Staying Active: How to play Whopperball!

Playing team sports can be challenging when you have to stay home, but in this video Ian shows you how you can play Whopperball with just 3 people! Need more detail? Check out the Whopperball rules below.

Here's how to play!

What you need:

• 3-5 Players

• Baseball bat

• Foam or Wiffle Ball (about the size of a softball or baseball, and soft enough that you can safely throw it at one other without injuring anyone)

• 3 Bases (Anything to mark your safe zones on the ground; e.g., cones, hula hoops, etc.)

• 2-4 Cones to mark designate an outfield boundary

Setup:

· Find an open area of flat ground, either in your yard, or a nearby field.

· Place one of the bases near the border of your field; this is “Home” base.

· Place the other two bases in a triangular pattern, so that all 3 bases are equal distances apart.

o Recommended distance is approximately 50 ft apart.

o From “Home”, the base to the right is “First” and the base to the left is “Second”.

· Next, set an outfield boundary. In smaller areas, this will likely be the edge of your yard/field opposite of “Home.” In larger spaces, place it approximately 50 feet past the “First” to “Second” base line.

· The other two boundary lines are made by making lines from Home base out to the outfield boundary. One of the lines travels straight through First base; the other straight through Second base.

· These boundary lines create a triangular space, which is our “Field of Play” (see Diagram 1 below).

o If you are playing in a smaller space, you can place First and/or Second base near the sides of your field and run your boundary lines directly to the edge of the space (see Diagram 2 below).

· For starting positions, the youngest person bats first. Second youngest is the pitcher. Third youngest is the catcher. Any additional players will take positions in the outfield.

· Similar to baseball, the batter and catcher position themselves at Home plate. The pitcher stands between First and Second base. See Diagram 1 below.

Diagram 2

Objective:

· Each player attempts to score as many runs as possible.

· Scores are kept individually for all players.

· Runs can only be scored during a player’s turn at bat.

· While the batter is attempting to secure bases and score runs, the fielding players work together to prevent the batter from scoring.

Gameplay:

· The turn starts with the pitcher throwing the ball for the batter to hit.

· The batter attempts to hit the ball with the bat.

· If the batter successfully hits the ball into the field of play, they then run counter-clockwise to each of the bases (Home-First, First-Second, Second-Home).

· The pitcher and catcher then work together to field the ball and attempt to tag the batter “out”.

· The batter continues around the bases until they do one of the following:

o Make it successfully back to “Home”

o Choose to stop their run at First or Second

o They are tagged “out”.

· At the end of the play, the batter records successful bases secured, or a run completed, and then returns “Home” to bat again.

· If the batter is tagged out during the run, the turn is over and players rotate.

Turns:

· Each batter continues at bat until one of the following occur:

o The batter makes (3) successful hits.

o The batter accrues (3) strikes.

o The batter is tagged out.

· As soon as one of the criteria is reached, every player rotates positions and a new turn begins.

· The round of play (or inning) ends once each player has had a turn at bat.

· Groups are encouraged to play as many innings as desired.

Strikes:

· Anytime the batter swings at a ball without hitting it or hits the ball outside of the field of play (“Foul Ball”), they are given a strike.

· Strikes persist throughout the batter’s entire turn and are not reset upon successful hits.

· Foul Balls DO count as third strikes in “Whopperball.”

Outs:

· This is where things get fun! To tag a batter “out,” the fielders must successfully throw the ball at the batter and hit them with it.

· If the batter is touching a base when the ball hits them, they are considered safe.

· Fielders are not allowed to take any steps while holding the ball. (No running with the ball!)

· Fielders must stop moving as soon as they pick up, or catch, the ball, and throw it from that location. (Note: taking one step as part of throwing the ball, or pivoting on one foot, is allowed)

Scoring:

· There are two different ways to score runs in “Whopperball”:

o Home Run – If a player successfully runs to each base and makes it back Home after a hit, it is considered a “Home Run”, and the player scores a run.

o Securing Bases – Players are awarded one run for every 3 bases secured.

§ If a player chooses to stop at First or Second during a hit, they get credit for each base secured, and continue their turn.

§ After the batter’s turn is finished, they take the total number of bases secured during the entire turn, and divide that number by 3 (the total number of bases, including home) to calculate the number of runs they receive.

· Scoring example:

o Let’s say that John is up to bat. During his turn, John made three successful hits. He stopped at Second base after the first hit (2 bases), He stopped at First base after the second hit (1 base), and he stopped at Second base again after the third hit (2 bases). John has completed three successful hits, and his turn at bat is now over. During his turn, he secured a total of 5 bases, and 0 home runs. We now divide the 5 bases by 3, and determine that he has scored 1 run, with 2 extra bases. Only the runs are scored, and the extra bases are lost. Therefore, John scores 1 run for his turn.