All about Ladder Golf/Ladder Ball:
Ladder Ball (retail products Ladder Golf, Bolo Toss, Blongo Ball and Top Toss), is a lawn game similar in game play to horse shoes. Simply put, you toss a bolo (2 golf balls on the ends of a piece of rope, similar to Bolas) towards a short ladder, usually made of PVC. RVers and campers have a special fondness for this unique outdoor game, as do tailgaters. Some physical therapists have even used the game for excercises in range of motion, balance recovery, and hand-eye coordination therapy.
Ladder Ball is played with 2 or more players or teams. Each player has 3 golf ball bolas. A bola is 2 golf balls attached by a nylon rope. The object of the game is to wrap your bolas around the steps of the ladder. The ladder consists of 3 steps, a top, middle and a bottom step.
Also called Ladder Golf, Bolo Toss, Norwegian Horseshoes, Snakes, Hillbilly Golf, Polish Golf, Horseballs, Tower Ball, Bolo Golf, Gladiator, Bola, Snake Toss, BlongoBall, Ladder Toss, Bolo, Rodeo Golf, Dingle Balls, Bolo Polo, Cowboy Golf, Redneck Golf, Pocca Bolo, The Snake Game, Willy Ball, Ladder Ball, Slither, Zing-Ball, Snakes & Ladders, Hillbilly Horseshoes, Flingy Ball, Norwegian Golf, Monkey Bars Golf, Swedish Golf, Polish Horsehoes, Dandy Golf, Montana Golf, Australian Horseshoes, Ladder Game, Monkey Balls, Rattlerail Toss, Golfball Horseshoes, Arizona Golf Balls, Spin-It, Ball Dangle, Bolo Ball, Poor Mans Golf, Pig's Nuts, and even Testical Toss!
Playing the Game
Prior to game play a line must be set 5 paces from the ladder. This is the called the toss line. The official toss line is 15 feet away but most players measure 5 paces from the game ladder to set the toss line. This allows for a closer toss line for children.s games.
Ladder Ball is played in rounds, each round consists of all players tossing 3 bolas. A coin toss is used to decide which player or team will toss first. The first player must toss all 3 bolas before the next player is able to toss his or her bolas. Bolas can be tossed in anyway the player chooses, as long as they are tossed individually and can be bounced off the ground. The winner of the round earns the first toss in the next round. Games are played to an exact point total of 21. In order to win, a player must be the only one to score exactly 21 points after the completion of a round.
If a player goes over the exact point total, that players points for that round do not count. For example: A player with 18 points needs 3 points to get the exact score of 21 in order to win. If that player has 5 points hanging on the ladder after all the players have tossed all strands, none of those points count and the player will enter the next round with 18 points again needing 3 points to win.
In the case of a tie, the players that tie will play as many overtime rounds as needed until one player ends a complete round 2 points ahead of the other player. The 2 point rule only applies in overtime rounds. During regular play any player can win as long as that player is the only one to score an exact total of 21 points at the end of that round no matter how many points the other players have.
Etiquette of the Game
Basic etiquette of Ladder Ball states that contestants should make as many remarks, sounds, or movements as possible during play in order to distract opponents during play. Touching the player during tossing is never allowed.
In the course of play no contestant is to walk to the ladder prior to completion of the current round of play.
Scoring
After all teams have tossed all their bolas, scoring is determined by the bolas that are still hanging from the steps. Players can knock-off bolas during the course of the game, in fact knocking-off other players bolas is encouraged and a good way to play defensively. bolas that are knocked off during play do not count as points. Only bolas that are left hanging after all bolas are tossed are counted as points.
Points
Points are determined by which step your bola wraps around. The top step is worth 3 points the middle step is worth 2 points and the bottom step is only worth 1 point. Players can score an optional bonus of 1 point by hanging all 3 bolas from the same step or by hanging a bola on all 3 (1-2-3) steps in one round. The highest amount of points available per player is 10. This is accomplished by hanging all 3 bolas on the top (3 point) step.
Team Play
Four players can play Ladder Ball by alternating play each round. Players simply alternate turns with teammates. Extra bolas can also be purchased so up to 4 players can play individually on the same ladder or a second ladder can be purchased for team play. With multiple ladders 2 players on opposite teams would be on one side and the other 2 opposing players would be at the other game ladder. One side would toss all bolas and the other team would toss them back. Same rules apply.
History
There are several proposed histories to the game, all of which are difficult to verify.
WILLY BALL Polynesians were tall athletic people, always in search of new games or ideas with which to challenge one another. One Polynesian, a young fisherman named Willieakahlua, was lying in his hammock one afternoon drinking out of a coconut shell, when he came up with the idea to hollow out a coconut. He then took some dried kelp, braided it into a rope and threaded it through the coconuts. Immediately he began to throw the tethered coconuts up and down the beach.
One day, while throwing the tethered coconuts along the beach, he came upon three palm trees that had been blown onto their side forming a kind of huge ladder. Willieakahlua tried throwing the tethered balls over the palms but time after time they would wrap around the leaning trunks. Several friends took turns throwing the balls. Soon they were having a great time just trying to get the balls to wrap around the tree trunks. Soon, a point system was developed and the tethered coconuts and game were named after Willieakahlua, thus Willieakahluaball was shortened to Willyball and the name for the tethered coconuts became Willy’s.
The game became a tremendous hit with the Polynesians. Every island had its own Willyball league. Yearly, the champions from each island would travel to Easter Island to hold a large Willyball tournament. They named the tournament The Willyball Bowl. Each year, after all the tournaments were over and the champions were decided the islanders would all get together to create a statue to honor the victorious player. These statues can still be observed today facing off toward the island that was the home of each champion, a testimony for all time of their great feats of Willyballdom
Rattle rail toss As the story goes - cowboys used to spend a large amount of time out on the range, either driving cattle or building fences. To pass the time at the end of their workdays, they would play a game called Rattle Snake Toss. They would throw rattlesnakes at fence posts or stumps scoring points when the snake would get hung-up on the post or limb. It resembled the game of horseshoes, but being out on the range, you used what was around.
Glossary of Terms
Bolas: A Bola consists of 2 golf balls attached together with a piece of nylon rope. Golf balls are spaced 13. apart.
Ladder: The ladder is the structure that consists of 3 steps each spaced 13 inches apart.
Steps: Each ladder has 3 steps. The top step is worth 3 points, the middle 2 and the bottom 1 point.
Toss Line: The line that the players tosses from. Officially is set to 15 feet. For backyard games 5 paces works fine.
Safety
DO NOT swing the bolas unless tossing them at the ladder during normal game play. Injury to yourself or others may occur if bolas are used improperly. The bolas provided with your new Ladder Ball game are connected using special anchors that, under normal game play, will provide a lifetime of use. DO NOT pull excessively on the bolas (tug-of-war) as abuse of the bolas may cause the anchors to pull away from the ball. Do not attempt to wrap bolas around body parts. Parents, please supervise younger children during game play. Kids can do crazy things with the most innocent of toys. DO NOT stand on the steps of the ladder. They are designed for normal game play only. Any misuse of the ladder may result in injury or damage to the ladder.
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