Korfball

At a glance

• Teams have four men and four women in the source.
• The court is divided into attacking and defending zones.
• Men mark men and women mark women under the traditional code.

Player profile. Players need passing accuracy, footwork, shooting touch, and the awareness to operate in mixed-gender units under close marking limits. Because dribbling and forceful contact are absent, coordinated cuts, screens of space rather than bodies, rebounds, and rapid support determine whether an attacker becomes genuinely free.

Where it happens

Korfball divides a rectangular court into attacking and defending zones, each with a tall open basket set inside the playing area rather than on an end line. Players work around the post from every direction, while assigned zones and role changes organize movement without a backboard.

• Source diagram uses about 40 m x 20 m indoors; korf rim is approximately 3.5 m high.

What you need

• Korfball
• Two korf posts and baskets
• Court shoes

How to play

1. Players pass to move through their assigned zone and shoot into the korf. After the prescribed number of goals, attacking and defending roles switch.

The essential rules

1. Each team contains four men and four women.
2. Players pass the ball by hand and attempt to shoot it through the opposition korf.
3. A match consists of two 30-minute halves in the source format.
4. Two men and two women from each team begin in each zone.
5. Players act as attackers or defenders according to their assigned zone.
6. After two goals, attackers and defenders reverse roles and the teams attack opposite ends.
7. A defender may oppose only an attacker of the same sex.
8. A shot taken while legally defended gives the opposition a free pass.
9. Defending an attacker of the opposite sex is a penalty offense.

How the result is decided

A successful shot through the korf adds one goal. Running with the ball, physical disruption, and a shot taken while legally defended are disallowed, so teams create scoring through passing, movement, and separation; attackers and defenders exchange functions after the prescribed scoring sequence.

Fouls and penalties

• Running with ball
• Dribbling
• Defended shot
• Illegal contact
• Wrong-zone entry
• Cross-gender marking under traditional rules

Techniques

• Two-handed pass
• Long shot
• Running-in shot
• Rebound positioning
• One-to-one defense

Tactics

• Create separation from the defender before shooting.
• Use balanced mixed-gender combinations.
• Control rebounds to sustain possession.
• Rotate passing angles around the post.

Disciplines and variants

• Indoor korfball
• Outdoor korfball
• Beach korfball

Competition landscape

• IKF World Korfball Championship
• World Games

Records in the reference

No stable record table is published here. Records change; use the current governing-body source before acting.

How the sport developed

The book describes korfball as a Dutch-designed team game built for cooperative mixed participation. Its elevated basket, two-zone structure, defended-shot rule, matched marking, and periodic exchange of attack and defense created a code distinct from basketball while spreading through schools and organized international play.

• The basket has no backboard, permitting attacks from every direction.

Play it in India

Organisation reference

No dated organisation reference found

Recognition state

Not established by the current MYAS snapshot

SAI NCOE discipline rows

No matching centre row found

Khelo India discipline

Not established

Olympic programme

Not a current core-programme sport

India Olympic medals

No sport-level total in current sources

Evidence and currency

This is an original KhelPath explainer assembled from editorial research. It is orientation, not an authoritative rulebook.

Current governing-body rules link: not yet verified.

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