SPORTS AND OUTDOOR RECREATION

Developing from the ancient game of quoits, pitching horseshoes is a popular lawn game for family yards and community parks. Now you’ll be able to play using official regulations. The Ohio Horseshoe Company published this short booklet (in 1956), which includes the rules of the National Horseshoe Pitching Association as well as those of the American Horseshoe Pitchers Association. A pitching court layout is included.

Every game needs a solid guide to strategy and technique, and croquet is no exception. Is it really just a game you play in the backyard at family reunions? Maybe, but that doesn't mean you can't play to win.

This nifty book (with brief foreword from General Carl Spaatz) includes rules for the game and tips for laying out a croquet court.

This a facsimile reprint of the 1957 edition.

The history of badminton can be traced from India to England (where Badminton was the country seat of the Duke of Beaufort). Though introduced to New York in 1878, the game gained greater enthusiastic support following World War I, as American and Canadian soldiers who learned the game in England continued to play and taught the game to others. It can be easily (and inexpensively) set up and can be played by all ages.

In this book, Jackson and Swan provide details (well illustrated) on proper grip and strokes, serving stance, directing the bird in flight, rules of the game and court layout, and general game strategy. This is an excellent introduction to the game and should provide the badminton enthusiast with plenty of insight into bettering their game play. This is a reprint of the 1939 edition.

You know you'll be watching it during the 2014 Winter Olympics, but will you understand what's going on?

Curling is a sport with an illustrious history, but not everyone understands how it is played. Now you can learn the rules, the strategy, and the etiquette of the game. This is a terrific little booklet (reprinted from 1959) that will be well received by anyone who wants to introduce themselves to curling.

Football, baseball, and soccer are today's national pastimes, but in ancient days, there were a variety of rubber ball games played by the peoples of South and Central America, and the southwestern U.S. Stern has gathered descriptions of many of these games, and discusses their roles in folklore, cultural events, and religion. This is a detailed examination of an interesting part of New World history.

Table tennis (or ping-pong) is a popular activity for both youth and adults. For those who want a better understanding of the game, its rules, and tactics, this 1930 guide relates the history of the game and how it has been played, as well as discussing various strokes and how to play defense and offense. Even today, Cornelius Schaad’s guide provides the beginning table tennis player with a great start to the game.

Fun and recreation from the pioneer and primitive days: including boomerangs, lariat-tossing, whip-cracking, tomahawk throwing, blowguns, and log rolling.

Plenty of instructions (including how to make a wide range of boomerangs, boomabirds, and tumblesticks).

Parental supervision is strongly advised!

The bases were loaded. They called in Schacht. He threw one pitch. . . . The bases were no longer loaded. And Schacht soon was out of a job.

But Al never was meant to be a pitcher. Not with a nose that attracted line drives like steak attracts ball players. So Al took the hint and ducked into a coaching box where he couldn't lose too many games for his ball club.

But Schacht’s scope demanded more room than the skimpy few feet off third base. His public had grown by leaps and bounds and all three of them demanded that Al turn his talents to making them laugh as much as they did when he tried to pitch. So Al Schacht, the rough on the diamond, the man who invented the hidden ball trick (when he was a pitcher, opposing batsmen hid the ball in the center field bleachers), the man who turned down a great career as a newspaperman (he sold ’em)—this man Al Schacht put on a top hat and tails and has since reduced every baseball crowd to a laughing, hysterical mob. And this is the way it happened . . .

Under what circumstances is it not advisable to use a wood club in the fairway? What can be done to lessen the effect of the wind upon your shots? Is it ever sensible to use a putter from the short fringe surrounding the green? What adjustment in stance should be made when playing a ball on a downhill lie?

Sam Snead answers these and a great many more questions in this book. It’s easy reading, and is full of valuable stroke-saving information for all golfers, from the occasional weekenders to the advanced amateurs. It explains every type of shot, every kind of lie. No tiresome theory—no remaking of your swing. Just uncomplicated, easy-to-remember directions for choosing, and using, the right club for each situation.

Private Alan Smith (at Camp Callan) wrote this instructive manual for the education of the novice female better at the racetrack. Numerous systems are illustrated, for better or worse. From Nags to Riches was published in 1942.