This invention is directed generally to a double ball device and more particularly to a double ball device of a unique construction.
The game of double ball is an old Indian game. Originally a game appealing to Indian women, the game is played with two balls and a tossing stick. A cord tied between the two balls keeps the balls together when the balls are moved. Placement of the tossing stick underneath the cord allows the balls to be picked up and moved.
The game is typically played on a field. The Pima Indian women are known to have played this game on a smooth 400 yard stretch of terrain. A pair of spaced apart goal posts is located on either end of the field for scoring. Each player is provided a stick. The object of the game was to move the double ball downfield toward the other team's goalpost using a stick. A player scored by placing the double ball over a crossbar that hung between goal posts using the stick.
Sticks used to play double ball are known to have varied in size and shape. The Pima Indian women of Arizona were known to have used willow or alder tossing sticks. Typically, the sticks varied from 2 to 6 feet. Often sticks about 45 inches in length were known to have been used. On one end, the sticks were shaped to form a handle. On the other end, the sticks were typically thinner in construction and slightly curved so as to make it easier to pick up the ball by the cord.
Several materials were used to make the balls. Buckskin fastened together with a rawhide cord a toot or so long served as a good double ball for some groups. Some tribes stuffed hair inside a buckskin pouch forming the ball. The Sauk and Foxes and other Algonkian tribes often weighted their balls with sand. The Chippewa, Papago, Hupa, and Klamath Indians made their balls out of short cylinders of wood, or bone, and tied the balls together with a rawhide cord. Others played with two wooden billets. Still others used blocks of wood.
The cord holding the balls together were typically a rawhide cord a foot or so long. A special construction was used by the Pima women who were known to have knotted two balls to a stout leather thong. One known thong was constructed from a 6-inch, 4- strand, 2-ply leather. The cords or thongs could be attached to each ball in a number of ways. As shown in FIG. 1, two openings 22, 23 on one ball 20 could allow one end of cord 30 to be threaded through the opening, run along the inside of the ball and out of a second opening. The free end of the cord can be tied to the part of the cord extending between the balls so as to form a knot 32. The other ball 20' is attached in the same way.
Where attachment of the cord to the balls is by a knot formed in the connecting cord at each ball each knot is found to create a point that interferes with the free movement of each ball with respect to the cord connecting the two balls. This point of interference makes it more difficult to throw the double ball accurately. In addition, the ball needs to be modified to allow the cord to be attached to the ball. This is found to weaken the point of connection of the ball to the cord. Excessive wear and tear resulting from friction between the knot, the ball and the cord can lead to premature breaks in the cord, resulting in a delay of game.
In some constructions, the cord and the ball were made from a single piece of material. Maricopa Indians were know to have used strips of leather or willow bark about 9 inches long, with a heavy knot at either end. In a double ball constructed from a single piece of material, there is no point of connection between the cord and the balls which create the foregoing type of interference with ball movement. The tradeoff, however, is an interference of another kind resulting from the single piece of material constraining the movement that can be taken between the connection and the balls. With reduced degree of motion permitted the balls by a one piece construction, some of the fun in the game is found to be taken away. In addition, forming balls by knotting the ends of a single piece of material does not give the balls much weight. As a result, the balls move with less momentum, farther detracting from the fun of the game.