Table Top Ricochet (Reprise)

Table Top Ricochet (TTR) first made its debut in The More The Merrier. It comes from the creative mind of Sam Sikes. Like me (as of late), he needed activities that could be done indoors or outdoors in particular settings (e.g., a room full of tables or natural outdoor settings with limited solid surfaces). So, with his understanding of, "The World of Ricochet" TTR was born.      

I've been using this activity a lot lately for programs of a competitive nature - small teams competing against each other during their company "teambuilding outing" (I find it interesting how people view team building in their different settings - but that's another topic for another post). Participants are loving TTR. It's fast-paced, unpredictable, and exciting. In the hopes of rejuvenating the Ricochet spirit I want to "reprise" TTR here as a digital record of the fun. (For more Ricochet fun and to find out about the "Record Books" activities in The World of Ricochet, visit the page through the link.) 

First you're going to need some Ricochet Balls. Here are my go-to resources at the time of this post: 

• Indoor/Outdoor Play, Soft Bounce: Small Odd Ball 6-Color Set (pictured above)
• ​Outdoor, Hard Core Bounce: React-2-Balls (6-Color Set)

For lots of good play time you'll want one ricochet ball (R-ball) for every 3 to 6 players. 

GAME PLAY: Table-Top Ricochet
Form teams of 3 to 6 participants. Give each team one R-ball. If you are playing around tables, have each team circle up around a table. If you are outdoors (without tables), each team will be asked to "go out" and find the solid surface they will want to play their game off of after the directions are given. (In the videos below there is a team around a table - indoors - and a team around a bench - outdoors.) 

RULES: 

• To earn a point the R-Ball must bounce off the surface of play (e.g., table, bench, rock, platform) - each time the ball bounces off the surface, and is caught, the team earns a point.
• A team adds points to their score until a foul occurs - a game ends when a foul occurs. For example, say a team earns 12 points (12 serves are made and caught) and on the next serve the R-ball drops to the floor/ground (which is a foul), the game is over with a score of 12. If there is still time to play another game the team starts a new game with zero points. The objective, for each team in play, is to score the highest game possible in the time allowed. If you allow 10 minutes of game play teams might get in five to 10 games - always trying to beat their best score of any one game. 

FOULS:

• The R-ball must be served underhanded - it must be tossed up so it makes an arch before hitting the scoring surface. 
• The R-ball may only bounce off of the scoring surface once and then must be caught for the score - if the R-ball bounces more than once off of the scoring surface, game over. 
• The player serving the R-ball may not catch the ball after his/her serve. 
• If anyone touches the scoring surface (e.g., table, bench, rock) in any way - game over. 
• If the R-ball touches (falls to the) floor or ground - game over. 

Games can get pretty energetic so be sure all teams have enough room between each other to move around safely. And, be sure the area of play is safe enough to move around without dangerous obstacles. The stakes of the game play should not be more important than the safety of the players! (But you knew that.) 

Be sure to check out The World of Ricochet page here at FUNdoing for more games with the Odd Ball!! And, there are games with World Records (serious!!) that can be fun to surpass during your summer (or anytime) programming. I'd love to see those long-standing records get broken - and some games don't even have records yet. Be the first on the board!

​Here are a couple of videos to give you the idea of TTR play! (NOTE: The players using the bench in the second video are playing a variation with multiple bounces - each bounce is a point.)

​Have fun out there......

​Chris Cavert

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