10 Again

A beach game like no other

To play, you only need a ball and two or more players for this simple beach game anyone can learn.

Start with a stick and a spot in the sand where you can dig a shallow depression. This is called the Dish. Put the stick in the centre of the Dish and craft a smooth entrance on one side with steep sides on the other. Dig a channel around behind the high bank side that can catch a ball thrown gently through the Dish but would allow the ball to roll past if thrown with too much vigor.

Pace off some distance and draw a line with a second stick, called the Throw Line. This second stick will also be used to keep score.

The basic idea is to throw the ball from the line and land it or roll it into the Dish.

One point is scored for a ball that lands in the Dish. A second point for hitting the stick as long as the ball remains in the Dish after contact with the stick.

Player one throws 10 balls in a row while player 2 stands by the Dish to retrieve each ball thrown and send it back, calling out the score for player one to mark with the second stick back at the Throw Line.

Any ball thrown too far, missing the Dish but coming to rest in the channel behind gets that throw “Again”. The ball can be thrown or roll directly into the Again Channel from anywhere. As long as it comes to rest in the channel the thrower gets that throw Again.

Three sets of 10 throws each are played. Highest score wins – except in the case of the tenth throw for either player in the final set. If that tenth throw lands in the Again channel (ie: 10Again) the game is over and that player wins, regardless of the score. Scoring 10Again is like catching the Snitch in Quidditch. It ends the game even if it is player 1’s turn and player 2 has yet to throw. Or if player 2 has a higher score, player 1 still wins if the 10th throw in their final set lands in the Again channel.

10Again wins the game.

I came up with this game one beautiful sunny afternoon on a beach at the southwestern tip of Washington State. My youngest son and I were throwing a Frisbee back and forth but the wind made that a challenge. We persevered but with other people enjoying the same beach our errant Frisbee caught by the wind just didn’t work. So we started tossing a ball between us. The strong, gusty breeze made this a different kind of challenge until we started trying to land the ball near a target some distance away. Before we knew it, we were carving a depression in the sand and making up rules. Having two people meant one stood over the Dish and fired the ball back to the thrower so the game could move along without getting dull. Adding the centre stick, the Again Channel and determining how to keep score all just fell into place as we played.

When the dog showed up to see what we were doing he immediately interrupted the flow of the game. Ball obsessed, especially when it is a ball we are using for something that doesn’t involve him, Tallinn constantly chased down the ball always trying to capture it just before it rolled into the Dish or hit the stick. When that happened we added a Mulligan rule and called it a Tallinn. If any dog or non-player interrupts a throw before the ball comes to rest it is deemed a Tallinn and the thrower gets their toss again. Not always an advantage but clearly consistent with the Again nature of the game.

If you don’t have sand you can lay out a playing field on grass, carpet or just about anything. A short piece of rope will suffice to delineate the Again Channel and a wine glass works as a stick.