Butts Up

Infobox_Game
subject_name=Butts Up
image_link=
image_caption=
players=3 or more
ages=7 and up
setup_time= None
playing_time= No limit
complexity=Medium
strategy=Low
random_chance=Low
skills=Running, Catching, Throwing
footnotes =

Butts Up (aka, "Butt Ball", "'Asses Up" "Suicide", "Stitch", "Fire in the Bum'", "Buns Up", "Wall Ball", "'No Fear", "Red Bum", "Red Ass", "Sting", "Off the Wall",. "Fireball", or "Burn") is a North American elementary school children’s playground game originating in the 1950s or earlier. [ butts up or Booty's up began in the 40s or 50s as a penalty phase of various city street games see: Chinese Handball.] Butts Up is played with a ball (such as a tennis ball or racquetball) on a paved surface against a wall, with a variable number of participants – usually more than three and often likely to exceed ten. Butts Up tends to be played during recess or after school; it is played infrequently before school. The game is co-ed, although in practice its aggressive nature attracts mostly boys.

Players determine the variations of the game prior to start of play. Some of the rules of the game very loosely resemble the rules of baseball and racquetball.

__ToC__

Object of the game

The object of the game is to be the last player remaining in the game after all other players have been gotten out.

In some variations of the game, there is no specific object of the game. Play continues until time runs out. In this variation, when players are "out" three times, they must lean against the wall and wait to be hit by the ball ("Butts Up"). See below for more on this.

Rules of the game

The first player, usually the tennis ball owner, starts the game or, “breaks the ice” (see terminology below) by throwing the tennis ball against the wall with the object of having the ball hit the wall without hitting the ground first.

After the ball makes contact with the wall and bounces off the ground at least once, any of the players, including the thrower, may then try to catch the ball. If catcher mishandles the ball and the ball touches the ground, the catcher must try to touch the wall before another player fields and throws the ball against the wall. If the ball touches the wall before the catcher, the catcher is out and must face various consequences.

If the ball is caught before hitting the pavement, the thrower is penalized with one “out”, much like baseball. After three outs a player leaves the game. In some cases there are four outs which goes along with the number of letters in the word "butt" (hence the name butts up). Sometimes alternate words, such as "wall," are used instead.

If the thrower’s ball bounces before hitting the wall, the thrower must run to the wall and touch the wall before an opponent can pick up the ball and throw it to the wall. If the original thrower doesn’t make contact with the wall before the ball reaches the wall, the original thrower is out. If the thrower reaches for the ball, but has it bounce off his fingers and onto the pavement, this counts as missing the throw, and he must run to the wall.

In one variation of the game, a runner who does not reach the wall before the thrown ball hits must, in addition to receiving an out, stand facing the wall and allow the thrower to "peg" him or her with the ball (usually with all possible force).

In another variation, when a player is "out" three times, he/she must lean against the wall, bent over with his butt in the air ("butts up") and wait for the ball to be thrown at him. Other players take turns throwing the ball until he is hit. If he doesn't look back, the thrower must lob the ball in the air, but if he does, the thrower may peg him with as hard a throw as he likes. Also, in this version, the thrower must hit the player as he is running to the wall, rather than hitting the wall, to get the runner out.

The game continues until all but one player have received three outs and left the game. This form of the game is referred to as ‘three–out elimination.”

In a variation practiced widely in Santa Clara County, California elementary schools as late as the mid-1980s, each time a player earned an out, his "butt was up," and he would stand with hands against the wall, waiting to be pegged by the player who threw him out. If the player is hit in the "target area," he is convicted of the out, and gets a letter (B-U-T-T, for example), and leaves the game. In this variation, at the ice breaker's discretion, play may pass by number, i.e., player 1 breaks the ice, then player 2 must retrieve and throw the ball, followed by play 3, etc. In more physical games, the ball is not required to bounce after touching the wall, and aggressive players will stand near the wall, within arms' reach, pegging other players and quickly touching the wall, then retrieving the ball and throwing the other player out. Other rules included "Handsies," which prohibits players from touching the ball with both hands at once (the ball could be tossed in the air and caught with the other hand, but typically a great show was made of this feat in order to avoid even the appearance of a foul). Also, a player with ball in hand must keep one foot planted at all times, or, in the interest of justice, if a player was stranded well beyond throwing or relay distance (see "Savies"), he could take one large step toward the wall. If a player realizes he has mishandled the ball and thus must "hit the wall," and deliberately "spikes" the ball to frustrate others' attempts to throw him out, his butt is automatically up; at the other players' discretion, they may each take a turn at throwing that player out. the attack does not cease simply because a pegger has successfully scored in the target area; each player throws nonetheless, usually with intent to cause injury or disfigurement.

In more recent variations of the game, a player only receives an out if he/she is actually hit by the peg, rather than receiving it for having to be on the wall. Also, if a player wins without having gotten an out, the win is called a 'lockdown'.

Terminology

*Break the Ice: To start the game by making the first throw regardless of tennis ball ownership.

* Savies: If a player feels he is too far from the wall to throw the ball and make wall contact, the thrower can throw the ball to another player and hope the receiver will wait until the thrower has run to the wall and touched it. However, savies can backfire if the catcher betrays the thrower by throwing the ball to the wall before the thrower has run and touched the wall.

*Chicken Drops : An alternative to Savies. If a player is too far from the wall to make a complete pass to hit the wall, he can drop the ball at his feet and head to the wall as quickly as he can to make contact. If another player picks up the ball that player can throw the runner out by getting the ball to the wall before the runner. This technique is frowned upon by Butts Up enthusiasts.

*Double Touch: The act of a player touching the ball twice, resulting in an automatic out. Typically this occurs when the ball is bobbled or tripped over.

*Handsies: (Some variations) The act of a player touching the ball with both hands at once, resulting in an obligation to "hit the wall".

*Hit the Wall: Alternative terminology for a player's obligation, upon committing "handsies," "chicken drops," "traveling," or other offense, failure to accomplish which before any other player has thrown the player out by causing it to hit the wall results in an out or the runner's butt being "up".

*Peg: A player throws the ball at another player, usually resulting in an out.

*Self-Out: A player throws the ball to the wall and then catches it before the ball hits the pavement. This rule is optional and can be determined by the players prior to the start of the game.

*Self-Peg: A thrower’s ball bounces off the wall and hits the thrower. In this case the thrower must run to the wall and touch the wall before an opponent picks up the ball and throws it to the wall.

*Stripping: In more physical iterations of the game, a player may attempt to strip the ball from the hand of another player. If successful, both players must run to the wall to avoid earning an out.

*Tie Goes to the Runner: If there is a dispute among the players about whether a runner is safe or out, and the decision for and against is a 50/50 tie among players, the runner stays in the game.

*Traveling: The act of a player moving both feet with ball in hand.

*Lockdown: Occurs when a player wins the game without having gotten out.

*Epic Wall Ball: This is the same as a regular game, but it is played outdoors in a thunderstorm.

*Poison:When someone catches the ball without the ball hitting the ground.If they say "poison" the "poisoned" person must run to the wall before the person who caught the ball throws it to the wall.

Footnotes

References

* Bailey, Guy. "The Ultimate Playground & Recess Game Book" (Educators Press 2001) ISBN 0-9669727-2-4
* [http://nymag.com/nymag/letters/15466/ New York Magazine ] January 9, 2006
* [http://www.campwigwam.com/aboutwigwam/camptour.asp?link=buttsup Butts Up at Camp Wigwam]
* [http://www.streetplay.com/thegames/assball.htm] Streetplay.com

See also

* Wall Ball