Handball

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One-wall becomes its own game

1889-2026 · One-wall (small and big ball), Three-wall

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The New York code of 1889 already allowed for courts 'with boundary lines drawn, and no side walls' (H-105), but one-wall handball became a game of its own only when it got a name, a court and a federation: 'American handball' against 'Irish (four wall)' handball (Brokaw 1915, the Sun 1916), a 20-ft board with a 26-ft floor and a 13-ft service line, then the A.A.U.'s 20 x 34 ft court with a 16-ft wall (1922), drafted by adapting the four-wall rules, not Brokaw's (H-62, H-50). It kept its own championship (A.A.U. one-wall; USHA one-wall nationals from 1959), grew a second code when the park players' big ball got bodies of its own (SAHA 1996, USWA 2010), and was exported back across the Atlantic as GAA 'Wallball' (2019, 2025) and the CIJB's metric court (2023). The one-wall game is the American code that Ireland and the world adopted. Text and game descend differently: the CIJB's 2023 court (6.10 x 10.60 m) descends from the American one-wall court while its wording matches no earlier text in this record (H-23 narrowed); the GAA's 2019 wallball document takes 84.7% of its five-word runs from the USHA one-wall text of 2014 (H-21), with 352 more from the Irish Handball Council's rules of 2009; the USWA's texts descend from neither (H-75).

The take

One-wall is the code the project exists for, and its documentary record is thinner than four-wall's for every decade but the 2010s. The decisive finding so far is negative: the one-wall rules are not Brokaw's; they are the A.A.U.'s four-wall rules with the walls removed.

Moments in order

16 moments. Each shows its status in words and its source.

  1. 17 March 1889 · Documented

    Sun code R23: 'In case there are only boundary lines drawn, and no side walls', a ball rebounding outside the side boundary line is foul: open-sided courts under the New York rules (H-105).

    Source: The Sun (New York), 17 March 1889, p. 7

  2. by 26 April 1915 · Documented

    First one-wall tournament report found: outdoor single-wall handball with gloves at the Van Kelton Field next to the West Side Y.M.C.A.; courts 'indoors, on roofs and even in vacant lots' (H-97).

    Source: The Evening World (New York), 26 April 1915, p. 12

  3. 18 December 1915 · Documented

    Brokaw's 'How to Play American Hand Ball' (Rules of American Hand Ball (1916)): board 20 x 10 ft, floor 20 x 26 ft, field 55 x 40 ft; gloves compulsory (sold by the publisher); win by two at 20-all; the serve may not be volleyed; a ball on a line is good.

    Source: James I. Brokaw, How to Play American Hand Ball (1915), pp. 39-43

    Read the rulebook: Rules of American Hand Ball

  4. 9 August 1916 · Documented

    The Sun: 'Don't confuse American handball with Irish (four wall) handball'; courts 60 x 40 with 26-ft side lines and 20-ft front lines, 13 ft from service line to board (1916 newspaper notes). A Norwich, Conn., Y.M.C.A. has a one-wall court on the street floor (1916 newspaper notes).

    Source: The Sun (New York), 9 August 1916, p. 11. Also: Norwich Bulletin (Norwich), 17 February 1916, p. 8

  5. 20 November 1922 · Documented

    A.A.U. One-Wall Rules adopted: court about 20 x 34 ft, wall 16 ft, short line at least 13 ft; standard rubber ball; two faults; fly return allowed; no gloves rule (A.A.U. One-Wall Rules (1922)). 18 of 35 rules are the 1922 four-wall text (H-62 supported); Brokaw's wording is absent (H-50 supported); the 13-ft line may be his (H-51).

    Source: Robert L. Ripley (ed.), Spalding's Official Handball Guide (1923), p. 75

    Read the rulebook: A.A.U. One-Wall Rules

  6. 1923 · Documented

    Ripley's suggested four-wall changes match one-wall practice (H-65): the younger code starts to influence the older.

    Source: Robert L. Ripley (ed.), Spalding's Official Handball Guide (1923)

  7. 1928-1949 · Documented

    A.A.U. one-wall rules printed in the 1928 guide (One-Wall Playing Rules (in Spalding's Official Handball Guide, 1928) (1927)) and the 1949 'Official rules handball: four-wall, one-wall, four-wall hardball' (Official rules handball : four-wall, one-wall, four-wall handball (1949)); texts unseen.

    Source: Google Books, Spalding's Official Handball Guide (1928), p. 31 text view (seen 30 October 2026). Also: WorldCat, search for AAU official rules handball (seen 28 October 2026)

    Read the rulebook: One-Wall Playing Rules (in Spalding's Official Handball Guide, 1928)

  8. 1959 · Documented

    USHA one-wall nationals begin, New York (USHA national one-wall handball championships; 1975-76 missing from the list).

    Source: US Handball Association, "National Champions" (seen 28 October 2026)

  9. 1996-2010 · Documented

    The big ball gets bodies: SAHA (1996) and King of the Courts (1998); USWA (2010) with its own rules from 2018 (Wall Ball Rules (2021) etc.), which never state court or ball (H-75).

    Source: United States Wall Ball Association, "Wall Ball Rules" (Wayback snapshot of 11 April 2021)

  10. January 2019 · Documented

    GAA Handball's 1-wall (Wallball) rules, 20 x 34 ft, 16-ft wall, 1 7/8 in 61 g ball, 'consistent with' USHA's (Official Irish 1-Wall (Wallball) Playing Rules - As of January 2019 (2019); H-21 supported).

    Source: GAA Handball Playing Rules: 1-Wall (Wexford GAA copy) (seen 28 October 2026)

  11. March 2023 · Documented

    CIJB Wallball Rules: 6.10 x 10.60 m court, 4.90 m wall, two sets of 21 (WALLBALL RULES (2023)): the one-wall court in meters.

    Source: CIJB Wallball Rules (English), file dated 23 March 2023 (seen 28 October 2026)

  12. 26 January 2025 · Documented

    USHA One-Wall Rulebook: 20 x 34 ft, wall 20 x 16 ft, short line 16 ft, long line 34 ft; gloves compulsory except 'Big ball ... gloves are optional'; 'big balls can weigh less' (One-Wall Rulebook (2025)); GAA's combined book adds a Wallball section with 'Big Blue Wallball' and 'Penn Wallball' (Official Irish 4-Wall, Softball, Hardball & Wallball Playing Rules (2025)).

    Source: US Handball Association, "One-Wall Rulebook" (seen 28 October 2026). Also: GAA Handball Playing Rules: 4-Wall, Wallball, 60x30 Softball and Hardball (Wexford GAA copy), file dated 29 May 2025 (seen 28 October 2026)

  13. 2026 · Documented

    World Wallball Championships (World Wallball Championships); USWA rules revised 22 Oct 2026.

    Source: United States Wall Ball Association, "Meet the Champions | 2026 World Wallball Championships" (seen 28 October 2026)

  14. 1898-1913 · Documented

    The Y.M.C.A.'s single-wall court rules (approved 1898, revised June 1900, revised 1913: Hand Ball Rules (1900), Hand Ball Rules: Single Wall Court (1913); H-136, H-139, H-140) are the earliest one-wall rules text in this record, printed in the Association's handbooks fifteen years before Brokaw. Whether playground New York knew them is untested.

    Source: Athletic League of the Young Men's Christian Associations of Canada, Official Handbook (1904), pp. 79-81. Also: Athletic League of the Young Men's Christian Associations of North America, Official Handbook (1913), p. 119

    Read the rulebooks: Hand Ball Rules; Hand Ball Rules: Single Wall Court

  15. 14 October 1994 · Documented

    The USHA's one-wall rules of 14 October 1994 (The New and Official United States Handball Association One-Wall Rules With Interpretations 1995 (1994)), on its web site by 1997 and revised 1998-99 (H-146): the first USHA one-wall text held, with gloves compulsory and no big-ball exception.

    Source: US Handball Association, "Current Rules" (Wayback snapshot of 31 January 1997)

    Read the rulebook: The New and Official United States Handball Association One-Wall Rules With Interpretations 1995

  16. 20 November 1922 to 14 October 1994 · Documented

    The one-wall short line moved a foot at a time: at least 13 ft in 1922, 14 ft in 1927, 15 ft in 1931 and 16 ft, to its back edge, in the USHA's text of 1994; the GAA of 2019 and the CIJB of 2023 (16.1 ft) use 16. Only 15 to 16 ft (1932-1993) is undated.

    Source: Robert L. Ripley (ed.), Spalding's Official Handball Guide (1923), p. 75. Also: Charles J. O'Connell, How to Play Handball (American Sports Publishing Company, 1931), p. 97; US Handball Association, "Current Rules" (Wayback snapshot of 31 January 1997); Google Books, Spalding's Official Handball Guide (1928), p. 31 text view (seen 30 October 2026)

    Read the rulebooks: A.A.U. One-Wall Rules; One-Wall Playing Rules (in Spalding's Official Handball Guide, 1928); A.A.U. One-Wall Rules (in Charles J. O'Connell, How to Play Handball, 1931); The New and Official United States Handball Association One-Wall Rules With Interpretations 1995

What the sources do not show

  • 1889-1915: the Y.M.C.A.'s single-wall code (1898, 1900, 1913) is now held, but nothing connects it to the New York playground game of 1915; between the Sun's rule 23 (H-105) and the Van Kelton report nothing else has been looked for.
  • 1916-1918 and 1920-1958 newspapers unswept; the Brooklyn Eagle unread; A.A.U. one-wall championships of the 1920s-40s unrecorded.
  • One-wall rule texts 1932-1993: the 1949 printing is a catalog record, the 1967 booklet a notice; when the short line went from 15 ft (1931) to 16 ft (USHA 1994), when gloves were required (compulsory by 1994), when the big-ball exception was added (after 1994, by 2025): all undated.
  • The big-ball game's own history before 1996: no source.
  • Three-wall, the one-wall game's sibling (A.A.U. 1950, USHA from 1951; a Queens court opened 1959, H-128), has no rules history before the 2004 addendum.
  • The GAA 1-wall rules 2019 were compared with the 2025 USHA text, not a c.2018 one (H-21 caveat).

Eras this thread crosses

Rulebooks cited here

Sources