Roundnet, also known as Spikeball, is growing in popularity. The simple ball game inspires not only students, but also professional athletes. The rise of a sport that can be practiced virtually anywhere.
A group of young adults meets every Tuesday evening in Basel’s Schützenmattpark, not for a barbecue or a beer after work, but for training. They set up nets, yellow balls are lying around everywhere, alternative pop music is playing in the background. Although the park is not an official sports field, national players from Switzerland and Germany train here – together with absolute beginners.
The sport that is trained is called Roundnet. The round nets are reminiscent of small trampolines. The yellow ball is slightly larger than a baseball, but is made of rubber, which is why it generally doesn’t cause bruises – they’re more likely to come from the flying inserts, thanks to which the ball bounces back onto the net in the best possible case.
The rules of Roundnet are basically simple: The game is played in teams of two. The ball is hit on the net and has to bounce after the first impact. After that, the opposing duo are allowed three touches of the ball before the ball has to be put back on the net. The structure of the game is reminiscent of beach volleyball. The ball can be smashed, but also stroked, unlike in volleyball there are no rules as far as technique is concerned. The ball should be hit on the net in such a way that the opponent cannot return the ball if possible.
The ball may not be caught, but whether it is hit with full force or just gently caressed is up to the players.
A net reminiscent of a trampoline and a yellow rubber ball – that’s all you need to play Roundnet.
Ball feeling, coordination, mobility and reaction are important. The game is usually played to 15 points, as in volleyball, a difference of at least 2 points is required to win the game.
Stefan Müller founded the first spikeball club, Olten, May 10, 2022.
Roundnet has officially been considered a sport in Switzerland since 2018. Stefan Müller, 26, is one of the handful of sports students who founded the first Roundnet association in Switzerland. “We just thought it was cool! A trampoline net on which to hit balls. . . », says Müller, still visibly enthusiastic. A friend of his was playing in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in the US, which was a break activity between games, right, Roundnet. He in turn showed the game to Müller and his fellow students. And so, a year later, RC Bern was born.
But it didn’t stop with “chatting with friends”, as Müller calls it; Within a few years, a competition structure with tournaments developed around the trampoline-like net. The umbrella organization Swiss Roundnet Association now has eleven clubs, and there is also a national team. For many, however, Roundnet is still more fun than competition.
Play Roundnet with Spikeball equipment
Roundnet is also known as Spikeball. Spikeball is said to have been played for the first time in 1980, but fell into oblivion a short time later. The Spikeball company, founded by the American Chris Ruder in 2008, revived the sport. An appearance on the American TV show “Shark Tank” made the game even better known in 2015. «Shark Tank» enables entrepreneurs to present their idea to investors; if you convince, you will be awarded money for your project.
Because Ruder patented Spikeball, the term can only be used when playing with his company’s equipment. For years this was not possible any other way, no other manufacturer came close to the quality of the original Spikeball products. So you play Roundnet with spikeball equipment. In the meantime, however, there are manufacturers from Germany, among others, who are contesting the monopoly of the original company from the USA.
Germany is more advanced than Switzerland when it comes to Roundnet, the sport has been known there for a long time. “We took part in a tournament in Germany for the first time in 2018, and since then we have been in close contact with the Roundnet club from Cologne,” says Stefan Müller. At that time, the Bern sports students had to realize that their skills did not yet come close to those of the German players.
The radius in which the players move during a Roundnet game is as small as the network.
Flying deposits on the lawn: In order to somehow return the ball to the net, the Roundnet players also lie down on the ground.
The Germans played faster and more competitively, using techniques unknown to the Swiss. Until recently, there was no international rule book that could have been used to learn the game and technique. The people of Bern learned a lot from the people of Cologne. “We always smashed the ball very steeply onto the net so that it flies away as high as possible, but it’s much more difficult for the opponent when the ball bounces flat off the net,” says Müller.
Chiara Németh, founded the Basel Spikeball Club, Birsfelden, May 11, 2022.
In the Schützenmattpark in Basel you can tell who is a beginner and who has been playing for a long time. The pros smash the ball onto the net from impossible angles, while the beginners struggle to hit the ball towards the net. The gap in level was particularly challenging at the beginning, says Chiara Németh. She co-founded the RC Basel, is co-president and sits on the board of the umbrella organization.
It took a while for the training to be designed for everyone at the right level, and the ever-increasing number of members and training participants also required more and more organization. When the weather is nice, more than 20 Roundnet enthusiasts find their way to the Schützenmattpark. “Previously, everyone could just come, now you have to register so that we can form training pairs in advance,” says Németh.
The game runs smoother when the two pairs playing against each other are of similar skill. Németh thinks that progress is made quickly, especially in the beginning, especially in terms of feeling for the ball and coordination.
The game is played in pairs, and the composition of the team can change from tournament to tournament. There are same-sex duos, but men and women can also form a team together.
The Roundnet is about reaction and agility.
The first world championships take place in Belgium
The Roundnet scene has grown steadily in recent years. In 2018, the RC Bern as a pioneer association had 20 members, in 2021 all Roundnet associations in Switzerland had a total of 370 members. In Bern, several halls have to be reserved for the winter so that everyone can play, and in Basel the club is looking for a proper training ground, as there is not enough space in the parks for what is now a large group.
The tournaments are played in duos, and since this season every player can collect points. Since the composition of the team often varies from tournament to tournament and the same two players do not always play together, the point system has been adjusted accordingly throughout Switzerland. Whoever collects the most points is called up for the national team. And this is currently training for the World Championships in August in Belgium. The World Cup is organized by the newly established International Roundnet Federation.
Tournaments are about more than just a little exercise in the fresh air, the teams – here at a tournament in Schaffhausen at the end of April – strengthen themselves before the next game.
The focus is on the little yellow ball: if it doesn’t bounce onto the net after three touches, the point goes to the opposing team.
The fact that Roundnet can be played both indoors and outdoors and no playing field is necessary is a great advantage and perhaps also a reason for the rapidly growing popularity, says Stefan Müller. He sees many parallels to the Ultimate Frisbee. Ultimate Frisbee also has its origins as a casual pastime in parks or on beaches. There is now a professional league in the USA. What both sports have in common is that they can do without referees, even in the top divisions.
But it’s not just the Ultimate Frisbee players at tournaments in the USA who have discovered Roundnet as a break activity, or students who practice Roundnet in the park during their study break. Soccer clubs like FC Chelsea or Eintracht Frankfurt also let their players smash balls onto the net to loosen things up, and Swiss ski racers can’t get enough of Roundnet.