I can also smell and taste this picture
Ball
Is life
so hard
PONK
Sometimes, THOINK
The way it feels when you get hit by one in the face. Like a waffle made of bees.
Describe the sound please
TING!
Also
ffffPING!
Whomp
The high-pitched sound of the rubbery air filled ball’s sudden contact reverberates off the gym’s echoey walls, followed quickly by the “Ohhhh!” Of your colleagues. The trauma of this is not something you can process in this moment, and it will continue to be that way. But you’ll have plenty of time to do so as it’s being carved into your memory by the sudden twinge of seething pain on your nose and forehead, which is somehow intensified by the extreme embarrassment. The stunned look on your face can only last a moment before you hear your gym teacher shout, “You’re out! To the side!”
Kind of like a bell, in a way. There’s the initial ‘slap’ when it hits the ground, or wall, or face of a child. But then there’s this distinct, hollow ringing that lives on until it’s caught or it bounces again.
PAUNG! PAUNG! PAUNG!
Imagine holding on to a large, metal pipe (like a hand rail on stairs) and someone on the other end, hitting the pipe with their hand, not a big “clung”, but like they swung past it, and barely nicked the pipe with the tips of their fingers as their arm swung by. Combine that vibration with a breathy, hollowness that kinda warbles as the rubber ball contracts and expands due to the impact. The whole sound only lasts about a second - unless you were the one that got hit in the head, in which case there’s a high pitched ringing in your ears for a bit as well.
Saddest day of my childhood was halfway through middle school when they switched from the classic red waffles you see here to these sponge “safety” dodgeballs, because the school board was afraid of kids getting injured. They were so light you couldn’t get any speed behind your throws and when they hit you if felt like nothing more than a sharp gust of wind. I’ve never been the same since
We had a gym teacher that would allow us to play dodgeball with volleyballs… Probably the most painful but thrilling games of dodgeball I’ve played.
I remember that day well. That was a sad day.
Schools don’t use these balls anymore?!
God I miss dodgeball! I was not a high pick for most sports in high school, but dodgeball I dominated via the OP strat of sprinting up and wailing the ball at people who just threw before they had a chance to retreat. I was an ambush predator, always lying in wait, ready to strike and avenge. I also had gym class with several school bullies, which meant dodgeball was more than just a sport. It was a time of vengeance!
Watching my dodgeball thrown at maximum force bounce off the faces, stomachs, and backs of bullies from 5 feet away was the best part about gym class, thank you for reminding me <3
This ball looks a bit like the Amiga boing ball
<O>
