Dodge 101: Stance

I have been remiss in my duties as a dodgeball savant. I haven't posted nearly enough on the tactics or strategies of the sport of kings: dodgeball.

Let's start with the basics.

Stance:
It's a scientific fact that the slower you move, or the more still you stay, the better your eyesight is. Therefore, you want to stay as still as possible when you think the ball is going to be thrown at you. The more "settled" your eyes get, the better you'll be able to see and react.

It also means you don't want to be spinning or moving around a lot, since it will make your vision, and therefore you reaction time, worse.

So there are two basic stances you want to maintain.

Your first dodging position is an obvious one: standing up, with your feet about shoulder width apart.

I also think it's best to have you knees slightly bent so that it'll be easier to get moving. Of course, I also tower between 6'3 and 6'4, so bending my knees makes me a slightly smaller target. You'll also want your arms to your sides, and ready to move as necessary. Basically, you'll want to look like the picture of me on the left.

From the standing position, you can do just about anything. You'll be able to jump, run, roll, duck and even drop to your knees, which sets up your next position.

Your other dodging stance should be from your knees. Again, you'll want your base to be about shoulder width apart. Obviously, you'll want your knees bent, and I recommend having your weight back on your body, over your ankles. This will make it easier to rock back on to your feet and quickly stand up. Again, your hands should be bent at the elbows, and ready to move for a catch. From your kneeling position you can make catches, duck under throws, block balls and should also be able to make a quick, short range throw.

Both of these stances should be your resting positions, with your kneeling stance as a fall back from your standing position. The goal of both is to give you a solid base with lots of options for quick movements.

Although both can be used anywhere on the court, the ideal spot for both is from what we call in the competitive leagues, the back line. The back line being about one pace in front of the wall at the back of your court. I'm sure you'll find that as soon as a round begins most experienced players will take a step, maybe two forward from the wall, and then settle into one of these positions.

There are also a few no-nos that all good dodgers know to avoid:

1) Never, ever, dodge in front of a teammate. Although you might get around the ball, the person behind you stands no chance, whatsoever.

2) Never turn your back on the other team. It's much better to back up slowly and keep your eye on the ball then it is to sprint with your back to the other team.

3) Variety is the spice of life. If you dodge to your right every time, I'm going to start throwing to your right every time.

4) Make your dodges explosive. Many times I've seen people make the right decision on a dodge - - their timing was right, the direction they chose was right - - but they didn't make it explosive, so they didn't get out of the way quickly enough. Make sure that when you dodge, it's a dodge big enough to get you out of the way of the ball.

There's a lot more to dodging, but this is certainly a good foundation to work from.