2006)](https://web.archive.org/web/20060104055021/http://www.ushandball.org:80/officialrules.html) Read the rulebooks: [The Official USHA Handball Rules, 2005](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-fourwall-2005-01-16.md); [Three-Wall Addendum - Changes from Four-Wall Rules](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-threewall-2004-12.md) - **20 June 1990** (Documented): Eye protection, timeouts (three in a 21-point game, two in an 11-point game) and the 11-point tiebreak are first in the texts held in the USHA's rules of 1990 ([The Official United States Handball Association Handball Rules With Interpretations and One-Wall and Three-Wall Addendum Revised 1991 (1990)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-fourwall-1990-06-20.md)). The Council took all three by 2009, the USWA the timeouts by 2018, the GAA all three by 2020 and the CIJB by 2023. Source: [Colorado Handball Association, "The Official United States Handball Association Handball Rules" (Wayback snapshot of 19 May 1998)](https://web.archive.org/web/19980519203944/http://www.cohandball.com:80/official_united_states_handball_.htm). Also: [Wexford GAA Handball, "Playing Rules" PDF (uploaded August 2016) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Playing-Rules.pdf); [Wexford GAA Handball, "Playing rules: 60x30 softball, 40x20, 4-wall" (updated March 2020) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Playing-rules-60x30-softball-40x20-4-wall-updated-March-2020.pdf); [CIJB Wallball Rules (English), file dated 23 March 2023 (seen 28 October 2026)](https://cijb.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/wallball_eng-1.pdf) Read the rulebook: [The Official United States Handball Association Handball Rules With Interpretations and One-Wall and Three-Wall Addendum Revised 1991](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-fourwall-1990-06-20.md) - **31 January 1999** (Documented): 664 of the 1,526 five-word runs new in the four-wall text of 1999 were already in the one-wall text of 1994 (96 shared clauses in Parts 2 to 5); whether the one-wall book led cannot be decided without a four-wall text of 1991-98. Source: [Colorado Handball Association, "Part 1" (Wayback snapshot of 14 September 2000)](https://web.archive.org/web/20000914195049/http://www.cohandball.com:80/rule_book/rulesvr99%20with%20interpretations.htm). Also: [US Handball Association, "Current Rules" (Wayback snapshot of 31 January 1997)](https://web.archive.org/web/19970131180607/http://www.ushandball.org:80/handball/RULES.html) Read the rulebooks: [The Official USHA Handball Rules, 1999](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-fourwall-1999-01-31.md); [The New and Official United States Handball Association One-Wall Rules With Interpretations 1995](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-onewall-1994-10-14.md) ## What the sources do not show - USHA rulebooks 1978-1989: none held; from 1990 the four-wall text is held (1990, 1999, 2005, then near-annual 2012-2025) and the one-wall text from 1994, all from web copies; the printed 1991 book ([H-131](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-131.md)) is unseen. - USHA board minutes (the stated home of rule changes) are not saved; the green-text change markers are lost in the text extract; the one-wall big-ball exception is dated only to after 1994 and by 2025. - Three-wall rules before the 2004 addendum and the three-wall game's own history: nothing beyond the champions list and the 1959 Forest Park court ([H-128](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-128.md)). - The USHA magazine 1971-2005 (vols 21-55) is in a dark Internet Archive collection; the rest of 1973-2016 is not online. - The era's start (1978) is a secondary claim ([H-04](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-04.md), [H-107](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-107.md)); the 1968 unified booklet without the USHA and the A.A.U.'s 1983 rules citation ([H-133](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-133.md)) suggest the real boundary is a process, not a year. - Adopting acts: of the USHA's 49 text states, 12 have an adopting body and 2 a chair (Pete Tyson, 1990 and 1999, inferred from his printed interpretations); only the states of 2006-07 name the USHA Board. No committee is named for the revisions of 1999 or 2005, and the board minutes that would hold them are not saved. ## Threads that run through this era - [Hinder: a word that changed meaning](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/hinder-a-word-that-changed-meaning.md) - [One-wall becomes its own game](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/one-wall-becomes-its-own-game.md) - [The ball: from 'about two inches' to 1 7/8 in and 61 grams](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/the-ball.md) - [The court shrinks: 60 x 30 in Ireland, 65 x 24 to 20 x 40 in America](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/the-court-shrinks.md) - [The serve: one ace line, then two lines, then the short line](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/the-serve.md) - [Who writes the rules: court keeper, newspaper, federation, board](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/who-writes-the-rules.md) ## Neighboring eras in the United States - [The USHA, the common rules and the end of A.A.U. handball (1951-1978)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/eras/us-usha-and-the-common-rules.md) (earlier, 1951-1978) - [Wallball organizes: the big ball finds its bodies (1996-)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/eras/us-wallball-organises.md) (later, from 1996) ## Rulebooks cited here - [Three-Wall Addendum - Changes from Four-Wall Rules](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-threewall-2025-01-26.md) - [The Official United States Handball Association Handball Rules With Interpretations and One-Wall and Three-Wall Addendum Revised 1991](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-fourwall-1990-06-20.md) - [The New and Official United States Handball Association One-Wall Rules With Interpretations 1995](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-onewall-1994-10-14.md) - [The Official USHA Handball Rules, 1999](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-fourwall-1999-01-31.md) - [The Official USHA Handball Rules, 2005](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-fourwall-2005-01-16.md) - [Three-Wall Addendum - Changes from Four-Wall Rules](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/usha-threewall-2004-12.md) ## Sources - [CIJB Wallball Rules (English), file dated 23 March 2023 (seen 28 October 2026)](https://cijb.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/wallball_eng-1.pdf) - [Colorado Handball Association, "Part 1" (Wayback snapshot of 14 September 2000)](https://web.archive.org/web/20000914195049/http://www.cohandball.com:80/rule_book/rulesvr99%20with%20interpretations.htm) - [Colorado Handball Association, "The Official United States Handball Association Handball Rules" (Wayback snapshot of 19 May 1998)](https://web.archive.org/web/19980519203944/http://www.cohandball.com:80/official_united_states_handball_.htm) - [GAA Handball Playing Rules: 1-Wall (Wexford GAA copy) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Playing-Rules-1-wall.pdf) - [US Handball Association, "Current Rules" (Wayback snapshot of 31 January 1997)](https://web.archive.org/web/19970131180607/http://www.ushandball.org:80/handball/RULES.html) - [US Handball Association, "Four-Wall Rulebook" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.ushandball.org/four-wall-rulebook/) - [US Handball Association, "Four-Wall Rulebook" (Wayback snapshot of 13 October 2007)](https://web.archive.org/web/20071013173352/http://ushandball.org:80/content/view/50/225/) - [US Handball Association, "National Champions" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.ushandball.org/about/national-champions/) - [US Handball Association, "One-Wall Rulebook" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.ushandball.org/learn-handball/one-wall-rulebook/) - [US Handball Association, "USHA One Wall Handball Rules Master Page" (Wayback snapshot of 31 January 1997)](https://web.archive.org/web/19970131170533/http://www.ushandball.org:80/handball/handball.html) - [US Handball Association, official rules page (Wayback snapshot of 4 January 2006)](https://web.archive.org/web/20060104055021/http://www.ushandball.org:80/officialrules.html) - [Wexford GAA Handball, "Playing rules: 60x30 softball, 40x20, 4-wall" (updated March 2020) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Playing-rules-60x30-softball-40x20-4-wall-updated-March-2020.pdf) - [Wexford GAA Handball, "Playing Rules" PDF (uploaded August 2016) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Playing-Rules.pdf) ## Corrections Found a mistake, or a source we missed? Email perfectshipllc@gmail.com with the subject "History correction: USHA alone: one body, three codes, online rules (1978-) (/history/eras/us-usha-alone/)". Please name the page and, if you can, the source.