Rules of Tchoukball

TCHOUKBALL

Rules Of Tchoukball

Observing, by his professional practice, the many injuries that the sportsmen suffered from, Dr Hermann Brandt had the idea to create a new sport. By studying the cause of these injuries more in detail, he realised that they were often due to the execution of movements unsuited to the physiology of the individual, as well as from the numerous aggressions that are present in certain sports. These two elements lead him to imagine a sport which, thanks to rules adapted to the physiology of the individual, would lead to fewer injuries[1]. Thus he had the idea, by observing players of pelote basque (a Spanish game where players throw a ball against a big wall and have to catch it after the rebound on the wall), to create tchoukball.

The rules of tchoukball were elaborate so as to respect the following criteria:

The game must be adapted to the physiology of the individual. That includes/understands the three following factors:
articular factor: the articulations must move in sufficient amplitudes,
muscular factor: it is necessary to develop not only the power, but also the elasticity and the speed of the muscle, which are its noble qualities,
cardiovascular factors (endurance, resistance).
developing rules which support a positive relation with the “other”, i.e. the teammate, the adversary or the referee.

For example, the non-obstruction, fundamental rule of tchoukball, is justified by these two criteria:

Physiology

the non-obstruction implies the suppression of all voluntary contacts and therefore of many injuries. It allows moreover the freedom of trajectory and movement which leads each one to adapt his gestures to his own physiology and not to the potential aggressions of the adversary.

Social psychology:

the non-obstruction allows a constructive play, i.e. directed towards the construction of its own game (that it is in attack or defence) and not directed towards the destruction of the game of the adversary. The superiority is always active and positive.

That involves that a rule can be modified only if the new rule also respects these criteria. For example, a modification of rule 7.1.1 concerning the legs, which would authorise to play with the feet, would not respect necessarily the physiological criterion. Indeed, the play with the feet could endanger the teammates of a player who would abruptly tighten the leg to defend a ball in the first defence. Before carrying out such a modification, it would thus be necessary to bring clear proofs showing that this risk of injury is not more significant if one plays with the feet that in the current situation.

The rules of the game force the players to privilege the tactics (collective play) rather than the individual exploit. Indeed, the number of restricted step and the prohibition of dribbling make that it is not possible to move ball in hand on the ground. It is thus necessary to build the play with the teammates to place one of them in a judicious position of shooting.

The rules are also made so as to prevent the anti-play. Indeed, a team cannot monopolise the ball since the number of passes and the number of seconds ball in hand are limited to three, and that after a point the ball passes to the other team. Consequently, the two teams have equal chances to shoot at the frame. Another rule preventing the anti-play is the absence of “team time-out” intended to break the rhythm of the opposite team.

Rules of Tchoukball

TCHOUKBALL