Jokari®, A Paddle and Ball Sport
Back in the 1950's I played a tethered-ball and paddle game called
Jokari so much that I developed a distinct unequalness in the circumference of my forearms.
But that aside, it was fun. So, here, I describe it for the web. Some time later (1960's?) I saw a major marketing effort for Jokari
in a Sears store . But after that I couldn't find any
replacement balls or rubber bands. Once, in 1979, I saw a coed at Northwestern College (Iowa) with a set. Finally, in 1998, I used
the web to find Jokari/US's address. On their catalog's last page, under discontinued
products, I found an entry for Jokari, the game.
Now, with a new ball and rubber
tether, I play Jokari with my grandkids, and it is still fun.
Pictures of the equipment and the game are below. The usual anchor is a box that also serves to store the ball and string, not a chunk of rail. That box long since was lost in one move or another.
This isn't an advertisement, per se, I just remember the game as good, easy,
" no-equipment " fun. Any hard surface pad about fifty feet long is plenty big (with no
breakables fore or aft).
The two person game has two people moving into the hitting zone and out. With four I remember there was a lot of moving in and out. The ball doesn't travel very far behind you if you miss it so there is not a lot of ball chasing. And thank goodness the string does not seem to get tangled to any great degree. And don't forget to put the strap around your wrist. And stay out of the way of your partner's paddle.
The Rules
Jokari/US's set of rules.
Help Wanted
If there have been any contests or "national events" featuring Jokari please pass that information along to me. Thanks.
Jokari/US's web site features their major product lines but not the game. Actually they have sold all the sets they had on hand and may not go back into production unless there is a significant demand. E-Mail me if you want to buy a set--if I get many, many responses in -say, 6 months- I will email them with a report of your response.
FYI (For Your Information)
Links
For a history of Jokari and pictures
of past equipment visit .
There's a cartoon (mildly humorous) using Jokari at .
Buy
e-bay.com
A visit to ebay showed six sets for sale. It looked like the going price was around $30 (US).
Jokari, Inc
Jokari ran out of the games and parts. They may restock but I haven't heard from them in some time. An aficionado emailed me that they were considering restocking (5/1/2001). The catalog items** were (as of 2/6/2001).
- #100 Jokari® Paddle Ball (Champ) Out-of-Stock
- #110 Replacement ball/band Out-of-Stock
- #130 Replacement Band $1.00
AGAIN: To buy Replacement Bands, write or telephone JOKARI; they aren't in the web catalog.
1205 Venture Court
Carrolton, TX 75006
Tel
Fax
The site John referred to:
a nice sports and game site has Jokari sets on back order. When (if?) they get them in they will notify the several customers who are waiting and put it in their catalog. Keep checking with them.
Online Sports
shows a "Paddle Fly Ball" game that looks identical to Jokari (about $12 + S&H ?) Let me know if you have tried this version.
German Source
sounds like Jokari, but there is a Jokari squash also. Somebody try this for me and send me a report--thanks :-) About 36 dm ($16 US). Their email is "shopatladen13.de" -- replace the at with @.
Collectibles
One link found at google.com led to a collectibles site - but no Jokari. So I looked at the cached version of the page and the Jokari set there was priced around $250 (US). Whew! But it apparently sold.
Assembled by OVK.
Last updated 6/12/2001
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