Woodball was invented in 1990 by Mr. Ming-Hui Weng, he
just want to build a garden for his father to take a walk and enjoy
the beautiful view in the scenic spot Nei-Shuang-His, where
situated in Shih-lin, Taipei City. After mowing the weeds of the
hillside, he found that there were terraced fields there, which can
be developed as an outdoor exercise place.
The International Woodball Federation ("IWbF") is the governing world body for the game of woodball, with members from the woodball associations and bodies from different countries. The IWbF establishes the rules and regulations governing the conduct of the game and also holds regular regional and World Cup Woodball Championships.
Woodball is similar to golf with all the excitement and thrill, although this game is far less complicated to learn.
It is said that the woodball game is actually a cross between golf and the game of croquette. It is a lawn game but can still be played indoors or on any open spaces. Like golf, competitive woodball is played on a course, with a tee area, fairway and putting area. For championship courses, there is normally a stipulation that the course should have at least four curving courses (two left and two right), to add extra challenges and excitement to the game.
Woodball is played with a swinging tee-shot and putting strokes. And just like golf, the player who completes the course (known as "gate" in woodball) with the fewest strokes wins the game. The length of a gate, from the starting area to the gate, ranges from 30 yards (par 3) to over 100 yards (par 5) or from 30 meters to 110 meters.
But unlike golf, which uses a number of driving clubs and a putter, a player uses only one club called a "mallet" which is made of wood (what else) for teeing off, fairway playing and putting. And the ball for the woodball game is larger (3 3 inch in diameter) and heavier than a golf ball. Of course it is made of wood (hence the name of the game) and spherical in shape. As a result, the ball doesn’t fly when driving, as in golf, but instead it only bounces and rolls on the grass or ground.
Instead of a hole to complete the strokes as in golf, woodball uses a gate, which is like a tiny soccer goalpost. The gate is formed with two wooden bottle-shaped stumps, which are fixed apart on the ground and it is crossed with a swinging gatekeeper, when the ball rolls in between the two stumps.
In a woodball game, each team consists of 2 to 4 players. In some international tournaments, 6 players are allowed in a team, but the results of only the 4 best players in the team are used when tallying the strokes. When playing on the woodball course, the objective is to complete 12 gates, or some other designated number of gates. In international competitions 24 gates or more are normally played. Depending upon the number of players, it normally takes about 90 minutes to complete 12 gates.
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