Rule 2-2: Batting is intentionally slapping or striking the ball with the arm or hand.
Rule 2-24-1: A kick is the intentional striking of the ball with the knee, lower leg, or foot.
An intentional act is something done on purpose, with deliberate intent, with a specific goal in mind. When a player bats or kicks the ball, the intent is to move the ball away from the player. Typically, the goal line, sideline, or end line are factors.
A player might attempt to illegally bat or kick a loose ball out of bounds or out of the end zone to keep the other team from possessing the ball; or the player might attempt to illegally bat a loose ball near the sideline to keep it in the field of play in an attempt to recover the ball.
Here’s a video of an illegal bat I missed a half dozen years ago. A11 fumbled the ball near the sideline. B35 batted the ball to keep it from going out of bounds.
Words have meaning. Since “kick” is defined as an intentional act, we should avoid using the word kick when discussing a play with a coach.
Example: The ball is loose, and A12 and B33 are shoulder-to-shoulder chasing the ball. A12 strikes the ball with his foot, but his act is not intentional.
Coach – “He kicked the ball! That’s a foul!”
Official – “Coach, in my judgment, he did not intentionally strike the ball with his foot. By rule, he did not kick the ball.”
Accidental striking of the ball with the knee, lower leg, or foot is not kicking.
The accidental touching a loose ball with the arm or hand is called a muff. Rule 2-27: A muff is the touching of a loose ball by a player in an unsuccessful attempt to secure possession.
Rule 9-7 addresses Illegal Kicking and Batting.
No player may intentionally kick the ball other than as a free or scrimmage kick.
No player may bat a loose ball other than a pass or fumble in flight. Exception: A Team K player may bat toward his own goal line a grounded scrimmage kick and a scrimmage kick in flight (with accompanying caveats).
Any pass in flight may be batted in any direction, by an eligible receiver unless it is a backward pass batted forward by the passing team.
The penalty for illegal kicking or batting is 10 yards.
Quiz
Read the quiz stem and then choose the best answer(s). (Choose all that apply.)
4/8 from the K-30. K32 kicks the ball. The ball is rolling on the ground at the R-40 when K44 blindside blocks R89, causing R89 to touch the ball at the R-38. K57 falls on the ball at the R-35.
- Team K can keep the ball and choose to enforce their foul from the R-35
- Team R can choose to enforce the penalty from the K-30 (the previous spot)
- Team R can choose to enforce the penalty from the R-35 (the end of the kick)
- Team R can choose to enforce the penalty from the R-40 (the spot of the foul)
Review Rules 6-2-4, 10-4-2b, 10-4-2 EXCEPTION