Defense / Shot Blocking – Rules of Beer Pong #25
25. Defense / Shot Blocking
In a nutshell: you can swat a shot away once it bounces on the table. Block a shot before it bounces and it counts as a made cup.
No way! Defense is what separates a real game from a shooting gallery. Hands up, eyes on the ball, and wait for that bounce. Swat one out of the air early and you just gave them a free cup.
No way!
How defense works
- Wait for the bounce. The ball has to hit the table first.
- Slap it away. Use a hand or arm.
- Never block a shot in the air. Touch a ball before it bounces and it counts as a cup; you drink.
Defense tips
- Swat carefully: knocking over your own cup counts as made under the spilled cup rule.
- Defense also applies to trick shots once they hit the table.
- Last line of defense: a spinning ball can still be fingered or blown out.
How it plays out at a real party
Good defense is quiet. Stand at your end with your hands low and loose, watch the ball instead of the shooter, and only move once it hits the table. Most cups given away by an early block come from people who flinched at a fake.
The usual fight is whether the ball touched the table before the swat. The defender is sure, and so is the shooter. Let the people watching from the side call it, and the house settles anything they can’t.
Our take: if your house plays bounce shots for two cups, it needs defense too. Without it, every bounce is a free two-cup swing.
FAQ
Can you block a bounce shot?
Yes. That’s exactly what defense is for. See bounce shot.
What if I block a shot that hasn’t bounced?
It counts as a made cup.
Keep the arguments off the table. Post your defense rules so every block is clean: house rules signs from the Beer Pong All-Stars shop.
See all the rules in the complete beer pong rules guide.
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