Lapta - a Russian folk sport
Lapta is a Russian folk sport that is played with a bat and a ball. The sport has similarities to baseball and cricket, though it has been found that Lapta was played way before baseball was invented. The game has similarities to Cricket, Brännboll, Rounders, Baseball, Oină and Pesäpallo.
The sport is played on a field about 140 x 175 feet in size, between two teams with six players on each team. The bat used is similar to a baseball bat and the ball is similar to a tennis ball. Teams alternate between pitching and hitting. The pitcher, unlike baseball, stands right next to the batter and tosses the ball.
a game of Lapta The objective of the hitting team is to hit the ball as far as possible, and run to a line called the kon line, which results in one point. Players, if possible, can run back to the gorod line, which results in two points.
The objective of the fielding team is to hit the bating team players with the ball before they complete the run. Players of both teams get to hit the ball two times. A game is played for 1 hour in two halves, and at the end of the match, the team with the most points is the winner.
Similar Sports
- Cricket — a team sport played on a rectangular pitch in the centre of a large grass oval, two batters protect their wicket while the fielding team attempt to get them out.
- Brännboll — a Scandinavian game that has similarities to rounders, but with no pitcher
- Rounders — played between two teams with a bat and ball, like baseball
- Baseball — a bat and ball game in which the aim is to hit the ball and score runs by running around four bases.
- Palant — a Polish sport with lots of similarities to modern baseball played using a wooden stick and a rubber ball.
- Pesäpallo — a Finnish variation of baseball, the major difference is that the ball is pitched vertically.
- Oină — a Romanian traditional sport, similar in many ways to Baseball and Lapta played outdoors by two teams of 11 players, taking turns either batting or catching.
Related Pages
- Sport in Russia
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports
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