Fives
Fives is an English sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a special court using a gloved or bare hand as though it were a racquet, similarly to hand-pelota.
Background
The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1925) describes fives as a ball game played with hands or bat in court with two, three or four walls. The name may be derived from the slang expression "a bunch of fives" (meaning a fist). The game has also been known as hand-tennis and historically was often played between the buttresses of church buildings in England. There are links between Fives and the Irish and North American handball games. In recent years, British clubs began to establish ties with clubs in those countries.
Fives is not the same as Long Fives, which is played in a real tennis court.
Types
There are two main types of fives, Rugby Fives and Eton Fives. A precursor to Rugby Fives is Warminster (or Wessex) Fives; another variant of Wessex fives is Winchester Fives, although there are only about 9 places in the UK where this is still played.