Handball

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The court shrinks: 60 x 30 in Ireland, 65 x 24 to 20 x 40 in America

1874-2025 · American four-wall, One-wall (small and big ball), Irish 60x30 (hardball and softball), 40x20 and international four-wall

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The Irish alley is a 60-ft floor, open at the back, and the GAA still plays 60 x 30; the New York courts of the 1880s were the same length (Degraw Street 65 x 24 ft with a 35-ft front wall; the Sun's 'regulation' 50-60 ft long, about 30 wide, 40 high) with a solid back wall that the Irish courts lacked. The American four-wall court then shrank in steps, most of which this record can now date: 24 1/2 x 35 (Deshong's text, 1893; 60 x 24 1/2 x 35 in the 1903 book), 24 x 50 (A.A.U. 1920), 24 x 48 (1922), 22 x 46 x 22 (the A.A.U. guide of 1928, kept in 1931) and 20 x 40 x 20 (USHA, by 1990 and today); only the last step, somewhere in 1932-1989, is undated (H-106). The Y.M.C.A. had already played on a 40 x 20 floor in 1915. The one-wall court went the other way, from Brokaw's 20 x 26 floor to the A.A.U.'s 20 x 34 (1922), which the USHA, the GAA and (in meters, 6.10 x 10.60) the CIJB still use. Ireland adopted the American 40 x 20 court in 1969 and the Irish-American difference became a choice of code rather than a quarrel about back walls.

The take

The 1887 Degraw Street court (65 x 24, open back-wall quarrel with Ireland) and today's 20 x 40 box are the same game only by descent of rules; the floor lost a third of its length, and the record now dates the middle step (22 x 46 in 1928) and finds the 40 x 20 floor in the Y.M.C.A.'s rules of 1915; only the last step, 1932-1989, is undated. Ireland never shrank its alley: it added the American court beside it in 1969. The 'court shrinks' is an American story; the Irish story is 'the court multiplies'.

Moments in order

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

  1. 3 September 1874 · Documented

    McQuade's Racket and Hand Ball Court, 404 Madison Street: 'the only place of the kind now in the city'; Casey lists the courts in 1875.

    Source: The New York Herald (New York), 4 September 1874, p. 5. Also: The New York Herald (New York), 9 December 1875, p. 10

  2. November 1880 · Documented

    Oamaru, New Zealand: a court 60 x 27 ft at the Shamrock Hotel: the Irish long alley abroad.

    Source: North Otago Times, 17 November 1880 (Papers Past)

  3. November 1887 · Documented

    Brooklyn Handball Club court, Degraw Street: 65 ft long, 24 ft wide, front wall 35 ft high faced with white marble; the Sun's 'regulation' court: about 40 ft high, 50-60 ft long, about 30 ft wide, a line 25 ft from the front wall.

    Source: The Sun (New York), 30 November 1887, p. 3. Also: The Sun (New York), 27 November 1887, p. 11

  4. 1893 · Documented

    Deshong: court text 24 1/2 x 35 ft while the plate reads 25 x 33 ft (transcription notes, 1893 edition); the 1903 book: 'about sixty feet long, twenty-four and one-half feet wide and thirty-five feet high in the front, tapering down to thirty-three feet' (transcription notes, 1903 edition).

    Source: Maurice W. Deshong, The Game of Hand Ball and How to Play It (1893), p. 12. Also: Michael Egan, Handball and How to Play It (1903), p. 41

    Read the rulebooks: Revised Handball Rules of the Amateur Athletic Union of America, For the Government of the National Championship in Singles; Rules and Explanations

  5. by 4 July 1897 · Documented

    'At the back of the Irish court there is an open space, while under the American rules there is a solid wall.'

    Source: Worcester Morning Daily Spy (Worcester), 5 July 1897, p. 5

  6. 29 December 1901 · Documented

    A Basque pelota court at the Olympic Club, San Francisco (figures uncertain; the Tribune item is a San Francisco dispatch): other wall games arrive on the same coast.

    Source: New-York Tribune (New York), 29 December 1901, p. 17

  7. 1903 · Documented

    Ireland, Gaelic Rules (1903) R3-R4: floor 60 ft 'or as near to it as possible'; side lines where side walls are missing; a 4-in tell-board; no width or wall height stated.

    Source: Michael Egan, Handball and How to Play It (1903), p. 33

  8. 1915 · Documented

    Brokaw's one-wall: board 20 ft wide, 10 ft high; floor 20 x 26 ft; field 55 x 40 ft (Rules of American Hand Ball (1916) R53-R55). The Sun 1916: 'Most of the American handball courts are 60 feet by 40 feet, with 26 foot side lines and 20 foot front lines' (1916 newspaper notes).

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

    Read the rulebook: Rules of American Hand Ball

  9. 1 January 1920 · Documented

    A.A.U. four-wall R1: four walls approximately 24 x 50 ft, ceiling at least 25 ft; 'other courts allowed for now' (Hand Ball (1920)).

    Source: Amateur Athletic Union, official athletic rules (Library of Congress digitised volume, 1920)

    Read the rulebook: Hand Ball

  10. 1 January 1922 · Documented

    Revised to 24 x 48 ft (Official Handball Rules of the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States (1923) R1); the 1923 guide's court diagram: 24 x 48 ft, front wall 25 ft (H-67).

    Source: Robert L. Ripley (ed.), Spalding's Official Handball Guide (1923), p. 69

    Read the rulebook: Official Handball Rules of the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States

  11. 20 November 1922 · Documented

    A.A.U. one-wall R1: about 20 ft wide, 34 ft long, wall 16 ft high (A.A.U. One-Wall Rules (1922)).

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

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

  12. 1969 · Documented

    First American-style 4-wall (40x20) court built in Ireland (GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)); All-Ireland 4-wall championship from 1975 (All-Ireland 4-Wall Championships).

    Source: GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026). Also: GAA Handball Ireland, 4-wall championship roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)

  13. 2019-2025 · Documented

    GAA Wallball: 20 x 34 ft, 16-ft wall (Official Irish 1-Wall (Wallball) Playing Rules - As of January 2019 (2019), Official Irish 4-Wall, Softball, Hardball & Wallball Playing Rules (2025)); GAA International 4-Wall: 40 x 20 x 20 ft (Official Irish 4-Wall, Softball, Hardball & Wallball Playing Rules (2025)); 60x30 softball and hardball keep the alley (Irish 60x30 hardball notes: 60 x 30 ft, front wall 27 ft, locator not yet read).

    Source: GAA Handball Playing Rules: 1-Wall (Wexford GAA copy) (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)

  14. March 2023 · Documented

    CIJB: 6.10 x 10.60 m, wall 4.90 m (WALLBALL RULES (2023)): the 20 x 34 court in meters (approximately 20 x 34.8 ft, wall 16.1 ft).

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

  15. 26 January 2025 · Documented

    USHA four-wall 2.1/A: 20 ft wide, 20 ft high, 40 ft long, back wall at least 14 ft recommended; one-wall 2.1/A: wall 20 x 16 ft, floor 20 x 34 ft, a run-off border of at least 10 ft (Four-Wall Rulebook (2025), One-Wall Rulebook (2025)).

    Source: US Handball Association, "Four-Wall Rulebook" (seen 28 October 2026). Also: US Handball Association, "One-Wall Rulebook" (seen 28 October 2026)

  16. 1958-1959 · Documented

    The A.A.U.'s 1962 book (H-128; seller photographs) dates the first all-glass court (Aurora Y.M.C.A., 1958) and the official opening of a three-wall 'jai-alai type' court at Forrest Park Playground, Queens (the book's spelling) (29 November 1959): the walls change material and number before this record can date the floor shrinking to 20 x 40.

    Source: eBay listing 178429923015: seller photographs of an A.A.U. handball rules booklet (1962) (seen 30 October 2026)

  17. May 1915 · Documented

    The Y.M.C.A.'s four-wall court, adopted at Asilomar in May 1915, is 40 ft long, 20 ft wide and 18 ft high with a 10-ft rear wall (Hand Ball Rules: Four Wall Court (1915)): the 40 x 20 floor, 75 years before the first USHA text held (H-106).

    Source: Athletic League of the Young Men's Christian Associations of North America, Official Handbook (1915), p. 181

    Read the rulebook: Hand Ball Rules: Four Wall Court

  18. 1928 · Documented

    The A.A.U.'s standard court in the 1928 guide is 22 ft wide, 46 ft long and 22 ft high (Official Handball Playing Rules of the A.A.U. (in Spalding's Official Handball Guide, 1928) (1928) Rule 1), with the short line at midcourt, 23 ft from the back wall; O'Connell's 1931 book keeps 22 x 46 (A.A.U. Soft Ball Four-Wall Rules (in Charles J. O'Connell, How to Play Handball, 1931) (1931)). The change from 24 x 48 falls between the 1923 and 1928 guides (H-106).

    Source: Charles J. O'Connell, How to Play Handball (American Sports Publishing Company, 1931), p. 65. Also: Google Books, Spalding's Official Handball Guide (1928), p. 31 text view (seen 30 October 2026)

    Read the rulebooks: Official Handball Playing Rules of the A.A.U. (in Spalding's Official Handball Guide, 1928); A.A.U. Soft Ball Four-Wall Rules (in Charles J. O'Connell, How to Play Handball, 1931)

What the sources do not show

  • The step from 22 x 46 (A.A.U. 1928-1931) to 20 x 40 (USHA 1990): undated; no four-wall text is held for 1932-1989. The Y.M.C.A.'s 40 x 20 court of 1915 is a candidate source for the figure, not a shown one (H-106). The year the A.A.U. went from 24 x 48 to 22 x 46 is also unknown (between the 1923 and 1928 guides).
  • 1880s-90s New York court dimensions other than Degraw Street and the Sun's 'regulation': Sweeny's, McQuade's, Jersey City (223 Mercer) are unmeasured in the sources read; the 1893 text/plate conflict is unresolved.
  • Irish court width and wall height before 2020: the 1903 rules give only the length; the GAA current specification has not been read at its locator.
  • The 1969 Irish 40x20 court and the WHC's international court standard: GAA history page only.
  • One-wall floor 26 ft (1915) to 34 ft (1922): no intermediate source; the Sun's '60 by 40' (1916) is not understood.
  • Three-wall courts: no dimensions in any held source before the 2025 addendum.

Eras this thread crosses

Rulebooks cited here

Sources