fives

/fuyvz/, n. (used with a sing. v.) Brit.

a game resembling handball, played on a court having a front wall and two side walls.

[1630-40; FIVE + -S³]

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▪ sport

Introduction

      a ball game played by two or four players in a court enclosed on three or four sides, the hard ball being struck with the hand usually protected by a glove. The derivation of the word fives is doubtful. It may be from an old game called Longue Paume, in which five on a side played, or from allusion to the five fingers of the hand or from the fact that winners formerly had to make five points.

      The game, played largely in Great Britain in public schools, has three forms that vary from each other in the physical conformation of the court and in slightly different playing rules: Eton fives, Rugby fives, and Winchester fives.

Eton fives

      The Eton fives court is a remarkably close copy of the court used by generations of Eton College boys on the steps of the school chapel. It is enclosed on three sides and open at the back. A shallow step divides the court into an upper and lower part, and the court has several physical irregularities, or hazards.

      The game is played with four players, two on each side, who wear leather gloves to protect their hands. There is no recognized singles game. When the game starts, the server alone stands in the upper court. To begin the game he throws the ball so that it hits the front wall and then the right-hand sidewall and falls to the lower court.

      The opponent who returns the service is said to make the “first cut,” and he need not do so until he gets a service to his liking. Serving is only a method of putting the ball in play. The ball must be hit with a single blow of the hand or wrist and must not touch any other part of the striker's person.

      After the first cut, the ball is played alternately by a player of each side. Providing the ball is played not later than after the first bound on the floor and is returned above the line, the rally continues.

      A game is won by the side that first obtains 12 points. When the server's side wins a rally, a point is won; if the server's side loses a rally, the server's partner serves and no point is scored; if the server's side loses another rally, the service changes to the opponents. A point can only be won if the winners of the rally are the serving side. A match is usually the best of five games.

      Governed by the Eton Fives Association, the main competitions are for an amateur championship and a public schools competition.

      For the uninitiated spectator, the game is bewildering. The ball rebounds in many unexpected ways off the hazards, and the players seem often to be in each other's way. It involves mental as well as physical exercise, there being a variety of ways to outwit an opponent

Rugby fives

      The Rugby fives court has four plain composition walls and a hard composition floor. The front wall has a board running across its lower portion. The sidewalls decrease in height from the front wall, sloping down from 15 feet (about 4.8 m) to 6 feet (about 1.8 m), the height of the back wall.

      The game is played like Eton fives with the exception that the player who makes the first return is called the server. Either he can throw the ball up for himself, and usually does, or he can require his opponent, called the receiver, to do so. The ball must be hit only with the hand or forearm. The receiver is “up,” and only a side that is “up” can score points. Matches are usually the best of three games, the first team or player to get 15 points winning the game. Club and school games are won on total points. Both singles and doubles are played.

      Competition, regulated by the Rugby Fives Association, includes several regional championships, a universities championship, amateur singles and doubles championships, and schools championships. Rugby fives can be exhausting because of the speed of the ball, the low board, and the use that is made of the back wall. It is the most popular of the three games.

Winchester fives

      Winchester fives is a game confined to a few schools, there being no association or championships and few courts. The court is similar to the Rugby one, but a change of direction of the left-hand wall makes the court slightly narrower at the back than at the front. This changes the positioning of players, and Rugby fives players are at a disadvantage. Despite these differences, Winchester players have little difficulty in adapting to the Rugby game, and several schools that play the Winchester game are affiliated with the Rugby Fives Association.

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