GoCampingAmerica.com | Posted March
    4th, 2013

               

    Ladder Ball: A Great Group Game
    Option

               

    Happy Camper Blog

             

             
               
                 

    Ladder ballInteresting
    fact before we talk about the rules of the game: some speculate that the game
    may have originated as early as the 1900’s and believe the bola is a stand-in
    for a live snake, which cowboys in the western United States used to throw at
    fences or branches for points.

    It takes the saying “In
    my day…” to a whole new level.

    Anyways, let’s get
    into how to play Ladder Ball, aka Ladder Golf, Bolo Toss, Boloball or Hillbilly
    Golf.

    Participants:

    • Two or more players or
      teams

    Equipment:

    • “Ladder” with 3 rungs: a top, middle
      and a bottom.
    • Each player has 3 golf ball bolas. A bola is two golf balls
      attached by a nylon
      rope. 

    Object of the
    Game:

    • To wrap your bolas around the rungs of the ladder.

    Playing
    the Game:

    • Laddar Ball
      can be a two to four player game, individuals or
      teams.
    • Ladders should be positioned 15 feet apart, for
      the “official toss line”, but most players measure five paces from the game
      ladder to set the toss line.
    • The game is played in rounds
      and each round consists of all players tossing 3 bolas
      each.
    • A coin toss is used to decide which player or team
      will toss first.
    • The first player or team must toss all 3
      bolas before the next player or team is able to toss his or her
      bolas.
    • Bolas can be tossed in anyway the player chooses,
      as long as they are tossed individually. They can also be bounced off the
      ground.
    • The winner of the round earns the first toss in
      the next round.
    • In addition, if players from opposing
      teams have bolas hanging from the same rung at the end of the round, those
      points “cancel each other out” and neither team scores those
      points.

    Point
    Values:

    • Points are
      determined by which rung your bola wraps around.
    • The top
      rung is worth 3 points the middle rung is worth 2 points and the bottom rung
      is worth 1 point.
    • Players can score an optional bonus of
      1 point by hanging all 3 bolas from the same step or by hanging a bola on all
      3 rungs in one round.
    • The highest amount of points
      available per player is 10. This is accomplished by hanging all 3 bolas on
      the top
      rung. 

    Scoring:

    • Games
      are played to an exact point total of 21.
    • In order to
      win, a player must be the only one to score exactly 21 points after the
      completion of a round.
    • If a player goes over the exact
      point total, that players points for that round do not
      count.
    • When one player or team reaches 21 or more points
      before an opponent reaches 20 points, the team or player scoring 21 or more
      is the winner.
    • All games must be won by a least 2
      points.
    • If after all players have tossed all their bolas,
      and one team has scored 21 points, but it’s not at least 2 points ahead of
      the other players, then the game continues until one team can outscore the
      other by at least 2 points.
    • In the case of a tie at 21,
      the players that tie will play as many overtime rounds as needed until one
      player ends a complete round 2 points ahead of the other
      player.
    • After all teams have tossed all their bolas,
      scoring is determined by the bolas that are still hanging from the
      rungs.
    • Players can knock-off bolas during the course of
      the game, in fact knocking-off other players bolas is encouraged and a good
      way to play defensively.

    Learn how
    to build your own ladder ball game