Handball Rules for Kids at Home or School | Here’s How to Play Handball!

Are you looking for handball rules so you can make sure you are best player? You’ve come to the right place! 

Our article will give you the basic handball rules of how to play this fun and exciting game. You can play school handball or handball at home and we have school handball rules to make sure you win all the games against your friends.

History of Handball

Students in schools in Australia play school handball games that may be known as four square or square.  The court may look like a plus sign (+) with lines around the outside making a perimeter of the shape.  They will usually play handball at school with a high bounce rubber ball or bouncy tennis ball.  Unlike American handball this game does not involve a wall (unless played by one player).

Rules of handball for schools

At its basic level the game of school yard handball is very simple. Handball Australia have simple handball rules for kids.

We’ve outlined the basic how to play handball rules below:

1. The person in Kings serves the ball by hitting it in their own square and then someone else’s.
2. The receiving player must hit the ball in their own square and then someone else’s square.
3. If the ball bounces twice or more times in someone’s square they are out and proceed to dunce or the end of the line of players waiting to join the game.
4. If Kings gets out they proceed to dunce and the new King serves.
5. When a higher ranking square gets out all below that square proceed to the next square up.
6. All above a square who gets out stays where they are.
7. If a person who is not in Kings, Queens, Jacks or Dunce interferes with the ball it is called ‘intos’ (meaning interference) and the game is replayed.
8. If the ball bounces on a line it is called ‘lines’ and the game is replayed.
9. If a player doesn’t hit the ball in their own square first it is called a ‘foul’ and they are out.

In Australia handball rules for school games are played with a minimum of two players and there is no maximum of players. The number of kids that play school handball is often dictated by the number of squares that have been created on the ground for the ‘team’.

Some kids playing handball like to take chalk and draw their own handball court or extend the existing court with more sqaures to extend the size of the game.

School handball court size in Australia

You school handball court size can be any size to fit the space you have. Generally we make the court 3meters x 3 meters.

Some of the terms you may hear in a handball game

• Bounces Twice in one square – Dubbs (doubles)
  
• Player hits ball into opponents first – Foul
• Ball bounces on line – Lines
• Ball bounces of solid object – Rebounds
• Ball is hit out of square – Out of square
• Replay Game – Replay
• Ball goes above players head – TreeTops
• Ball is hit at ground level – Low serve
• Ball is rolled – Rolls

Basic handball game setup

Find a piece of hard, smooth ground on which to draw your court.  With a piece of chalk draw a 4×4 square with K,Q,J and D in the right places with a metre x metre  perimeter.

That’s it, now get ready to play and make sure you follow the handball rules so everyone enjoys the game!