Sometimes you have to be lucky to be good.

Last night was the last regular season game of the Moth Balls, and we were struggling against the Ball Maulers, a team sponsored by the travel agency the Flight Centre. In one of the late rounds we'd whittled down the Ball Maulers to just two players, but I was the only person left on the Moth Balls side of the court.

There was a ball on my side of the court, and a ball in my hands, while both of my opponents had balls in hand and were at the centre line. I opted for a rushing dodge. For the uninitiated, a rush dodge is perfect for a two-on-one situation where all the players have ball in hand. The single player waits for their opponents to wind-up their throws, and then rushes at their opponents. The key is that they don't rush directly at the opponents, but run in a large curve, getting out of the way of the incoming throws, but ending up right beside one of the throwers. It's advantageous because it usually gets out one of your opponents, and you can usually recover one of the thrown balls.

Unfortunately for me, only one of my opponents threw the ball. Even worse, the guy I was charging had held on to his sphere.

I then made a stupid decision: I decided to throw my ball at him, even though I wasn't yet at the centre line. His teammate, still at the centre line was gawking and definitely a better target for my early throw, but I foolishly opted to throw at the guy with the ball. This was the first poor idea in a series of bad ideas.

I also made the mystifying decision of sliding on the ground to avoid his throw. Of course, he still hadn't thrown his ball. Also, the floor at the gym was very slippery, so I slid all the way up to the centre line. I had also missed my target completely, and put it in to the crowd behind him.

To review: I had chosen a solid plan, but launched it too early. I then abandoned my plan midway. I chose to throw at the wrong person and far too early. I missed that throw and put it in a position where it would never roll or bounce back to my side of the court. I had also slid, on my side, directly beneath my opponent, who still had his ball. Disastrous.

Fortunately, he made a mistake of his own. He still held on to the ball. Although it was just for a second, he waited long enough for me to get to my knees. Or, as fans of the Astonishing Dodgeblog call it, Dodging Position #2. He wound up and threw at me, aiming very high on my chest.

And I caught the ball.

That's right, I caught a ball point-blank, high on my chest. A miracle, since I suck at catching. I then leaped to my feet, and turned to the guy's stunned teammate who was still standing at the centre line. He turned and started to run parallel along the centre line. I gave chase and as he looked over his shoulder, I threw a fake at him. He jumped, and then I blasted him with the ball square in the back.

Both teams exploded in applause and the Moth Balls came out on to the court to give me high fives and congratulate me on my play. The guy whose ball I caught was very gracious and came over to our side of the court to shake my hand. It was definitely the best catch I've ever made.

We lost to the Ball Maulers 19-4, but I will always remember that circus catch.

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.