Shukaz

Shukaz
(Wallball)

Two persons or teams of up to 3 persons, one person or team on each side of a wall, are the participants in this game. The wall is about 4 foot high and 6 foot wide -sometimes the walls are higher so the teams can not see each other, a game known as "Blind Shukaz". The bottom of the wall has 7 holes in it, numbered as follows:
1 3 5 7 6 4 2. There is a very equally paved "ballway" of 30 feet on both sides of the wall, so balls can run from one ballway through one of the holes in the wall to the other side on the other ballway. The ballways are secluded with 1 foot high walls, so the ball can not escape from the playground.
The playground can be outdoors (in gardens, parks or on the street) or indoors (some shukaz halls have been build, and some owners of mansions play it in their own hall).

Each participant has a stick (hammer) to hit the ball with. The ball is rather small and should fit smooth through the holes. With the hammer, the participants should work the ball through one of the holes, from a distance of at least 10 feet (this line is marked on the ballway). The team gets the number indicated on the hole.
The other team has to catch the ball with the hammers and send it back through the wall. They also earn the points indicated in the wall, but the other team loses just as many points.
The game can be played with as many balls as there are players in a team, thus one ball for two players on the playground, two balls with two players per team.

The ball may not leave the playground. If it does, the team that has touched the ball the last before it left the ground, loses the last points they had from sending the ball through the wall.
If the ball hits the back of the ballway and is not stopped by the team playing on that ballway, the team gets a penalty of 5 points.

The first reaching 30 points total with at least 7 points more than the other team wins the game, otherwise the game continues and the winner is the one who has 7 points more than the other team the first.

The team starting the ball to run through the holes changes each time the ball has hit the back of the ballway or has left the ballway. When playing with 2 balls, this rule does not apply.