Ball boy

Ball boys/girls are individuals, usually youths, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, bandy, cricket, tennis, baseball, and basketball. Though non-essential, their activities help to speed up play by reducing the amount of inactive time.

In 1920, ball boys were introduced at Wimbledon. Ball boys are chosen from schools. Ball girls were introduced at Wimbledon in 1977. Due to the nature of the sport, quick retrieval of loose tennis balls and delivery of the game balls to the servers are necessary for quick play in tennis. In professional tournaments, every court will have a trained squad of ball boys/girls with positionings and movements designed for maximum efficiency, whilst also not interfering with active play. As well as dealing with the game balls, ball boys/girls may also provide the players with other assistance, such as the delivery of towels and drinks.

Feeding is how the ball boys and girls give the balls to the players. At different tournaments, they use different techniques for feeding. At some tournaments, bases have both arms in the air, then feed the balls with one arm; at others, they have one arm in the air which they feed the balls with and the other arm behind their back. When feeding the ball, they must also be aware of a player's preference. Most players accept the standard, which is for the ball boy or girl to gently toss the ball (from the position with their arms extended upwards) such that it bounces one time then to the proper height for the player to catch the ball easily.

There are various methods for selecting the ball boys and girls for a tournament. In many tournaments, such as Wimbledon and the Queen's Club Championships, they are picked from or apply through schools, where they are selected by tournaments and they have to go through a number of selections and tests. In some other tournaments, such as the Nottingham Open, Australian Open and the US Open, positions are advertised and there are open try-outs.

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