WIn the sport of cricket, a bail is one of the two smaller sticks placed on top of the three stumps to form a wicket. The bails are used to determine when the wicket is broken or put down, which in turn is one of the critical factors in determining whether a batsman is out bowled, stumped, run out or hit wicket.
WA football, soccer ball, football ball, or association football ball is the ball used in the sport of association football. The name of the ball varies according to whether the sport is called "football", "soccer", or "association football". The ball's spherical shape, as well as its size, weight, and material composition, are specified by Law 2 of the Laws of the Game maintained by the International Football Association Board. Additional, more stringent standards are specified by FIFA and subordinate governing bodies for the balls used in the competitions they sanction.
WIn Canada and the United States, a football is a ball, roughly in the form of a prolate spheroid, used in the context of playing gridiron football. Footballs are often made of cow hide leather, as such a material is required in professional and collegiate football. Footballs used in recreation, and in organized youth leagues, may be made of rubber or plastic materials.
WIn mathematics, a ball is the volume space bounded by a sphere; it is also called a solid sphere. It may be a closed ball or an open ball.
WThe ball is an apparatus used in rhythmic gymnastics. It is made of either rubber or synthetic material provided it possesses the same elasticity as rubber. It is 18 to 20 centimetres in diameter and must have a minimum weight of 400 grams (14 oz). The ball can be of any colour. The ball should rest in the gymnast's hand and not rest against the wrist or be able to be grasped.
WA ball pit is a padded box or pool filled with small colorful hollow plastic balls generally no larger than 3 inches (7.6 cm) in diameter. Instead of balls, other spherical objects can be used, such as balloons. It is typically employed as a recreation and exercise for children.
WA bandy ball is a rubber ball used for playing bandy.
WA baseball is a ball used in the sport of the same name. The ball comprises a rubber or cork center wrapped in yarn and covered with white horsehide or cowhide. A regulation baseball is 9–9 1⁄4 inches in circumference, with a mass of 5 to 5 1⁄4 oz.. A baseball is bound together by 108 hand-woven stitches through the cowhide leather.
WA basketball is a spherical ball used in basketball games. Basketballs usually range in size from very small promotional items that are only a few inches in diameter to extra large balls nearly 2 feet (60 cm) in diameter used in training exercises. For example, a youth basketball could be 27 inches (69 cm) in circumference, while a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's ball would be a maximum of 30 inches (76 cm) and an NCAA women's ball would be a maximum of 29 inches (74 cm). The standard for a basketball in the National Basketball Association (NBA) is 29.5 inches (75 cm) in circumference and for the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), a maximum circumference of 29 inches (74 cm). High school and junior leagues normally use NCAA, NBA or WNBA sized balls.
WA Basque pelota ball is a ball designed for the sport of Basque pelota, variations of the kind and size of balls are given by the peculiar category.
WA beach ball is an inflatable ball for beach and water games. Their large size and light weight require little effort to propel them.
WBen Wa balls, also known as orgasm balls, rin-no-tama, Venus balls or Geisha balls, are small, marble-sized balls, usually hollow and containing a small weight, that roll around and are used for sexual stimulation by insertion into the vagina. Available in a variety of forms, the balls may be solid, or contain clappers or chimes within. Other, larger versions made of plastic encasing lesser balls are called Duotone balls. They are used by inserting them into the vagina and using the pubococcygeus muscles to hold them in, stimulating movement and/or vibration. Ben Wa balls should not be confused with anal kegel exercisers and prostate stimulators: Ben Wa balls sometimes have a retrieval string or attachment of some sort, but they do not have an adequately flared base for safe anal play.
WA billiard ball is a small, hard ball used in cue sports, such as carom billiards, pool, and snooker. The number, type, diameter, color, and pattern of the balls differ depending upon the specific game being played. Various particular ball properties such as hardness, friction coefficient and resilience are important to accuracy.
WThe physics of a bouncing ball concerns the physical behaviour of bouncing balls, particularly its motion before, during, and after impact against the surface of another body. Several aspects of a bouncing ball's behaviour serve as an introduction to mechanics in high school or undergraduate level physics courses. However, the exact modelling of the behaviour is complex and of interest in sports engineering.
WA bowling ball is a hard spherical ball used to knock down bowling pins in the sport of bowling.
WThe Bumble Ball is a motorized dog toy made by Ertl toys, says source “Francesco P”. They were popular in the mid 1990s and come in varied colors, including a see-through light-up one and a mini version. Some are available in key clip form under the name Bumble Ball Jr. Variations were produced by Ertl such as the Bumble Ball Bolter, a colorful insect-like toy with several long legs, a head with synthetic blue hair, and a Bumble Ball torso.
WA cage ball, also known as an Earth ball, is a large, inflated ball, used in many American elementary schools physical education programs. Cage balls typically have a diameter of 48" or 60", though 72" diameter models are available. The inventor of the cage ball is Doctor Emmett Dunn Angell.
WIn artillery, chain shot is a type of cannon projectile formed of two sub-calibre balls, or half-balls, chained together. Bar shot is similar, but joined by a solid bar. They were used in the age of sailing ships and black powder cannon to shoot masts, or to cut the shrouds and any other rigging of a target ship.
WA cricket ball is a hard, solid ball used to play cricket. A cricket ball consists of a cork core wound with string then a leather cover stitched on, and manufacture is regulated by cricket law at first-class level. The trajectory of a cricket ball when bowled, through movement in the air, and off the ground, is influenced by the action of the bowler and the condition of the ball and the pitch, while working on the cricket ball to obtain optimal condition is a key role of the fielding side. The principal method through which the batsman scores runs is by hitting the ball, with the bat, into a position where it would be safe to take a run, or by directing the ball through or over the boundary. Cricket balls are harder and heavier than baseballs.
WA crystal ball, also known as an orbuculum or crystal sphere, is a crystal or glass ball and common fortune-telling object. It is generally associated with the performance of clairvoyance and scrying in particular.
WAn exercise ball, also known as a yoga ball, is a ball constructed of soft elastic with a diameter of approximately 35 to 85 centimeters and filled with air. The air pressure is changed by removing a valve stem and either filling with air or letting the ball deflate. It is most often used in physical therapy, athletic training and exercise. It can also be used for weight training.
WFollis, a term used in the Ancient Rome, or Ball of Wind, a term used in the 15th and 16th centuries in Spain and Italy, was a hollow ball, inflated with air under pressure, which allowed the ball to jump and bounce when impacting at a certain speed with any solid body. The different types of balls of wind were commonly used to play a variety of ball games that were popular on that particular period of time.
WA football or Gaelic football is the spherical leather football used in the sports of Gaelic football and ladies' Gaelic football and international rules football.
WA golf ball is a special ball designed to be used in the game of golf.
WHamster balls are hollow spheres made of clear plastic into which hamsters, gerbils, degus and other small rodent pets are placed, allowing them to run around outside their cages without the risk of running away or getting lost under furniture. They are designed to provide hamsters with exercise. Balls produce an audible rumble across most surfaces, making them easier to locate even when out of sight.
WHeated shot or hot shot is round shot that is heated before firing from muzzle-loading cannons, for the purpose of setting fire to enemy warships, buildings, or equipment. The use of hot shot dates back centuries and only ceased when vessels armored with iron replaced wooden warships in the world's navies. It was a powerful weapon against wooden warships, where fire was always a hazard. Its use was mainly confined to shore batteries and forts, due to the need for a special furnace to heat the shot, and their use from a ship was in fact against Royal Navy regulations because they were so dangerous, although the American ship USS Constitution had a shot furnace installed for hot shot to be fired from her carronades. The French Romaine-class frigates originally also featured the device, but they proved impractical, dangerous to the ships themselves, and were later discarded.
WField hockey is a widely played team sport of the hockey family. The game can be played on grass, watered turf, artificial turf or synthetic field, as well as an indoor boarded surface. Each team plays with ten field players and a goalkeeper. Players use sticks made of wood, carbon fibre, fibre glass, or a combination of carbon fibre and fibre glass in different quantities, to hit a round, hard, plastic hockey ball. The length of the hockey stick is based on the player's individual height: the top of the stick usually comes to the players hip, and taller players typically have longer sticks. The sticks have a round side and a flat side, and only the flat face of the stick is allowed to be used. Use of the other side results in a foul. Goalies often have a different design of stick, although they can also use an ordinary field hockey stick. The specific goal-keeping sticks have another curve at the end of the stick, which is to give it more surface area to block the ball. The uniform consists of shin guards, shoes, shorts or a skirt, a mouthguard and a jersey.
WJuggling balls, or simply balls, are a popular prop used by jugglers, either on their own—usually in sets of three or more—or in combination with other props such as clubs or rings. A juggling ball refers to any juggling object that is roughly spherical in nature.
WA kugel fountain is a water feature or sculpture where a sphere sits in a fitted hollow in a pedestal, and is supported by aquaplaning on a thin film of water. Pressurized water flows between the sphere and socket, creating a mechanical hydrostatic bearing that is nearly frictionless. The sphere can weigh thousands of kilograms, but the efficient bearing allows it to be spun by the force of a hand. The sphere does not float, being denser than water; it is often made from granite. The hydraulics of the fountain can be controlled so that the axis of rotation of the sphere changes continually. Ring sculptures that rotate on an axis are also built.
WA lacrosse ball is the solid rubber ball that is used, with a lacrosse stick, to play the sport of lacrosse. It is typically white for men's lacrosse, or yellow for women's Lacrosse; but is also produced in a wide variety of colors.
WThe larch ball is a structure created when Western Larch needles floating in a lake become entangled in a spherical shape due to the action of waves and is a form of lake ball. They are most commonly known to form in Seeley Lake, Montana, however, they have also been known to form in similar regions such as Clark Fork and lakes in Tracy, New Brunswick such as Peltoma Lake, Big Kedron Lake, and Little Kedron Lake. Typical specimens are 3 to 4 inches in diameter more rarely larger ones are found.
WA laundry ball or washing ball is a product promoted as a substitute for laundry detergent. Producers of laundry balls often make pseudoscientific claims about how these balls work and exaggerate the extent of their benefits.
WA marble is a small spherical object often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic, or agate. These balls vary in size. Most commonly, they are about 13 mm in diameter, but they may range from less than 1 mm to over 8 cm (3 in), while some art glass marbles for display purposes are over 30 cm (12 in) wide. Marbles can be used for a variety of games called marbles. They are often collected, both for nostalgia and for their aesthetic colors. In the North of England the objects and the game are called "taws", with larger taws being called bottle washers after the use of a marble in Codd-neck bottles, which were often collected for play. These toys can be used to make marble runs, a form of art, or they can be used in marble races, a type of race using marbles.
WA medicine ball is a weighted ball roughly the diameter of the shoulders, often used for rehabilitation and strength training. The medicine ball also serves an important role in the field of sports medicine to improve strength and neuromuscular coordination. It is distinct from the inflated exercise ball, which is larger.
WPark golf balls are used in the sport of park golf. They have a weight less than 100 grams (3.5 oz) and diameter of 60 millimetres (2.4 in) and are constructed of durable synthetic resins. They may be translucent or opaque and are manufactured in many different colours. Balls from different manufacturers vary significantly in the way they perform contacting the club, flying through the air and rolling on the grass.
WA penny floater is a kind of cheap football commonly used by children in the Western world. Its name derives from the fact that when they were first developed in the 1960s they cost a penny. The penny floater may have originated in Italy. The floater part comes from the fact that as they are made of a thin layer of hardened plastic filled with air: their light weight makes them susceptible to floating or swerving with the wind.
WTable tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, the rules are generally as follows: players must allow a ball played toward them to bounce one time on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side at least once. A point is scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. Spinning the ball alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage.
WA round shot is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a large-caliber gun is also called a cannonball.
WA rubber band is a loop of rubber, usually ring or oval shaped, and commonly used to hold multiple objects together. The rubber band was patented in England on March 17, 1845 by Stephen Perry. Most rubber bands are manufactured out of natural rubber or, especially at larger sizes, elastomer, and are sold in a variety of sizes.
WA rugby ball is an elongated ellipsoidal ball used in rugby football. Its measurements and weight are specified by World Rugby and the Rugby League International Federation, the governing bodies for both codes, rugby union and rugby league respectively.
WShade balls are small plastic spheres floated on top of a reservoir for environmental reasons, including to slow evaporation and prevent sunlight from causing reactions among chemical compounds present in the water. Also known as bird balls, they were developed initially to prevent birds from landing on bodies of water.
WThe Skyball is a mid-sized bouncy ball toy sold by Maui Toys. Each ball measures 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter and contains a mix of helium and compressed air.
WA sliotar or sliothar is a hard solid sphere slightly larger than a tennis ball, consisting of a cork core covered by two pieces of leather stitched together. Sometimes called a "hurling ball", it resembles a baseball with more pronounced stitching. It is used in the Gaelic games of hurling, camogie, rounders and shinty.
WA Spalding Hi-Bounce Ball, often called a Spaldeen, is a rubber ball, the size of a tennis ball without the felt. It was the more expensive and more popular version of the Pensie Pinkie. These balls are commonly used in street games developed in the mid-20th century, such as Chinese handball, stoop ball, hit-the-penny, butts up, handball, punchball, half-rubber, Wireball and stickball.
WA stress ball or hand exercise ball is a malleable toy, usually not more than 7 cm in diameter, which is squeezed in the hand and manipulated by the fingers, ostensibly to relieve stress and muscle tension or to exercise the muscles of the hand.
WA Super Ball or Superball is a toy bouncy ball based on a type of synthetic rubber invented in 1964 by chemist Norman Stingley. It is an extremely elastic ball made of Zectron which contains the synthetic polymer polybutadiene as well as hydrated silica, zinc oxide, stearic acid, and other ingredients. This compound is vulcanized with sulfur at a temperature of 165 °C (329 °F) and formed at a pressure of 3,500 psi (24 MPa). The resulting Super Ball has a very high coefficient of restitution, and if dropped from shoulder level on a hard surface, a Super Ball bounces nearly all the way back; thrown down onto a hard surface by an average adult, it can fly over a three-story building.
WA tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis. Tennis balls are fluorescent yellow in organised competitions, but in recreational play can be virtually any color. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous felt which modifies their aerodynamic properties, and each has a white curvilinear oval covering it.
WA volleyball is a ball used to play indoor volleyball, beach volleyball, or other less common variations of the sport. Volleyballs are round and traditionally consist of eighteen nearly rectangular panels of synthetic or genuine leather, arranged in six identical sections of three panels each, wrapped around a bladder. A valve permits the internal air pressure to be adjusted. In a break from the traditional construction, in 2008, the FIVB adopted as its official indoor ball a new Mikasa with dimples and only eight panels for a softer touch and truer flight.
WWaboba is an international outdoor toy and sporting goods brand headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden with offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Guangzhou, China. Waboba is most known for its invention of balls that bounce on water, the high bouncing Moon ball, and the Wingman silicone flying disc. The company specializes in beach and backyard toys and games. The slogan used in advertising is Keep Life Fun. The name Waboba is a registered trademark and many of its products are internationally patented.
WA water ball or water walking ball is a large inflatable sphere that allows a person inside it to walk across the surface of a body of water. The giant ball is usually two metres in diameter and has a zippered entrance to allow for easy entry and exit. The water ball is similar to the zorb but it has only one layer and is designed for water travel rather than down-hill rolling. In the United Kingdom, the balls have been used at swimming pools, marinas and lakes in an effort to keep children fit.
WA water polo ball is a ball used in water polo and canoe polo, usually characterized by a bright yellow color and ease of grip ability, so as to allow it to be held with one hand despite its large size.
WThe game of Wiffle ball is a variation of baseball. The Wiffle ball is designed for indoor or outdoor play in confined areas. The game is played using a perforated, light-weight, resilient plastic ball and a long, typically yellow, plastic bat.
WA yard globe, also known as a garden globe, gazing ball, lawn ball, garden ball, gazing globe, mirror ball, chrome ball, or orb, is a mirrored sphere typically displayed atop a conical ceramic or wrought iron stand, and sometimes the grass, as a lawn ornament. Sizes ranges from 1 in (25 mm) up to 10 m (33 ft) in diameter, with the most popular gazing ball being 12 in (300 mm). Gazing balls were glass but can now be stainless steel, acrylic, ceramic, or stained glass.