What I've learned about the kids' game.

So I've learned a lot about kickball from an adult perspective, and figured out a lot about my teammates.  Here's some of what I've figured out:

Like baseball, kickball is as much about strategy as it is about raw talent or skill.  Putting your fielders in the wrong place can be even more damaging than dropping a fly ball or striking out (which does happen, btw).  Also, like baseball, kickball is a very defense-oriented game; games are often decided by fielding errors and poor defensive decisions that lead to extra bases and runs for the offense. 

A good pitcher can be the most important player on the field; he/she will put a spin on their pitch, throw curves, and get you to kick at bad balls.  Three foul balls is an out in kickball, but strikes are counted separately.  Even so, many people foul out - and some even strike out.  Like baseball, popping out is a constant (and can be the result of a wicked pitch).

It's damn hard to throw a big, wobbly rubber kickball, and they can be very tricky to catch (they can bounce right off your arms -- or face -- if you're not careful).  This means that any ball landing in the outfield is going to be an extra-base hit unless it lands near first base.   A ball landing in the shallow gap in right field can score a runner from second base, even if fielded immediately; it's just too hard for most fielders to relay a kickball to home plate fast enough to stop it.  You can never let a ball get behind you in the outfield; it's the kiss of death because you won't be able to throw it back into play nearly as quickly as you would a baseball.  We got caught off-guard in our last game by a huge blast, and it cost us 3 runs and nearly cost us the game.  Despite all that, adults are much faster and can cover much more ground that kids can.  So catch-outs, first-base outs and double-plays are frequent.

Now for offensive strategies.  As a kid playing kickball, most of us tried to kick the ball as hard as we could (with our foot) into play.  We could do this because on the blacktop, nobody was going to make a sliding or diving catch - and kids couldn't cover ground as quickly.  We also called out pitches, and preferred bouncing pitches to rolling ones. 

Not so in adult kickball.  Pitchers are defenders.  Bouncing pitches that are kicked usually result in pop-outs.  You play on grass, so people can make sliding and diving catches.  A big, high blast into the outfield is more likely to be caught than it is to land.  Even line drives are usually caught. 

That means your safest bet is to keep it on the ground and play 'smallball': lots of singles and base running rather than trying to smash home runs (home runs in kickball are about as common as wild giant pandas).  Because of the aforementioned difficulty in throwing a ball, a ground ball kick towards third base with nobody (or one runner) on is almost a guaranteed single (unless you are a slow runner, or the fielder is Hercules).  This maxim is aided by an important rule: except for the pitcher, no fielders are allowed to be inside the baselines until the ball is kicked.  As long as you don't kick a ball that can be caught, you're probably safe.  For this reason, bunting is a popular strategy.  As long as the bunt travels far enough away from the catcher and pitcher, you'll probably beat any throw to first.

But a flaw in this strategy arises when you have runners on first and second.  Suddenly you can't kick the ball towards third, because they'll almost definitely get the runner forced from second to third.  In this situation, you have to gamble a bit.  You can try bunting shallow (to load the bases), or try kicking a line drive into the outfield.   Your best best is to kick one into the gap between first and second, across the baseline but not too deep. 

I managed to pull this off in my second at-bat 2 weeks ago when we crushed Sloppy Seconds on our Thursday night crossover week; the play only netted me a single, but I drove in two runs.  The game I reffed this week feature a late-game rally by the team that was behind - a rally driven by bunting and a fielding error.  Unfortunately, the trailing team kept bunting with the bases loaded -- so the fielding team simply fielded each bunt and stepped on home plate, or threw to third base to end the rally.   

As for me, I've finally figured out this kicking thing (which is probably the single hardest thing to figure out in adult kickball). My secret?  I don't kick with my foot.  Way too many people focus on making foot contact with the ball, as if they were playing soccer.  They forget that it's a bouncy red rubber ball -- and kicking a bouncy rubber ball off your foot can lead to unpredictable results.  Kicking with your ankle or shin gives you much more control, and usually forces the ball straight or down rather than up (preventing a pop-up). 

And thanks to my residual track speed, NOBODY is throwing me out when I kick it fair towards third base.  I don't care how good the fielders are -- it's just not happening (at least not from third base to first base).  In our last three games, I've kicked safely in all of my plate appearances (6).  Nobody else on our team can say that.  It's not because I have a monster leg and I kill the ball; it's because I take what the defense gives me and use the running game.  Unfortunately, I've only scored one run all season because my teammates kicking behind me haven't supported me with accurate fair balls.  My method requires my teammates to do some kicking damage.  If they don't, you just end up getting stranded.  Like I have.  For five of the last six times I've been on base.  Not that I'm bitter or anything. 

I talked with one of the captains, and we will tinker the kicking order so I end up having some people kick after me who will actually give me a shot to score.  It'll be interesting to see how this plays out -- and how I'll do when I actually have runners on first and second to kick for.              

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