THE 11 MOST IMPORTANT KICKBALL OR KICKINGBALL RULES - ARTE

The rules of kickball or kickingball, originally called "Kick Baseball," are based on baseball, although they have elements of soccer and softball. Kickingball is largely a recreational and competitive game, which is mostly played in North America.

It is also the favorite game of youth in South Korea, where it is known as balyagu (foot-baseball) and is one of the sports regularly played in elementary schools.

Kickball was invented around 1917 by Nicholas C. Seuss, Supervisor of the Cincinnati Park Playgrounds in Cincinnati, Ohio. By 1920, kickingball was implemented by physical education teachers in elementary schools to teach children the fundamentals of baseball.

For its practice, a soccer or volleyball ball was used. As the game progressed through the 1920s and 1930s, it took on more aspects of baseball.

Three strikes per out and three outs per inning, four walking balls and one kicker. The role of the players, in terms of pitching techniques, were better defined. The game also continued to introduce and acquire a wider audience, including young girls.

There was a resurgence in interest in kickingball during the 1990s, particularly among adults who had played the game as children. Social leagues began to appear throughout the United States.

You may also be interested in knowing the rules of handball or handball, another sport widely practiced around the world.

Kickball or kickingball rules

1. Objective

A kickball game is made up of two teams of 9 players each who try to score more runs than their opponent by going all 3 bases and crossing home plate as many times as possible.

2- Field of play

A kickball field needs four diamond-shaped bases. According to WAKA (World Adult Kickball Association) kickball rules, the field has bases 20 feet apart, but this can be adjusted if space is not available. The throwing strip must be directly in front of the kicker's base and in line with first and third base.

3- Ball

The official ball used in a kickball game is red with a WAKA logo, and inflates to 1.5 pounds per square inch. However, a soccer or volleyball can be used for an informal game with friends.

4- Players

WAKA kickball rules allow a team to be made up of at least eight players, but never more than 11 players.

The visiting team starts kicking while the home team starts on the field. The first kicker goes up to the plate to start the game. Players line up in the following positions:

Pitcher (on pitching rubber)
Cátcher (behind the hearth plate)
First base (a few meters from first base)
Second base (a few meters from the 2nd base towards the 1st)
Third Base (a few meters from 3rd base)
Emergency stop (between 2nd and 3rd base)
Left field (behind second and third base)
Midfielder (behind 2nd base)
Right field (behind 1st and 2nd base)

5- Picheo

The ball should roll on the ground as it crosses the plate. The pitcher has to stay behind the pitching plate until the ball is kicked. If you don't do this, you get a "ball." The strike zone is 1 foot in and out of home plate.

6- kick

The ball must be kicked with the foot or the leg. All kicks must be done behind the plate. Contact with the ball is not allowed without fully extending the leg.

If a kicker gets 3 strikes, he's out. A strike is scored when there is a pitch within the strike zone that is not kicked, when a kick attempt has been missed regardless of whether it was inside or outside the strike zone, and when there is a foul. After 3 balls, the kicker can run to first base.

7- Ball

A ball is hit when: a pitch is outside the strike zone, and the kicker does not attempt to kick it, when a pitch bounces through home plate and when any outfield player, including the pitcher, advances toward home plate before the hit. ball is kicked.

8- Foul

A foul is obtained when the ball lands in the foul zone, when the ball goes out of bounds before passing first or third base and is not touched by any player. A foul counts as a strike. If a player receives 3 fouls, he is out. If a player has 2 strikes and then kicks a foul ball, he is out.

9- Tickets

A kickingball game consists of 6 innings. Each inning is divided into an upper and a lower half and each team has a turn to kick.

The visiting team kicks the first half (or the top) of each inning, and the home team kicks the second half (or the bottom) of the inning.

A half inning is completed when the kicking team receives 3 outs. If the game is tied at the end of 6 innings, teams continue to play full innings until one team is ahead.

10- Score

A team scores a point each time a player rounds all the bases and crosses the plate.

11- Disqualification of players

A runner is out if:

He is hit by a kicked ball while off base.
You run out of the baseline.
An outfielder throws the ball and hits him below the shoulders while he is off base (Runners hit on the head or neck are not out unless they dodge the ball).
If it is touched by an outfielder before reaching base or if an outfielder with a ball touches the base before reaching it.
If he leaves the base before the ball is kicked.

Injuries and substitutions

In cases of injury or illness, a waiting period may be requested for removal and replacement of the participant by a teammate. If the participant returns to play later, she must insert herself in the same written kick order position as she had previously.

Any player withdrawn from the game due to injury or illness must report his condition to the head referee. The pitcher and catcher positions may only be replaced once per inning, unless injury necessitates another substitution.

Only runners who are injured while running to a base and successfully reach it may be substituted. A runner may be substituted no more than twice during the game. After the second substitution, the player will be eliminated from the game and will no longer be allowed to participate.

Modifications

Depending on the number of players, skill level, available equipment, or the size of the playing area, the basic rules of kickball can be modified.

Kickball expansion: professional leagues

As interest in the sport grew, organizations such as the World Adult Kickball Association were formed, and thousands of adults participated in the game.

WAKA (the World Adult Kickball Association) was founded in 1998 in Washington DC, when four recent college graduates were drinking in a bar and discussing ways to meet women.

They settled on the idea of launching a sports league that mixes athletics and social interaction. They chose kickball as it requires little athletic ability and someone is unlikely to get hurt.

By 2002, the league had grown so large that the four founders registered it as a for-profit corporation in Virginia. In the summer of 2005, the association helped establish a league for the Marines stationed in Fallujah - the Semper Fi Division of Iraq.

As of 2011, WAKA has leagues in more than 30 states, 40,000 players on 2,000 teams in 200 divisions. Kickball continues to be played by children and adults alike in parks and schools across the United States.

References

Regnide, E. (2014). History of Kickball. 3-18-2017, from com.
Cracked Editors. (2011). Kickball. 3-18-2017, retrieved from cracked.com.
Whittemore, F. (2015). Cracked Editors. (2011). Kickball. 3-18-2017, retrieved from cracked.com.
Schleyer, C. (2010-2017). How to Play Kickball. 3-18-2017, retrieved from kids-sports-activities.com.
(1998-2012). Official Rules of the Game. 3-18-2017, recovered from kickball.com.

THE 11 MOST IMPORTANT KICKBALL OR KICKINGBALL RULES - ARTE - 2024