So as soon as the weather got warm, the back yard at the House of Skills underwent a transformation. The slack line came down (don't worry, it'll be back up soon) and the badminton net went up. Of course, it's only a badminton net because it came with a badminton set. It is also occasionally used as a Kadima net, a Takraw net, a footbag net, and, of course, a Myachi net.
Myachi Net is a one of the first Myachi games we really codified with rules and the like. We've always played with the traditional badminton playing field measurements and the game itself is so simple it's almost self explanatory... but not quite.
So let's start with the court itself. I'm guessing not all of you have the exact dimensions of a badminton court memorized, so here's a quick refresher:
Now, it may seem pretty complicated, but those are essentially exactly the same as the lines on a badminton court and most of them are used pretty similarly. Let's take a quick minute to explain what each line means.
Doubles Service Line: This is where you would serve from if you are playing a two on two game.
Singles Service Line: This is where you would serve from if you are playing a one on one game.
Singles Back Line: Any throw that goes beyond this line in a one on one game is considered "out".
Doubles Back Line: Any throw that goes beyond this line in a two on two game is considered "out".
Singles Side Line: This is the out of bounds marker for one on one games.
Doubles Side Line: This is the out of bounds marker for two on two games.
The MidLine: This is a line down the middle of the court... duh.
Net: This is where the net goes... duh.
While the “official” net height is 7 feet and eleven and five-eighths inches (the Olympic standard for a men’s volleyball court), most people play over far lower nets. A net of seven foot, four inches (official height of Olympic women’s volleyball) is considered ideal by most adults and a net of about five feet (official standard for badminton nets) is considered perfect for most kids.
The gameplay is pretty simple. You serve from the Service Line and you must serve over the MidLine (in other words, if I serve from the left side of the court, I must serve toward the right side of the opposite court). You can serve by tossing or by kicking the Myachi.
Once the serve is underway, the game begins. Players (or teams) take turns returning the Myachi with strikes or catches. The only rule (surprise, surprise) is "no palms allowed", but you can use any other part of your body to strike or catch.
There aren't many rules about strikes. You can strike with any body part and as long as it goes over the net and stays inbounds. If the opposing player (or team) does not strike it back or catch it, you (or your team) gains a point and you start over with a new serve.
Catches, on the other hand, are a bit trickier. You can catch a Myachi and toss it back to the other side but once you catch the Myachi you're not allowed to move so you have to throw it from wherever you were when you caught it. This usually gives your opponent time to get into a good defensive position so it's usually best to strike rather than catch. Of course, catching allows you to toss the Myachi back with a lot more accuracy so there's a trade off between the two.
To further complicate things, players (or teams) are allowed two strikes every time the Myachi ends up on their side of the net, but only one catch. This means that you can strike twice, but if you catch it, you have to toss it straight back over. If you strike once and then catch (or if you strike 3 times or catch twice), your opponent(s) gain a point and it's time for another serve.
The scoring works a lot like ping pong. Either player or team can score on a serve. Players or teams get 5 serves and misserves are worth a point to the opposition. The serve switches players/teams every fifth serve and on every tenth serve the players/teams switch sides of the court.
When you're playing over a really low net (five feet or lower), you might have to institute a "dead zone" in front of the net. This zone should extend about six feet back from the net.
The dead zone is a "no pass" zone. It means that while you can strike or catch within that zone you have to move back behind the line to toss the Myachi back. This is to keep taller players from just reaching over the net to spike. If you have a standard net (of almost eight feet), this won't be necessary, but if you have two 5 and a half foot players playing over a five foot net it can be way too easy to just send over impossible spike shots.
Note that the Dead Zone is not an official part of the game, it's just an addition you can use if you don't have the right type of net.
Winning:
Usually, Myachi Net is played to 21 points but with tennis like rules of winning by two points. In other words, if you're tied at 20 to 20 at the end, someone must win 2 points in a row to become the victor. In game point situations, two changes take place:
- The opposing player (the one who doesn't have 20 points) gets the serve throughout the rest of the game.
- Misserves do not cost a point. You cannot lose on the serve so serves that are long, short or off target just get forgiven and the serving player/team gets to try again.
- Excessive misserves (10 or more) count as a concession of defeat so if you misserve 10 times in a row at the end, the opposing player/team automatically wins. This rule is only there to keep someone from trying to make the game go on forever rather than simply admitting defeat.
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