Fives is a sport played by many but its relatively unknown compared to some of the more popular ball games. Katherine Tresidder looks at the origins of this unusual pastime, and guides you through the basics.

As I am sure you are, squash and tennis are sports with which I am familiar. I have to admit they are not something that I play very often but I know how to play them and I’ve seen the professionals in action on television, perhaps when watching Wimbledon for example.

I was not, however familiar with the sport that requires people to, in effect, play squash but without the racquet!

Fives can take many forms but the general gist is that a ball is hit against a wall,much like squash, but players use their hands to do so.

All fives games involve the players wearing leather, padded gloves.The ball is a little larger than a golf ball and is made of rubber and cork.A big difference in this ball and a squash ball is that the fives ball will lose little pace off the walls and floor.

As a result the game requires you to not only have a pretty decent amount of hand-eye coordination, but you also need to be fairly fit and also be a little bit tactical. Some of the courts have obstacles on them, so for the best outcome you want to try and aim the ball towards these obstacles to make it as hard as possible for your opponents.

The purpose of the game,much like squash, is to hit the ball over a line on the back wall so that your opponents cannot return it before the second bounce. Fives was played in earlier years, often by country folk in villages, reaching its height of popularity during the 18th century.The most famous Fives player to date was a man who played during that era. John Cavanagh was an Irish house-painter who remained undefeated on the fives court in St Martin’s Street in London, until his death in 1819.

It is not completely certain where the name ‘Fives’ came from. Some thought that perhaps there were teams of five players originally but more likely is that it was named after the number of digits on your hand, as it was your hand that was used, ie. five fingers.

The game was originally played against any walled surface that could be found, so long as there was sufficient playing room. The most common place (and quite often the only possible place) that people played was against the walls of the village church.

As the game became more and more popular either full courts or a single wall were purpose built so that more people could play the game, and they were usually alongside coffee houses or inns. It is believed that bets were often placed on the outcome of the games.There are still many of these original walls standing throughout the country, such as at South Petherton, Hinton St George, Stoke Sub Hamdon and Shepton Beauchamp, all in Somerset.

Then during the 19th century the sport became more formalised when a number of public schools began to take up the sport. However, there was no standardisation of courts and various different games were played but over time only three of these variations became used.

Perhaps most commonly heard of is Eton Fives, which became a game unto itself due to a quirk in the College Chapel, whilst Rugby formed two versions of the game, one in the Old Quadrangle where fives bats was played and the other in the much smaller porch leading in from the High Street, which offered an ideal location for hand fives. Nowadays Rugby and Eton Fives are the main two varieties of the modern day sport, and in fact the only real similarity between these two games is the fact that both games involve using your hands.A third less well-known version of the game exists in Winchester Fives, which is very similar to the Rugby version.

Nowadays fives is not only played by boys at public schools but also by men, women, and children all over the country. And it is not just restricted to this country. It is played all over the world in various countries throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. If you would like more information about fives, or want to get involved in the sport you can contact either of the below:

Eton Fives Association: www.etonfives.co.uk
Rugby Fives Association: www.rfa.org.uk

ETON FIVES:

• Played in a three-sided court that came about as a quirk in the architecture of the College Chapel.
• The court is divided by a step into two sections, an upper and lower court. The step is positioned about a third of the length of the court from the front.
• A sloping ledge runs around the three walls, about four-and-a-half feet above the floor. The lower angle of this ledge is the playline, on or above which the ball must be played in.
• The most famous feature of an Eton Fives court is the buttress featured on the left hand side. It is located at the step and extends into both the front and backcourt. Where the buttress meets the step it forms a three-sided niche, known as the “dead-man’s hole”. It is an obvious place to send the ball as it makes a return nearly impossible.
• There are no rules as to where the players must stand.
• Only played as doubles ie. Two teams of two players (probably due to practicality because of the step in the court).
• Any further courts built, were based on the design of the court created by the chapel.

RUGBY FIVES:

• Played in a four-walled court, which is virtually identical to a squash court.
• The court is slightly smaller than a squash court and the floor is made from stone rather than wood.
• It is the only one of the three different fives that has a court with no obstacles on it.
• It can be played as either singles or doubles ie. with either two or four players.

WINCHESTER FIVES:

• This is played in the same way as Rugby Fives, the only main difference really being in the court.
• The court has a buttress on the left hand wall of the court nine feet from the front wall, making the game slightly more challenging having an obstacle on the court.

K.T.

Article by Katherine Tressider
Created 14th January 2006 by Mike Fenn
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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