Dear Sean,
If the ball is thrown so hard that it goes over a child's head is it "out"? -Brianne, 11/28/07 9:59 PM
Good question, Brianne. The issue isn't that the ball goes over their heads, its more about how hard the ball has been hit and this is why. If a ball is hit so hard that it bounces 100 feet straight up then the player can just wait for it to fall and its no big deal. If you have to run 100 feet out of the square to return it the that's something different.
In our adult league, if the ball is not returned after hitting the square then the owner of that square is out. If the ball has bounced in a player's square then they must return it. In small spaces we let them play the ball off the walls.
With your kids, you might want to make an overhead rule. Or add a "smash zone" around your court so that if the second bounce of those really hard/high hits lands outside the smash zone then the person who hit it last is out. This helps to reign in the heavy hitting kids.
Hope this provides some insight, let me know what you do.
