Another series of games involving eye-hand coordination and muscular control, plus an elementary calculation of carom angles, is played with a ball which can be bounced either in front of or behind its target, or both. Wastebaskets, coal scuttles, cardboard cartons, cooking pots, bowls, flowerpots, and the like make good containers for tennis balls and other balls of that size; egg containers, muffin tins, and cups are suitable for ping-pong balls or very small rubber balls. The majority of these games depend upon at least one rear wall for one of the carom surfaces, and sometimes provide an obstruction before or after the bounce.

Bounce Basketball

A simple but effective example of a typical bouncing game makes use of a wastebasket or a pail for its target, and is based upon the controlled bounce of a tennis ball against a rear wall. For smaller players, a lower target such as a flower-pot or cake tin will be about right when a ping-pong ball is used.

All that is necessary is to place the basket or pail about six inches from a rear wall and attempt to bounce the ball so that it will strike the floor first and then the wall, before dropping into the target basket. Experienced table tennis players using paddles can sharpen up their games with a ping-pong ball.

With a ping-pong ball, an interesting variation results when a muffin pan is used as a target with numbers assigned to each cup. Empty cream cartons or jelly glasses will do as well, and plus or minus bonuses may be assessed to easy or difficult spots.

Mailing Tube Gun

If there is a mailing tube handy into which a soft rubber ball will fit loosely, a "gun" can be improvised for either indoor or outdoor target practice. All that is necessary in the way of preparation is to cut a deep notch in one side of the tube near the end, and to provide some sort of a target such as a grocery basket or cardboard carton laid on its side on a chair.

With the tube held vertically in the throwing hand so that the thumb is against the notch, the gun is loaded by dropping the ball down the muzzle until it is stopped by the intruding thumb. While aiming, the tube is drawn back slightly toward the shooter's shoulder. To discharge the ball, the tube is struck quickly forward, hurling the ball out before the horizontal position is reached.

Since it will take practice to achieve anything faintly approximating reliable accuracy, this simple device can be depended upon to retain youthful interest for a considerable period of time. Furthermore, when accuracy is finally achieved, the target can be made smaller and the prizes larger.