ETON FIVES
A Synopsis of the GameBackground: Eton Fives is a hand ball game, played in a three-sided court by both sexes of all ages. Players wear padded leather gloves, since the ball is quite hard. It is in the same sporting 'family' as other hand-ball games such as Rugby and Winchester Fives, and Irish and American Handball.
History: Most cultures in the world have invented games in which players hit a ball against a wall with their hands. In England, medieval peasants played a form of fives against church walls. At Eton it was played between the buttresses on the north wall of the college chapel, and the 'pepper-box' peculiar to the Eton game originated from a natural angle in one of the buttresses. The game was formalised in the 1920s with the formation of the Eton Fives Association.
Facilities and Equipment: Eton Fives is played in a three-walled court. A buttress stands halfway along the left wall and a step runs from it to the right wall. A step divides the court into upper and lower parts. Ledges run along most surfaces.
There are currently forty-five centres and twenty-four active clubs, mostly in schools, with plans in hand to build courts at the Westway Sports Centre in West London as well as other regional sports centres.
The game is played by both sexes using a cork and rubber ball, about the size of a golf ball, with either hand protected by padded gloves. The balls are painted white or covered in white leather. Cotton inner gloves are often worn for added protection.
Benefits: The game is very good exercise: It requires you to crouch, stretch, jump and use both sides of your body, left and right. One particular challenge common to all games of fives is the need to develop a fair degree of ambidexterity: players must be prepared and able to use their weaker hand.
Variation: Because of court encumbrances the game of Eton Fives is mainly a doubles game, although 'top step' singles is often played by beginners. Ladies, mixed doubles and adult/junior pairings have become popular as the game continues to expand.
Where courts are not easily accessible there are alternative handball games that can be played in squash courts and sports halls.
Constructed by Mike Fenn
20th June 2001
efa@etonfives.co.uk