Ohio Handball Asssociation
Main menu:
About Handball
· Handball is a challenging and competitive fast paced court game played by either 2 players (singles) or 4 players (doubles) competing to win rallies by hitting a rubber ball with either hand onto the front wall in such a way as to prevent the opponent from returning the ball to the front wall.
o Games are played to 21 points, only the server scores points, defensive players win the serve by winning a rally to put the server out;
o The game may be won with a score of 21-0 to 21-20 (the first person to 21 wins).
o Matches are two games to 21, with an 11 point tiebreaker.
o Men, women, and children play handball for recreation, exercise, social fun, or competitively in amateur or professional tournaments.
o Tournaments have Professional and amateur level ability and age brackets for children 13 and under to players 80 and over.
o Handball is played on a variety of courts: 4-Wall courts are indoor courts with a front, back and two side walls as well as a ceiling; 3-Wall is an outdoor court with a front wall, no back wall, and variations on the side walls (typically at least the length of the court), and standard courts have a ceiling; 1-Wall is typically an outdoor court but can be indoors (some schools have indoor courts), it has a front wall with lines on the floor to mark the court boundaries, it is smaller than 4-Wall and 3-Wall courts. See the wikipedia page to learn more about Handball.
· Learn handball
o Join a group of players at any of the locations listed below to start playing, or watch an instructional video
o Watch one of the greats players, Paul Haber, teaching how to hit the ball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXDpzgeViM8&index=2&list=PLPJHiB2CuAzmXvmNmz-2hKZesZnylTCrO
o Vern and Fred Lewis, two of the game's greatest professional players, teach a winning approach called "Percentage Handball" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wI8To-l_tw&list=PLPJHiB2CuAzmXvmNmz-2hKZesZnylTCrO&index=3
· Handball is played in many of Ohio’s cities, throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Ireland, and is growing in popularity in Latin America and Japan.
Where you'll find handball players in Ohio, and where you are welcome to join in and learn to play handball:
o Columbus:
4-Wall:
Lifetime Easton,
Athletic Club downtown,
Jewish Community Center, Home to a growing number of Columbus players
3-Wall:
Westgate Park 3-Wall, courts are being rebuilt for summer of 2025
1-Wall:
Liberty Park 1-Wall, Saturday mornings @ 10:00 am, open to all skill levels including beginners
o Cincinnati:
4-Wall:
Campbell County YMCA,
Blue Ash YMCA,
Countryside YMCA,
Courthouse Handball and Fitness Center,
3-Wall:
Veterans Park 3-Wall
o Cleveland:
LA Fitness 5000 Tiedeman Rd, Brooklyn Ohio;
East Side YMCA Painesville, Ohio;
3-Wall:
Pete G's new 3-wall court
1-Wall:
Wickliffe Park 1-Wall;
o Youngstown:
Youngstown of YMCA 17 N. Champion St., Youngstown, Ohio
o Dayton:
4-Wall:
University of Dayton RecPlex
o Toledo:
4-Wall:
JCC/YMCA of Sylvania,
Bowling Green University,
LA Fitness Club, East YMCA,
3-Wall:
Lucas County Recreation Center 3-Wall