Coffee Table Book of: Roundnet (Paperback)

Description

Coffee Table Book of: Roundnet is a large format book of roundnet, printed edge to edge in colour, one picture to a page and the widest carried across two: the low round net on its short legs and the small yellow ball, the lawns, beaches and parks where the game is played, the set being made and cared for, the early days of the game, and a few players seen far off in plain dark clothing.

The kit is laid out plain: a set on short grass with a ball on its net, the same net seen from directly above as a perfect circle, one leaning against an old oak and another turned over with its legs in the air, rim sections and legs in neat rows, a ball beaded with dew, three spare balls on a stone, a ball in the pocket by the rim and another on a rain wet net, a hand pump with its needle, studded shoes, knee sleeves, a carry bag on autumn leaves, cones, a rope ladder and a skipping rope.

The making and care follow black plastic pellets, a roll of black mesh and a circle cut from it, a curved section of rim, a set rinsed with a garden hose and a rim joined on the grass before the legs go on. The past runs from a backyard lawn at dusk and an old garden gate to an old rope net on a beach, brick halls round a college lawn, an old stone wall by a village green, an old boardwalk over the dunes, a faded old set in long grass and a ball worn pale with age.

Short notes run through the book, on the rules and how the game is played, the set and the ball and how they are made, and the history of the sport: all the game needs is a patch of level grass with room to run in every direction, most rims are moulded from tough plastic, melted and pressed into steel moulds, nets are cut from strong synthetic mesh that does not rot when it gets wet, and the ball is hollow and filled with air, and players pump it firmer or softer to suit them.

Printed in full colour on heavy 150gsm coated paper at 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 inches), as a paperback.