Interesting Kickball Rule You Should Be Aware Of

 

When it comes to Kickball and Kickball Rules you have the Official WAKA Rules and then you have various park districts and church leagues as well as pickup games where rules may vary. In several leagues I've played in there's an interesting rule having to do with foul balls. You should be aware of this rule should you're league have it and it's a good thing to look into or ask about when starting a new Kickball League. 

According to the Official WAKA Rules if a batter kicks a foul ball and the player tries to field it and drops it, it's a foul ball just as it would be in Baseball or Softball. An interesting rule I've seen in a number of leagues however is if a fielder attempts to catch a foul ball and winds up dropping it, the ball is now in play. 

Now personally I'm not a fan of this rule, however what this rule means for play and for the game is that fielders should be very careful in deciding whether to field a foul ball or not. Foul balls can be difficult to field as players are often having to run to get the ball, the ball may be near the backstop or first or third base fences, and overall it can just be a more difficult ball to play and field. Should you wind up dropping it you're likely away from other fielders where you won't have any help and the ball could easily get away and lead to the other team taking several bases. While I wouldn't caution teams not to field foul balls, be very strategic when fielding them. How confident are you that you can catch the ball? If you drop the ball how far away is it going to get from you. Does the other team have players on base who can advance or are you just dealing with the batter? These are all things to consider if fielding foul balls in a league with this rule. 

What Kind of Cleats to Buy for Kickball? Soccer Cleats Vs. Football Cleats

While Kickball is a fun and fast growing sport, it's not quite big enough yet to where sports equipment brands are making kickball shoes. That may not be the case forever though as tons of brands are rushing into the Pickleball space and we never would have foreseen that happening. Anyhow, many Kickball players like to wear cleats, especially on dirt or gravel fields where tennis shoes have no traction. Our choices as Kickball players are basically soccer cleats, football cleats, or baseball cleats. In today's post we're going to examine what is the best cleat to buy and wear for kickball.

So first off, most baseball cleats are made out of metal and are going to be out, not only are they not allowed in most kickball leagues but they're unnecessary and potentially dangerous. That leaves us with soccer cleats and football cleats. When I purchased my first set of cleats for kickball I was tempted to go with a football cleat as I felt they offered more ankle support, however there's one huge flaw in kickball cleats, they have a toe cleat which could stick in the dirt and cause you to trip, or worse injure your foot.

We've discussed in other posts how to properly kick a kickball, how to kick bouncing pitches, and how to kick grounders or keep the ball low kicking groundballs and line drives. To do so you want to extend your foot to provide a flat surface and kick with your laces. If you attempted to do this with a football cleat there's a good chance your cleat would wind up catching and sticking, and you'd either wind up best case tripping and falling on your face, or worst case injuring your leg.

If you're looking to pickup a pair of cleats for kickball make them soccer cleats. Checkout the pair below as it's our favorite pair of soccer cleats for kickball and they're quite affordable as well. 

BUY DREAM PAIRS KICKBALL CLEATS

Safety Bases in Kickball Help Minimize Collissions

 It's only been in the past year or two that I've begun to see safety bases on Kickball fields, although since we kickball players typically play on Baseball or Softball fields, I should should say they've become more prominent on youth baseball and softball fields.

A safety base or safety bag is an orange base connected to the standard white base on a baseball/softball/kickball field. The first basemen uses the white bag inside the foul line while the baserunner uses the orange bag outside the foul line. Having a safety base helps to minimize the chance of collisions between first basemen or and baserunners. 

While these safety bases were actually designed for the baseball and softball games typically played on the field, they actually are as helpful if not more helpful for kickball. With baseball or softball it's typically fairly easy for a second basemen, shortstop, third basemen or pitcher to make an accurate throw to the bag, and because of the size of the ball, the fact the first basemen is wearing a glove, and the nature of the sport the first basemen typically one toe on the bag while stretching to catch the throw to first. 

In kickball however the ball is large and clunky, its more difficult to get a targeted throw on first, and again because of the nature of the ball a first basemen or whomever is covering first typically has to catch the ball two handed. The first basemen also typically isn't stretching for the ball, they're much more likely to be pretty squarely on first base. This leads to a much higher chance of collisions.

For this reason, if you're fortunate enough to play on a baseball or softball field which has a safety base its much safer for all players on the field. 

If you run a kickball league or are involved in the park district, local church, of whatever organization manages and upkeeps your fields it's pretty easy to add a safety base. A floating safety base which is fastened down with stakes typically runs about $50, where as a real or true first base with ground pegs will run a little under $100. These are very easy to install and make play on the field for all sports much safer. 

BUY A KICKBALL SAFETY BASE FOR YOUR FIELD