Dodgeball is a team game built around a simple idea: throw a ball at your opponents before they throw one at you. Two teams face off across a divided court, hurling balls back and forth, and a player who gets hit is out. It sounds basic, but the way players dodge, catch and block makes it one of the more physical, fast-moving team games around, and it has grown from playground pastime into an organised international sport with its own federations, leagues and world championships.
Objective
Each team tries to eliminate every opposing player by hitting them with a thrown ball, while avoiding being hit itself. A team can also get an opponent out by catching a ball thrown at it before it touches the ground, which eliminates the thrower and can bring one of the catching team’s own eliminated players back into the game, depending on the competition’s rules. The side with players still standing when the other team has none, or with more players left when time runs out, wins that game.
Rules and regulations
- Play starts with the balls placed along the centre line and both teams behind their back lines.
- Once the balls are live, players can move freely within their own half but cannot cross into the opponent’s territory.
- A player is out if hit by a live ball on the body before it bounces; a ball that strikes the floor or another object first no longer counts.
- Blocking a throw with a held ball is usually allowed, but if that ball is knocked loose and caught by an opponent before hitting the ground, the blocking player is out instead.
- Most rule sets used by organised leagues and federations also restrict deliberate head shots, treating them as a fault rather than a legal hit, and set time limits for how long a team can hold onto the balls without throwing.
- Matches are typically played as a series of short sets rather than one long contest, with a new set starting once a team is eliminated or the clock runs out.
Equipment and playing area
- Games are usually played on a rectangular court roughly the size of a volleyball court, split into two halves by a centre line, with a neutral zone and attack lines marking out how close players can get before throwing.
- Exact measurements vary a little between leagues and formats, including indoor gym versions and larger outdoor set-ups.
- Balls are lightweight and made of foam, sized to be thrown safely and without excessive sting, a deliberate change from the harder rubber balls once common in informal games.
- Internationally, the sport is organised by the World Dodgeball Federation, which governs competition rules, runs world championship events and is working towards wider recognition for the sport.
- In India, dodgeball remains mostly a school and recreational activity, played in gyms and sports clubs rather than through a large formal competition structure.
Scoring
- Dodgeball does not use a running points score in the way football or basketball does.
- Instead, teams win individual sets by eliminating the opposing side or by having more players remaining when time expires, and a match is usually decided by whichever team wins the most sets.
- Some formats also award bonus points for catches or for finishing a set with players still on court, but eliminating opponents remains the basic route to winning.
