Playing catch is the easiest way to spend 20 minutes with someone without planning a thing. All you need is a ball, a little room, and one other person. No glove, no team, and no skill required.

One ballAbout 30 feetOne other personNo glove

Why playing catch works

There's no score. Nobody wins. The ball goes back and forth, and the conversation goes with it.

People who'd never sit across a table and talk for 20 minutes will happily stand 30 feet apart and talk the whole time. Something about having your hands busy makes the talking easier. The quiet parts stop feeling awkward, because there's always a throw coming.

It's also a small, good thing to do with your body. You're standing up, you're outside, and you're watching a ball instead of a screen. Your hands and eyes get a little sharper every throw. After a few minutes, you stop thinking about the throw and start thinking about whatever you were going to say.

How to play catch, even if you never learned

1. 1Start close.Stand about 10 steps apart. You can back up later.
2. 2Point your shoulder.Turn sideways so your front shoulder faces your partner. If you throw right-handed, that's your left shoulder.
3. 3Throw with your whole arm.Bring the ball back past your ear, step toward your partner, and let it go out in front of you. Aim for their chest.
4. 4Catch with soft hands.Use two hands and let them give a little as the ball arrives, like you're catching an egg.
5. 5Say something.That's most of the point.
6. 6Back up when it gets easy.When a few throws in a row go wild, walk back in.

Nobody throws well at first. The ball will end up in a bush at least once. That's part of it.

Do you need a glove to play catch?

No more flinchingSoft leather, bare hands.

Not with the right ball. A hard ball thrown bare-handed stings, which is why most people reach for a glove and why plenty of people quit before they start.

A Yardball® is a ball and a glove in one. It's full-grain harness leather, hand-stitched in Kansas City, bigger than a baseball, smaller than a softball, and softer than both. It's made for bare hands, so the person who's never owned a glove can play with the person who's owned five. The Natural Yardball is the plain one: undyed leather that starts pale and picks up a little color with every catch.

Something to do with your dad, your kid, or anyone

A ball for allSix to sixty.

Playing catch might be the oldest father-son activity there is. It was never only that.

It works for a parent and a six-year-old in the driveway. Two roommates on a dorm lawn. A grandmother who throws from her lawn chair and won't get up. Coworkers who need 15 minutes outside after lunch. Two old friends who haven't talked in a while and don't know where to start.

If you've been trying to think of things to do with your dad that aren't a restaurant or a screen, this is the one that doesn't need a reservation. Hand him a ball. He'll know what to do.

Where to play

Anywhere with 30 feetThe yard, the lot, the tailgate.

Anywhere with 30 feet and nothing breakable. The yard, the driveway, the tailgate, the park, the beach, a quiet corner of a parking lot, a long hallway when nobody's looking. A soft leather ball makes the riskier spots a little less risky.

Make it a habit

Twenty minutes, a couple of times a week, is plenty. Before dinner. After work. On the first warm evening of the year and the last one.

Keep the ball by the door so it's the first thing you see on the way out. Leather breaks in with use, so the ball gets better the more you play. The Glove Tan Yardball is the color of a well-used mitt, and it darkens the same way.

If you're giving one

A ball is a good gift because it comes with an invitation. Whoever opens it knows exactly what you're asking: come outside for a bit. If you're shopping for someone who loves the game, our baseball gift ideas are sorted by who you're buying for.