Equipment

Tetherball requires only a stationary pole, a rope, and a ball. Originally a volleyball was used, but today many sporting goods manufacturers make tetherballs specifically out of a butyl bladder and a rubber cover. The ball is roughly the size and weight of a volleyball, but is somewhat firmer. Tetherballs usually have a bar recessed in the top that the rope is tied to. Some simply have loops that protrude out, but this is less common as striking the loop with the hand can be painful.

The pole must be 10 feet (3 m) high and completely stationary, meaning that it must either be weighed down (often by a concrete-filled tire), or, in more serious tetherball courts, embedded in the ground. The rope is generally slender nylon, and is long enough that the ball hangs 2 ft (0.6 m) above the ground.

Tetherball is played on many surfaces: sand, gravel, lawn, asphalt, or others. Since it requires only a small area to play in, it can also be played indoors.

An alternate version of the game uses a smaller, softer ball that the players strike with racquets. Generally, the ball used for these games is an old tennis ball, and the racquets can come from ping-pong or games with similar paddles.