Ladder Ball

Summary: Ladder Ball is a game where you use two golf balls strung together (or two tennis balls works as well), called a bolo and toss them at a three rung ladder for points. The object of the game is to wrap your bolos around the steps of the ladder. The ladder consists of 3 rungs, a top, middle and bottom rung.

Champion Sports Standard Ladder Ball Set

Ages: From 8 to adult

Recommended Number of Players:
2 or more players or teams

Equipment:
3 golf ball bolos per player. A bolo is 2 golf balls attached by a nylon rope.
At least one 3 rung ladder, but two ladders can also be used.

Set Up:
Prior to playing Ladder Ball a line must be set 5 paces from the ladder. This is the called the toss line. The official toss line is 15 feet away but most players measure 5 paces from the game ladder to set the toss line. This allows for a closer toss line for children’s games.

How to Play:
Ladder Ball is played in rounds, each round consists of all players tossing 3 bolos. A coin toss is used to decide which player or team will toss first. The first player must toss all 3 bolos before the next player is able to toss his or her bolos. Bolos can be tossed in anyway the player chooses, as long as they are tossed individually and can be bounced off the ground. The winner of the round earns the first toss in the next round.

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.

For example: A player with 18 points needs 3 points to get the exact score of 21 in order to win. If that player has 5 points hanging on the ladder after all the players have tossed all strands, none of those points count and the player will enter the next round with 18 points again needing 3 points to win.

In the case of a tie, 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. The 2 point rule only applies in overtime rounds. During regular play any player can win as long as that player is the only one to score an exact total of 21 points at the end of that round no matter how many points the other players have.

After all teams have tossed all their bolos, scoring is determined by the bolas that are still hanging from the steps. Players can knock-off bolos during the course of the game, in fact knocking-off other players bolos is encouraged and a good way to play defensively. Bolos that are knocked off during play do not count as points. Only bolos that are left hanging after all bolos are tossed are counted as points.

Points in Ladder Ball are determined by which step your bolo wraps around. The top step is worth 3 points, the middle step is worth 2 points and the bottom step is only 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 bolo on all 3 (1-2-3) steps in one round. The highest amount of points available per player is 10. This is accomplished by hanging all 3 bolos on the top (3 point) step.

Team Play:
Four players can play Ladder Golf by alternating play each round. Players simply alternate turns with teammates. Extra bolos can also be purchased so up to 4 players can play individually on the same ladder or a second ladder can be purchased for team play. With multiple ladders 2 players on opposite teams would be on one side and the other 2 opposing players would be at the other game ladder. One side would toss all bolos and the other team would toss them back. Same rules apply.

Winner:
The team or player which acheives 21 points first, wins.

Ladder Ball goes by many different names, here are few:

Norwegian Horseshoes, Ladder Golf, Polish Golf, Tower Ball, Bolo Golf, Snake Toss, BlongoBall, Ladder Toss, Bolo, Rodeo Golf, Dingle Balls, Bolo Polo, Cowboy Golf, Redneck Golf, Pocca Bolo, Willy Ball, Ladder Ball, Slither, Zing-Ball, Snakes & Ladders, Hillbilly Horseshoes, Flingy Ball, Top Toss, Norwegian Golf, Monkey Bars Golf, Swedish Golf, Polish Horseshoes, Montana Golf, Lasso Golf, Australian Horseshoes, Ladder Game, Monkey Balls, RattlerailToss, Golf ball Horseshoes, Arizona Golf Balls, Spin-It, Ball Dangle, Bolo Ball, Poor Mans Golf, and Bolo Toss.

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