Many athletic games are played using a ball, racquet and net. Some, like tennis and badminton, employ the net to divide the playing field into opposed areas. Others, like lacrosse, use the net to define the goal.
Each of these basic game elements--the ball, racquet and net--presents significant challenges to the game designer, and can result in significant problems for the game player. For example, the typical ball, being round and relatively hard, readily rolls and will continue to roll until stopped. In some games, this is desirable; in others it is not. It can present a real problem for elderly players. As another example, the racquet that is used in athletic games typically is held by the player in one hand, and is swung to contact the ball. This imparts a significant stress and torque to the player's arm, and can lead to injury or impairment of the player's arm and joints. Moreover, when a racquet is held in one hand, it does not encourage an even development in the player's coordination and dexterity, but instead favors one hand over the other. Typical nets are staked or otherwise permanently fixed to the playing field, and limit the field's use for other games. Also, because they are fixed they can injure a player who collides with a net or its supporting structure.
Among the objects of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for an athletic game that encourages dexterity and coordination of the players, employs a net that need not be permanently affixed to the field but may be erected at any suitable location, indoors or outside, and which uses a soft, non-resilient ball that does not readily roll or retain a definite shape, but tends to remain where it drops, thus permitting the game to also be played by older people.