Fives is a British
sport believed to derive from the same origins as
many racquet
sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls
of a special court using gloved or bare hands as though they were a
racquet.
Background
The name may be derived from the
slang
expression "a bunch of fives" (meaning a fist).
The game has also been
known as hand-tennis and historically was often
played between the buttresses of church buildings in England
.
There are links between Fives and the
Irish and
North
American handball games and indeed, in recent years, British
clubs have begun to establish ties with clubs in those
countries.
Fives is not the same as Long Fives, which is played in a
real tennis court.
Types of Fives
There are two main types of fives,
Rugby
Fives and
Eton Fives. A variant on
Rugby fives is Winchester Fives, although there are only 9 places
in the UK where this is still played.
Most
schools where fives is played have only one type of court but three
schools have historically had both Eton and Rugby courts - Cheltenham
, Dover
and Marlborough
. Cheltenham now only have Rugby courts and
Dover two unrestored Eton courts; Marlborough have four of each in
good condition.
Eton Fives
Eton Fives is played competitively as a
doubles game, as opposed to Rugby Fives, which is played as both a
singles and a doubles game. In Eton Fives the ball is softer and
lighter than in Rugby or Winchester fives, and the gloves are
fairly thin.
The Eton
Fives court is modelled on part of Eton College
's Chapel and is enclosed on three sides and open at
the back. It has a more complex variation and some specific
court features or "hazards". A small step splits the court into
upper and lower sections, and sloping ledges run horizontally
across the walls, one of which forms the "line". There is a large
obstruction, known as a 'buttress', or a 'pepper' to fives players,
on the left-hand side of the court in line with the step. At the
bottom of the buttress is the 'box' or 'pepper pot'. The step
extends approximately 80cm into the court and is around 15cm high.
The first courts at Eton were built in 1840 and the rules for Eton
Fives were first published in 1931.
Rugby Fives
Rugby Fives, developed at Rugby School
, is played in a four wall court (quite similar to a
squash court). The four walls
and floor are uniform and contain no hazards such as in Eton Fives.
The front wall has a height of sixteen feet, sloping down about
half way along to six feet at the back.
The balls used in Rugby and Winchester Fives are fairly hard and
hence the gloves worn are thicker than those used in Eton Fives.
Rugby Fives has had an official
varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge
annually since 1925.
Winchester Fives
A further variation is
Winchester Fives. This variation
differs by the addition of a buttress which is a thin layer of
concrete reaching to the top of the court on the left-hand wall,
although much smaller than the one used in Eton Fives.
The courts at
Winchester and Radley
("proper"
Winchester courts) have an eleven foot high back wall which further
differentiates the courts from the Rugby variety.
Clifton Fives - and other variants
Some
public schools have their own variation on the standard Rugby Fives
court - at Clifton
College
for instance, the court has a half-height back
wall. In Clifton Fives if the ball bounces out of the back
of the court, a 'let' is played.
Players
Fives is a
small sport played by enthusiasts numbering perhaps 4,000 active
adult players in the United Kingdom and there are a number of Old
Boys' and university clubs which tend to be concentrated around
the South East. There are of course many other clubs around
the country including Midlands clubs such as Birmingham,
Wolverhampton, Rugby, Repton and Shrewsbury.
A similar number play in schools. About forty schools are
affiliated to the Eton Fives Association (the governing body of the
Eton Fives variation) and compete in many tournaments and
championship events throughout the year.
There are
some well-established clubs overseas, such as the Zuoz Fives Club in Switzerland
, and the game is also vigorously pursued in
northern Nigeria
.
The Rugby
Fives Association (the governing body of Rugby Fives, founded in
1927) has affiliations from over forty schools and thirty-two
clubs, from Edinburgh
to Tavistock
, and there are also a number of clubs overseas, for
example in South Africa and the
United
States
.
Early match
The first
match on record between schools was when an Eton pair played at Harrow
in 1885
(F. Thomas and C. Barclay of Eton beat E.M. Butler and B. R.
Warren of Harrow).
Currently, Blay William Bradley is the national Fives
champion.
Today
Although the image of Fives has been dominated by well-known public
schools, courts do exist at state schools, and in recent years many
of these have been brought into full use. The advantages of economy
of space and low playing costs (ball and gloves) make it an
attractive sport for schools. Fives continues to develop in England
and has started to attract interest from the wider community . In
the United States the only known Fives courts are at
Groton School, the St.Mark's School, and the
Union Boat Club in Massachusetts; a Fives Court was also built into
the A.D. Final Club at Harvard in 1899.
There are also numerous championships, notably the (doubles) Eton
Fives
Kinnaird Cup and the Rugby Fives
Open Singles championship (
The Jesters'
Cup) and Open Doubles championship (
The Cyriax Cup). There are many other
Rugby Fives
Tournaments.
External links
References
Top topics
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Misc
Search