Main piece:

“Swing Attack” is a game played using a two swings and a volleyball. “Throwers” and “Shaggers” are competing for spots on the swings, which are occupied by “Swingers”.

Swingers kick a lobbed volleyball, then compete as many laps of the swingset as possible before the ball is used to peg them while not in the seat of their swings. Scoring is individual. Leaving the game (even for a bathroom break) results in an automatic reset of a player’s points. Therefore, it is common to dash for the bathroom during a particularly long kick.

A player may circle the swing set to score points on either his own, or his partner’s kick.

A short kick is a “low ameoba”. A high but short kick is a “high ameoba”. Medium-length kicks are “high” and “low squirtles” respectively. A long kick is a “T-bomb”, “T-bone”, or “T-stone” which lands in the “T-zone”. A kick over the swingset backwards can be caught by the “ass-stop”, and is called a “rodeo”.

Swingers are tagged by either a tap or a peg. The game concludes upon mutual agreement of players.

Context:

Game described by Jake Handley, born and raised in Decatur, IL.

Background:

Unlike many neighborhood games, Swing Attack is not proprietary in any way. It can be played on any swing set and with a variety of balls. It was invented through iteration, and can be enjoyably played by both children and adults. Swing Attack is uniquely scalable, and can be played by any number of players between three and ten.

Analysis:

Swing Attack relies on many elements of games like Matball which are played in Decatur’s physical education classes.