Category: Gym Games

MADBALL

Yes, this game is called Madball. I can not say as to why, either it’s the wacky rules, the highly competitive nature or you go mad trying to keep up with this style of Dodgeball game. 

person holding green apple fruit

The best way I have found to play it is to set up as many Gym mats standing up as you can, spread them out so you have hiding places or ducking corners. The mats are up so players can hide, duck and avoid getting hit, making this a fun and sneaky game for everyone. This game goes WICKED fast. Players are out and in rapidly, dodgeballs are zooming through the air like snow in a blizzard. Be prepared to play and get involved, it is an amazingly fun game if you can keep up. 

This is Everybody’s It Tag with Dodgeballs.

The Basic Rules:

  • You can hit anyone you want. 
  • If you hit them they are out and need to sit down.
  • You can only get back up if the person that hit you with the dodgeball gets hit and sits down.
  • Or “Jailbreak” is called by the leader of the game. 
  • There are NO teams
  • You can only hit from the shoulders down.
  • If you hit someone in the head, YOU ARE DOWN
  • You can only take 3 steps with the ball in your hand, then you have to throw it.
  • If you disagree about a hit/tag, you play Rock/Paper/Scissors winner gets their call. 

There are no teams, there are no partners, it is everyone for themselves. You will be one of their main targets when you play. Yes, you should play. 

I start with everyone on the walls of the room/gym and all the balls in the middle of the room. I go over the rules with the group, then step away from the dodgeballs and RUN! The minute you say GO, it becomes an intense, hilarious, and competitive game all at once. 

The Mods

Sudden Death:

This is the hardest version as once the players are hit they are OUT. Like fully out. There is no return. The goal is to get a winner. I normally award the winner with a prize, bragging rights don’t always do it.

***I have allowed players to return if they complete a fitness challenge such as 5 jumping jacks, 5 push-ups, use your discretion taking in the physical ability of your players.

Alliances:

This allows for players to pick teams and work together in small groups. When you use this, try to make the alliances as fair as possible. There can be a lot of grief about this modification if the groupings are not fair. But it does allow for an upwards of 4 team groups playing at once. 

Wombat

Let’s take one of the versions that is my MOST requested game to play when you have a group of people and no equipment.

This game is not mine, a friend of mine taught it to me and I couldn’t help but love it, it takes agility, skill, speed and a big element of sneaky. In this version of Everybody’s It Tag, you are only allowed to tag someone on the Shin/calf area. So that makes all other tag attempts null and void.

Best way I have found to teach this game is have everyone touch their knee, then have them touch their ankle on the same leg. (Yes this means a little goofy balancing act, but visuals help!) If you get tagged between your knee and your ankle, you are down.

The only way to get back into the game is if the person that Tagged you is tagged and sits down, then you can pop back up and start tagging all over again. Or you can use the “Jailbreak” rule

This has led to endless laughter and racing about, in fields and in large gymnasiums, often with no matter how large a crowd of people that play, there is always those few that just have to catch everyone.

I have started this game with as little as 5 kids and soon was playing with a crowd of almost 30.

**Jailbreak Rule: If the leader of the game calls out “JailBreak” than everyone is free to stand and the game play goes on.