Aggressive Playing - Why the "Bad" Players Should Make the BIG Plays

Aggressive Playing - Why the "Bad" Players Should Make the BIG Plays

Lets be honest,  Dodgeball is an aggressive sport. Many players have likened it to war. It is a battle of teams, but also an individual battle. You need teamwork, but many incredible plays come down between the skills of two opposing players being put toe to toe.

One of the most important things you can do while playing is being aggressive. Especially if you are one of your teams worst players, the best thing you can do for your team is make a really aggressive play. Now many players may find this to be a bit paradoxical. What I mean by this, is that the "bad" players, should rush at the line and try to take control of the court.

It really comes down to a game of numbers. If you look at a game of dodgeball based on balls having a value of 1 and players a value of 2 or maybe 3, you can calculate a rudimentary "score" that each team has. It's a good way to calculate who has the better advantage.

Here's a little story: I was running a dodgeball league, I had some pretty mediocre players on my team against a team who had one really good player, named Jeff. Jeff has  abad habit of standing right at the line after he throws, making him a really easy target.

We had a girl on our team, and...she was pretty bad. Jeff threw a ball at her, and she deflected it. She was also standing right near the line.

Jeff and the girl couldn't have had more than 7' between them. After Jeff threw the ball, the girl motioned to throw at Jeff, but hesitated when a guy on Jeff's team ran up to the line to defend him. He threw the ball and she got out.

I went over to the line and asked the girl why she didn't throw. She didn't have a very good reason.

Jeff was obviously a lot better than she was. If she had gotten out, but still thrown the ball before getting hit, essentially trading herself for Jeff, we would have gotten a HUGE advantage.

By sacrificing a mediocre/bad player for their best, our whole team would have been in a much better situation.

Rush The Line.


It may be crazy, but it's actually a pretty decent strategy. If you stay slightly crouched over, and run, with a ball right at the line, when the opposing team has a player at the line, you are going to force them to make a play. Perhaps they'll throw the ball at you. Chances are, you'll block it. The odds are pretty high that you'll hit them. And if you don't, at least you got control of the main line, pushing the other team back.

If there is one player dominating the court with his presence, pick your lankiest, fastest player on your team, give him a ball, and tell him to run as fast as he can at the guy on the other players team the second he lets go of the ball. It's basically a guaranteed out. Everyone has something valuable that they can contribute in a game of dodgeball.

Think about it, if you keep the other team away from the middle line, how are they going to get any powerful throws? As long as you don't throw anything catch-able, you have control of the whole game!

Seriously, try this. Next time a good player is controlling the court, standing at the line, take a ball (if you want to be safe, have two players with balls run up together, so one can protect the other one) and run headfirst, and FAST at the line. Force the play. Be aggressive and take control of the game. Teams that play aggressively can be beaten, they aren't used to be taken advantage of, so just one play that shakes them off their game usually is game deciding. Try it out sometime. You'd be surprised at how sacrificing yourself to take their best player out works!