Illegal bat and illegal kick of the ball explained

An illegal bat is an intentional slap or punch of a loose ball with the hand or arm in a direction the rulebook forbids. An illegal kick is deliberately kicking a loose ball, or a ball in a player’s possession, when the play is not a legal free kick or scrimmage kick. Both are 10-yard fouls under Rule 12, Section 5. If Team A does it before a change of possession on a scrimmage down, the offense also loses the down.

These flags are rare. Through Week 5 of the 2026 season, public play-by-play logs show zero accepted illegal bat or illegal kick penalties in 79 games. When one does land, it often decides a scramble for a fumble near the sideline or the goal line — and it can change who supplied the impetus for a safety or a touchback.

Illegal bat: Rule 12, Section 5, Article 1

The rulebook defines a bat as the intentional striking of the ball with any part of the hand or arm. Not every bat is illegal. A forward pass in flight may be tipped, batted or deflected in any direction by any eligible player. What is illegal:

• (a) Any player bats or punches a loose ball in the field of play toward his opponent’s goal line.
• (b) Any player bats or punches a loose ball that has touched the ground in either end zone, in any direction.
• (c) An offensive player bats a backward pass in flight toward his opponent’s goal line.
• (d) A forward pass that a player has controlled, before completing the catch, is thrown forward again (the ball stays live if a teammate catches it or the defense intercepts).

An intentional muff forward is treated as a bat. Accidentally touching a loose ball while trying to recover it is a muff, not a bat — intent is the difference.

Illegal kick: Rule 12, Section 5, Article 2

No player may deliberately kick a loose ball or a ball that is in a player’s possession. A kick is intentional striking with the knee, lower leg or foot. Legal punts, drop kicks, place kicks and free kicks are not covered by this foul. If a player illegally kicks the ball and someone recovers it, the ball is not automatically dead unless another rule says so — the foul is still marked off.

The penalty

Situation	What happens
Basic foul (illegal bat or illegal kick)	Loss of 10 yards
By Team A before a change of possession on a scrimmage down	Loss of 10 yards and loss of down
By Team A beyond the line during a scrimmage kick	10 yards, but no loss of down
Close to the goal line	Half the distance if 10 yards would be more than half

Foul codes on the television graphic are usually BAT for an illegal bat and KIK for an illegal kick or kicking a loose ball.

How a bat or kick changes impetus

Even when the foul is declined or the recovery stands, batting or illegally kicking a ball can rewrite who caused the ball to cross a goal line. Impetus normally stays with the team that passed, kicked, snapped or fumbled. An opponent who bats a kicked or fumbled ball, bats a grounded backward pass, or illegally kicks any ball creates a new force. That is why a defensive player who bats a fumble out of his own end zone can turn a touchback into a safety — our safety vs. touchback guide covers the full chart. Touching that results only from the ball being batted or illegally kicked into a player by an opponent is disregarded for possession, though the bat or kick itself can still be a foul or a first-touching violation.

What it looks like on the field

The classic illegal bat is a defender or returner near the sideline who swats a rolling fumble forward to keep it in bounds, or punches it toward the opponent’s goal. In the end zone, batting a grounded loose ball any direction is illegal. On offense, batting a backward pass forward toward the opponent’s goal is a foul; batting a forward pass in flight is legal for eligible players. Deliberately kicking a fumble away from a pile, or kicking the ball out of a ball carrier’s hands, is an illegal kick.

Related loose-ball rules sit in our guides on fumbles, the illegal forward pass, and fair catches and punts. Unsportsmanlike kick-block leaping is a different foul under Rule 12-3.

2026 so far

Through Week 5, with 79 regular-season games in the public play-by-play logs, there have been no accepted illegal bat or illegal kick flags. That matches how seldom the foul shows up across a season: holding, false starts and pass interference dominate the weekly totals, while batting and kicking fouls sit near the bottom when they appear at all.

Watch related rules

The league’s video rulebook on safeties walks through impetus, including how a bat or kick can change who put the ball in the end zone. The second clip is an officials’ association breakdown of an illegal-bat judgment.

What to watch on the next flag

• Was it intentional? A muff while trying to recover is legal contact. A deliberate slap or kick is not.
• Where was the ball? In the field of play, batting toward the opponent’s goal is the problem. In either end zone, any bat of a grounded loose ball is illegal.
• Forward pass in flight? Eligible players may bat that anywhere. A controlled pass thrown forward again is a different foul.
• Who did it? Team A before a change of possession usually loses the down as well as 10 yards.
• Did impetus change? A bat or illegal kick can turn a touchback into a safety even beyond the yardage.
• Kick or bat? Hand/arm = bat (BAT). Knee/lower leg/foot = kick (KIK).

Related WhyNFL reading: Safety vs. touchback, Fumble rules, Illegal forward pass and touching, Fair catch and punts, After the flag, 2026 penalties by the numbers.