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Kickball Rules in Plain Words

There is no one official rulebook for kickball. No single book owns this game. This page shows how most schools play it, using the Playworks rules — Playworks is a group that teaches recess games in schools all over the country. This page has no sign-up and nothing to buy.

What the game is

Kickball is like baseball, but with a big rubber ball. The pitcher rolls the ball. The kicker kicks it with a foot and runs the bases. The other team tries to get the runners out.

Players: two teams. About 6 to 10 kids on a team works well. What you need: one big rubber playground ball, and four bases — or cones, or jackets — set up like a baseball diamond.

Setting up

Set the bases in a square. In the Playworks game, the field is about 60 feet by 60 feet from home to second base.
The two captains play Ro Sham Bo (rock, paper, scissors) to pick: kick first, or field first.
The kicking team lines up in a fixed kicking order. The order stays the same the whole game.
The fielding team spreads out. One player is the pitcher. The pitcher stands in the middle.

How a turn works

The pitcher rolls the ball toward home plate. Roll it fair and kickable — a smooth roll, not a wild bounce.
The kicker kicks the ball into the field. Then the kicker runs to first base.
Runners move around the bases: first, second, third, home. Each runner who gets home scores one run.
Play stops when the ball is thrown back to the pitcher. Then the next kicker steps up.
After 3 outs, the teams trade places. In the Playworks game, a team also stops kicking after it scores 9 runs in one turn.

How a runner gets out

A fielder catches the kicked ball in the air. That is a fly out. Runners must go back and touch their base again ("tag up") before they can run on a caught ball.
A fielder holding the ball touches a base with a foot before the runner gets there.
A fielder tags the runner with the ball while the runner is between bases.
A runner passes the runner in front of them. The passer is out.
A runner gets in a fielder's way on purpose (interference). That runner is out.

Foul balls: a kick that rolls out of bounds before it passes first or third base is a foul. Three fouls is an out. But if a fielder touches the ball before it bounces, the ball is fair, foul ground or not.

Overthrows: if a fielder throws the ball past a base, each runner may run one more base. No more.

How you win

Play a set number of turns for each team — most school games play three to five. The team with the most runs wins. If time runs out, the score stands where it is.

Ways schools play it differently

Pitching style: Playworks style is a slow, smooth roll. Some schools let the pitcher roll it faster, or with one bounce. Some schools ban "bouncies" — pitches that bounce high. Ask before the game what your field allows.
Pegging: Schoolyard rule. Fielders may throw the ball at a runner to get them out. In most schoolyard games the throw must hit below the shoulders. A throw that hits the head does not count — the runner is safe. Playworks rules do not use pegging at all: outs are tags and bases only.
Strategy Kickball (a Playworks variant): there are no fouls in this game. Any hit counts. And if a runner is hit by the ball above the waist, that runner gets a free walk all the way home.
No big kicks: Some schools make kickers bunt or kick softly so everyone gets a turn on base. That is a teacher rule for that field, not a book rule.

Official rule, house rule, or schoolyard rule?

"The pitcher must roll it slow": Published rule at Playworks schools — roll, do not bounce or fire it. On other fields, fast pitching is a schoolyard custom. Neither is wrong; they are different fields' rules.

Can a runner run on a caught fly ball? Published rule: the runner must tag up — touch the base again after the catch — and then may run. Leaving early is an out at most schools.

Three fouls and you are out: That is the Playworks rule printed above. Some schoolyards count fouls like baseball strikes instead. Both are local rules — there is no national book to check.

Words to know

Foul — a kick that lands outside the lines before it passes first or third base.

Tag up — after a catch, touch your base again before you run.

Pegging — throwing the ball at a runner to make an out. Some schools allow it, some do not.

Ro Sham Bo — rock, paper, scissors, used to pick sides or turns.

Common questions

The pitcher keeps rolling balls I cannot kick. Is that fair?

In the Playworks game, no. The pitcher must roll a kickable ball. Ask the teacher or captain to fix the pitching.

Can two runners stand on one base?

No. If two runners end up on one base, the runner who got there second must go back or is out. The lead runner owns the base.

I kicked the ball and it hit a runner. What happens?

In most school rules, a runner hit by a kicked ball while off a base is out. A runner standing safe on a base is safe.

Source: Playworks, "Kickball" and "Strategy Kickball" (Game of the Week library) — playworks.org — read in full and rewritten in our own plain words. There is no single official rulebook for kickball; differences between schools are printed above and labeled.