Ninh explains the Rules of Dodgeball
The object of the game to eliminate all your opponents from the game.
Dodgeball is a team sport that is commonly played in schools around the world and is played with two
opposing teams. Rather confusingly, it’s played by varying rules around the world because it
can be adapted to be played on different size courts and with different numbers of players.
The most common format is played with two teams of 6 players, but can be played by up to teams of 15.
Dodgeball is played on a court that’s similar in size to a Volleyball or Basketball court,
but on average, courts are approximately 50ft x 25ft,
with a centre line and attack lines 5 feet away on either side. This area between the
attack lines is known as the neutral zone. The game starts with the opening rush.
This is where all players stand behind their own back line and balls are lined up along
the center line of the court. The numbers of balls vary, but the most typical number
is 6 – three for each team. And they’re made of foam so that they don’t hurt the players.
When the whistle blows, players can run into the centre and retrieve their designated balls,
which are usually the ones to the right side of the centre line.
Once a player has retrieved their balls, they can’t just throw them immediately.
Some organisations require you to touch the ball to the back wall before play.
Others specify having to step behind the attack line outside of the neutral zone.
This is known as ball activation and is designed to prevent teams just throwing the
ball immediately during the opening rush. Once balls are activated, they can then
try and get the opposing players out. The main way of getting opponents out is
by throwing the ball at their opponent. If they manage to throw a live ball,
i.e. a ball in their possession and it directly hits any part of their body
without touching the ground, that person is ‘out’ and they must leave the game immediately.
Players can also pass balls to teammates so that they can try and get members of the opposing team
out, or drop the balls to the floor. To prevent yourself from being out,
you can do a number of things. You can dodge the ball,
hence the name of the sport. If you have possession of a ball,
you can deflect an oncoming ball with it (known as blocking), or if you don’t have possession of a
ball, you can catch a ball being thrown at you. This is crucial as if you catch a ball,
the opponent throwing the ball is out instead AND you get to revive one of your
players that has previously left the game. This whole process repeats itself until one
team has eliminated all the players on the other team, i.e. they’re all out.
This game is an interesting mix of athleticism and team strategy. Do you attack just one player
all at the same time? Do you throw to distract them and a teammate throws to get them out?
Or do you intentionally not have any balls and try and catch them out? That is up to you.
The game is played until all players of one team are out, or after a period of time, usually 20
minutes has been reached. If 20 minutes passes by, team with the most players left at the end
of time wins the game, and if both teams have the same number of players, an additional period of 4
minutes will be played to determine the winner. In tournament play, winning a certain number
of games, or winning the most games at the end of time, wins the entire match.
Like with any other sport, there’s a few things you cannot do in Dodgeball.
- You cannot hold onto the ball for too long - You cannot cross the centre line
or the sidelines during open play - and, you cannot dispute
or verbally insult the referees. These infractions result in you being out.
That’s basically Dodgeball in a nutshell, but there’s a few things you’ll need to understand
before playing or going to a game. For example, …
Players Whilst there
are male and female specific competitions, most commonly, it’s a mixed gender sport.
In general, there has to be a minimum of two of the opposite gender in the starting line-up.
Timeout Teams are
allowed one 30 second timeout to take a break, discuss strategy or to substitute players.
Substitution
Players on the court can be replaced either during a timeout or between games.
Back Wall Some organisations will
insist on using the back wall, either during the opening rush where you have to touch the balls on
the back wall prior to throwing them, or before a revived player re-enters the field of play.
Dead-ball If you hold onto the ball for too long, usually 5
or 10 seconds, the referee will order you to lose possession of the ball by rolling it to your
opponent. This is known as a dead ball. Failure to comply will result in the referee throwing
you out of the game. A dead ball is also a ball that has been blocked or that has hit the ground.
Any dead balls hitting the opponent do not count.
Advantage Any team with more balls (or
more players if the number of balls is equal) is said to have the advantage.
The team with the advantage must throw at least one of their balls within 5 to 10 seconds.
Also, a team cannot have possession of all the balls for more than 5 seconds.
Failure to throw a ball in the allotted time is known as stalling
and this results in one of their players being removed from the game.
Headshots In general, throw a ball
at someone’s head results in them being out. But some organisations (especially schools of
younger children) penalise this due to safety reasons, and any head shot will result in the
player throwing the ball being out, instead of the player being struck by the ball.
Grey Area Scenarios What if I block a ball and
my ball is knocked out of my hands? You’re out. What if I block a ball and it hits me? You’re out.
What if the ball deflects off me and I catch it = it counts as a catch and you’re safe.
What if the ball hits a teammate and I catch it = in general,
it counts as a catch. But with some organisations, the teammate is out.
What if a thrown ball hits two players at the same time – both players are out.
Extreme / Ultimate Dodgeball
Some Dodgeball games are played on trampolines or other unorthodox shaped courts.
The rules are generally the same, but playing on things like trampolines
adds an extra wacky dimension to the game.
Finally, always check with your local organisation on the rules they decide to play by,
as these vary greatly from country to country, and from region to region.
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in the meantime, enjoy Dodgeball. Ninh Ly – www.ninh.co.uk - @NinhLyUK