There have been previous toys for throwing, bouncing, and catching which have balls on the respective ends of a shaft, wand, stick, rod, or hand grip.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,385,642 of 1921, Louise K. Restein illustrated and described her "Game or Toy" consisting of a stick, shaft, or wand, equipped at each end with a rubber ball, or otherwise provided with resilient ends. Her game or toy provided amusement, sport, exercise, and training for the hand and eye in feats of agility and skill. She provided a simple, comparatively inexpensive, and safe toy, which she designated a stunt-stick by reason of the gyrations and movements of the toy and player. She provided a stick of wood with rubber balls fitting over the ends of the stick, with both the stick ends and the recesses of the balls being complementary formed to fit one another.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,804 of 1962, James C. Cirafesi illustrated and described his "Cartwheeling Stick" consisting of a stick having resilient reactionary tread members on its respective ends. When released, after being twirled in a vertical or near vertical plane on a medial transverse spin axis, the stick cartwheeled in a predetermined course along the ground. The shaft or stick was made from a light plastic tube and the tread members were comparatively heavy thick walled rubber balls.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,114,550 of 1963, Hugh F. Hughes ill and described his "recreational bounce type device" which he called a bounce or rebound device, characterized by an orbital motion of one sphere relative to another sphere. Rubber balls of different diameters were mounted on a rod or shaft. When the toy was thrown an orbital action was created, simulating a satellite moving about an earth. Both children and adults were offered an intriguing action and a mild relaxing form of exercise.