Running bounce

A running bounce, or simply bounce, is a skill in the sport of Australian rules football (necessitated by the Laws of the Game) and some variants where a player bounces (or touches) the ball on the ground in order to run more than the maximum distance with the ball (currently 15 metres/16 yards/50 feet in most competitions).

The earliest record of the running bounce is its use by the Geelong Football Club in 1862, as a means of slowing down the player in possession of the ball and to create more opportunities for a turn over. It became an official part of the Laws of the Game in 1866. The bounce is regarded as a distinctive feature, and one of the most difficult skills to master, of the sport. Observers sometimes compare it to dribbling in basketball which appeared in the 1890s^[1] or bouncing in Gaelic football which appeared in the 1900s.^[2]

The feature of the game led to the sport early on being referred to as "bouncing football" in some places in the early 20th Century (such as Western Australia, the United States and Canada) to distinguish it from other variations of football.