High-profile association football matches may employ ball boys to avoid long delays when a game ball leaves the pitch and its immediate vicinity. In addition to fitness and stamina, the abilities to concentrate and remain alert are essential.Īssociation football A ball boy at a football match in China in 2007 In some other tournaments, such as the Nottingham Open, Australian Open and the US Open, positions are advertised and there are open try-outs.Īpplicants are required to pass a physical ability assessment. In many tournaments, such as Wimbledon and the Queen's Club Championships, they are picked from or apply through schools, where they are selected by tournaments and they have to go through a number of selections and tests. There are various methods for selecting the ball boys and girls for a tournament. Most players accept the standard, which is for the ball boy or girl to gently toss the ball (from the position with their arms extended upwards) such that it bounces one time then to the proper height for the player to catch the ball easily. When feeding the ball, they must also be aware of a player's preference. At some tournaments, bases have both arms in the air, feeding the balls with one arm at others, they have one arm in the air which they feed the balls and the other arm behind their back. At different tournaments, they use different techniques for feeding. Their job is to retrieve balls from the nets and then feed balls to the server.įeeding is how the ball boys and girls give the balls to the players. Bases are located just off each corner (at either end of the baseline at either end of the court).This is usually done by rolling them alongside the court. Their job is to gather dead balls from the court and feed them to the bases after a point. Nets are located on either side of the net to retrieve balls that are trapped by the net. As well as dealing with the game balls, ball boys/girls may also provide the players with other assistance, such as the delivery of towels and drinks. In professional tournaments, every court will have a trained squad of ball boys/girls with positionings and movements designed for maximum efficiency, while also not interfering with active play. Tennis Ball boy (left) and line judge (right) during the 2005 Australian Open Two ball girls in pose offering balls to the playerĭue to the nature of the sport, quick retrieval of loose balls and delivery of the game balls to the servers are necessary for quick play in tennis. Though non-essential, their activities help to speed up play by reducing the amount of inactive time. For other uses, see Ball boy (disambiguation).Ī ball girl at the 2014 French Open in tennis The skaters in yellow vests in the foreground are ball boys at this bandy game.īall boys and ball girls, also known as ball kids, are individuals, usually human youths but sometimes dogs, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, bandy, cricket, tennis, baseball and basketball.
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