safer team ball games

Even the safest ball games involve players running to the same ball. The result is head clashes and boot-head interactions that cause concussions. It would be safer if the access to the ball changed sides in some way. I had an idea.

The idea came from a game I play with one of my grandsons. You just need a ball that bounces on the available ground, and some marked small enclosed area between the players. The players take turns batting the ball with an open palm, and they have to bounce the ball exactly once in the enclosed area or lose the point.

So I thought of players bouncing the ball to their team mates. Call the team in possession the attackers, and the other team the defenders. Until the ball bounces only the defenders are allowed to try to get the ball, and after the second bounce only the defenders are allowed to get the ball. After the first bounce only the attackers are allowed to get the ball, and of course naturally the attackers will bounce the ball deliberately to their team mates. This is perhaps still to easy for the attackers and maybe the attackers have to get the ball after the bounce and before the top of the trajectory after that first bounce.

The point is that the players on opposing sides aren't going for the ball at the same time. It leaves a lot of room for adjustment of other rules to make an interesting game. I would suggest that the player is only allowed to take possession of the ball and then throw it if he is stationary (i.e. no foot comes down between first touching the ball and throwing it). When moving you can only bat the ball with an open hand. A score might involve bouncing the ball to a team mate in the end zone.