Fistball

A lady fistballer attempts to fist the ball.

Fistball is a sport which is of European origin and is similar to volleyball in that player tries to hit a ball over a net.

History

The earliest known written mention of the game is by Roman Emperor Gordian III and dates to the year 240. Rules for an Italian version of fistball were recorded by Antonius Scaiono in 1555. In 1786, Johann Wolfgang Goethe who mentioned fistball games between 'four noblemen from Verona and four Venetians' in his diary An Italian Journey.

Overview

Fistball belongs to the group of games wherein a ball gets hit across a net from one half of the field of play to the other. As in tennis and volleyball, the aim is to place the ball in the opponents' half in such a way as to not allow them to reach it - even after a bounce. The ball is hit with fists or arms. After passing the net, the ball may be contacted up to three times by the five players on each team - with a bounce being permissible before each contact.

Details

Fistball is played outdoors as well as indoors. The men's outdoor game, which is featured in The World Games, is played on a field of 20 by 50 meters. The center line divides the field in two halves; 2 meters above the center line a 2 m wide net or tape is strung across the field. Service lines are marked at three meters from the center line in each of the halves. The ball is made of leather, has a maximum circumference of 68 cm, weighs up to 380 g, and is inflated to 0.75 bar. The matches are played to a system of 'best of five sets' , with a set won by the team accumulating 11 points. Other than in The World Games, the international fistball elite unites in quadrennial 'International Fistball Association' World Championships for men and women.

The current fistball World Champion is Austria, Brazil won the 2009 Fistball World Games

Fistball was first introduced to the United States in 1911 by high school teacher Christopher Carlton who had experienced it first hand on a summer vacation to Italy.

Results

Fistball World Championship - Men

Year	Host	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1968	Linz, Austria	West Germany	Austria	East Germany
1972	Schweinfurt, West Germany	West Germany	Brazil	Austria
1976	Novo Hamburgo, Brazil	West Germany	Brazil	Austria
1979	St. Gallen, Switzerland	West Germany	Austria	Brazil
1982	Hannover, West Germany	West Germany	Brazil	Switzerland
1986	Buenos Aires, Argentina	West Germany	Austria	Brazil
1990	Vöcklabruck, Austria	West Germany	Austria	Brazil
1992	Llanquihue, Chile	Germany	Austria	Brazil
1995	Windhoek, Namibia	Germany	Switzerland	Austria
1999	Olten, Switzerland	Brazil	Germany	Austria
2003	Porto Alegre, Brazil	Brazil	Germany	Austria
2007	Oldenburg, Germany	Austria	Brazil	Germany
2011	Wien, Austria

Fistball World Championship - Women

Year	Host	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1994	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Germany	Austria	Brazil
1998	Villach and Linz, Austria	Germany	Switzerland	Brazil
2002	Curitiba, Brazil	Switzerland	Brazil	Germany
2006	Jona, Switzerland	Germany	Brazil	Austria
2010	Santiago, Chile

World Games - Men

Year	Host	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1985	London, United Kingdom	West Germany	Austria	Switzerland
1989	Karlsruhe, West Germany	West Germany	Brazil	Austria
1993	Hague, Netherlands	Germany	Switzerland	Austria
1997	Lahti, Finland	Germany	Austria	Brazil
2001	Akita, Japan	Austria	Brazil	Germany
2005	Duisburg, Germany	Austria	Brazil	Germany
2009	Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei	Brazil	Switzerland	Austria
2013	Cali, Colombia

European Championships

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: fistball

• International Fistball Association
• fistball.com