Commonly Used Terms of Different Sports and Games

Badminton

Drop: A light underhand stroke by a player which carries the shuttlecock just over the net by.

Let: A minor lapses or infringement of rules committed by a player

Smash: To strike the shuttlecock overhead with great force.

Deuce: The game is deuce or nil when both the contestants stand equal.

Baseball

Base: A point which is at each corner of the baseball field marked by a sack.

Battery: A section of fielding unit comprising the pitcher and the catcher.

Catcher: The player who stands behind the plate to give signals about the kind of ball the pitcher should deliver.

Diamond: The baseball field.

Home: Place where the batter stands in a baseball game.

Pitcher: A player of fielding unit who delivers the ball to the batter.

Basketball

Blocking: The act of impeding, the progress of an opponent.

Dribbling: The act of throwing, bouncing or rolling the oall.

Held Ball: The ball is declared held when two players of contesting teams have one or both hands on the ball firmly.

Holding: It is the bodily obstruction in the freedom of movement of a player by a player of the opposing team.

Jump Ball: The tossing of the ball in air by the umpire among ‘.he two opposing players.

Multiple Throws: A series of free throws attempted by the players of same team.

Billiards

Baulk Line: A line which is drawn across a Billiards table. It is 73.66 cm from its bottom edge.

Break: A player’s turn in Billiards. J

Cannon: It is a stroke which causes the striker’s ball to hit the ball and opponent’s balls.

Cue: A wooden stick used in Billiards to strike the balls.

Hazard: A stroke which drives one or the other of the balls into or the other of the pockets is called hazard. ^

Jigger: A long stick with a metal cross fixed diagonally on the | It is used to aid the player to strike the ball.

Jenny: It is a losing hazard made into one of top pockets, when the object ball is close to the cushion along which the striker’s ball must

TraVepolting: It is pocketing the ball.

Spot Stroke: It is a series of winning hazards made by pocketing the _red ball into one of the top pockets.

Boxing

Auxiliary Points System: It’s a system of judging in boxing.

Break: It is the order of the umpire to the contestants to stop boxing and withdraw.

Down: A boxer is considered ‘down’ when he touches the floor with any part of his body.

Hook: It is a boxer’s blow with bent elbow.

Lying on: It is the posture of the boxer during boxing.

Rabit Punch: A blow on the back of the neck.

Seconds out: The rounds during boxing contest.

Weigh in: It is an act of finally weighing a boxer at the official scales.

Win by Knock out: A win by ‘knock out’ is declared when a competitor is incapable of further boxing or declines to begin boxing within 10 seconds.

Chess

Bishop: It’s a chesspiece which moves diagonally.

Castle: The only double move in chess whereby the king moves two squares towards the Rook and the Rook is placed on the square the King has just passed over.

Checkmate: A move in chess whereby the King cannot avoid being captured.

Gambit: It’s a mode of opening the chess game by giving a piece for the sake of gaining an advantage in timing.

Knight: A chesspiece with a horse’s head, that moves one square laterally and one diagonally.

Pawn: A chesspiece of the lowest range and rank. It moves only square straight forward laterally.

Rook: It is the chesspiece which moves straight in all directions as tar as desired.

Stalemate: A deadlock which results in a draw of the chess game.

Cricket

Break: A ball, after delivery from the bowler, when on touching turns either towards the left or right, is called a break. It can be Break or off-break. for ball passes the bat, missing the wicket, goes far enough I the batsman to run it, it is called a bye.

Chinaman: It’s an off-break ball bowled by a left-handed bowl_er a right-handed batsman. S

Creases: The lines which define the positions of the batsman and the bowler are called creases.

Duck: It’s getting out at zero.

Drive: It denotes the hitting of the ball with great force. If the ball having been hit passes the bowler, it is called the straight drive; if it is driven on the left side of the bowler, it is called cover drive; if driven in the on-side, it is called on-drive.

Follow on: The unscheduled batting by the losing team is called follow.

Gully: It is the position between point and slips.

Hat-trick: It is the bowler’s feat in dismissing three batsmen in consecutive deliveries.

Hit-wicket: It is the state in which the bat hits the wicket while playing.

L.B.W.: It is the state in which the ball hits the legs, in front of the wickets.

Maiden Over: It is an over in which no run is scored by a batsman.

No Ball: The delivery of a ball by the bowler in contravention of the rules governing the bowling action is termed as no ball.

Over: The bowling turn of a bowler which consists of six deliveries.

Pitch: It is the strip of ground lying in between the bowling creases.

Rubber: Winning of a series of official Test matches by a team.

Golf

Bogey: The scoring figure for a given hole or for the whole course of a good player.

Brown Bunker: A sandy gap which act as a trap in a golf course.

Caddie: One who attends a golfer and carries the clubs round.

Dormy: A player who is leading by the same number of holes as there are still to be played.

Fairway: The smooth turf lying between the tee and putting green.

Fourball foursome: Golf in which each player plays his own ball.

Foursome: Golf in which two against two partners plays the same ball-

Green: It is a rough circle of tended grass surrounding a hole from where the player puts the ball into the hole.

Link: A golf course is called link.

Par: Scoring figure in golf.

Rough: The space on either side of the fairway.

Stymie: A state on the putting green in which an opponent’s ball blocks the way to the hole.

Tee: An elevation from which the ball is first played at each hole-

Threesomes: Golf in which each player plays for himself against the others.

Hockey

It is the hitting of the ball by the players of the opposing teams tart of the game, after a goal and at the resumption of the game at the several Corner: It is a situation when a player of the defending team diverts the side-line near the goal-post. Then the attacking team is the free hit from a spot on the defender’s goal-line within three yards f he corner flag-post and near the point where the ball was made to cross L goal-line. It is called a corner hit.

Dribble: The moving of a player along with the ball on the blade of his off-side: A player is said to be off-side if there are fewer than three opponents between him and the goal unless he is in his own half of the field.

Roll-in: If the ball passes over the side-line on being touched by a player, a player of the opposing team is allowed to roll-in the ball by hand from behind the side-line.

Scoop: It’s a sweeping stroke at the ball.

Stick: The act of a player’s raising his stick higher than his shoulders while hitting the ball.

Striking Circle: The space enclosed by four yards long and three inches wide line drawn parallel to goal-line at a distance of 16 yards from it is called striking circle.

Horse Racing

Jockey: A man who rides the horse in a horse race.

Punter: A man who stakes on a horse in a horse race.

Steeplechase: A horse race with artificial obstacles.

Lawn Tennis

Back Hand: A stroke in tennis at the ball with the hand turned backward.

Deuce: A situation in which both opposing players have won three Points.

Ground Stroke: The stroke played after one bounce of the ball.

Half volley: A return stroke played as the ball bounces up.

Obstruction by the net for cancelling a service.

Volley: a stroke at the ball before it touches the ground causing it t0 return.

Polo

Chukker: A round of game consisting of eight minutes. The bail 1 A Stick consisting of a lon8 cane- with which Player hits

Races

Dead Heat: A race in which two or more competitors are

Hurdle Race: The race run in tracks where a number of hurriw” placed. less are

Marathon Race: A cross-country race run on roads coverin distance of 26 miles and 385 yards.

Relay Race: A team race in which the members of the same tea have to run one after the other.

Rugby Football

A closing in of rival forwards round the ball on the ground shooting

Bag: The quantity of game brought down in a shoot.

Bull’s Eye: The centre of a target.

Muzzle: The end of a gun barrel from which a projectile is discharged.

Volleyball

Doubling: If a player touches the ball more than once with any pan of his body before its being touched by any other player in the mean time.

Holding: Momentary resting of the ball on the hands or arms of a player.

Volley: A hard return stroke at the ball causing it to return to the other side at once.