When a child enjoys playing ball, the Rebbe explained at the farbrengen of Shabbos Parshas Shemini 5740, the correct approach is not to force the child not to play, but rather to channel his natural desire in the proper way.

“We should teach him to do it ‘lsheim Shomayim,’ so that he will have the energy to learn Torah better.”

R’ Leibel Posner AH related:

“In the early 1940s, our melamed, R’ Zalman Gurary, decided that it was not dignified for young bochurim to play ball in the courtyard of 770 where we learned at the time, so we stopped.

“One day, the upstairs window suddenly opened, and balls came raining down on us. Standing there were the Rebbetzin, the Frierdiker Rebbe’s Rebbetzin, and others, all laughing.

“Forty years later, Yankel Smith, a boy who was in our class, told me the other half of the story. Not coming from a Lubavitch family, he had decided after the ban on playing ball to leave the Lubavitch yeshiva.

“In the hallway, he met the Rebbe, who asked him why he was leaving. Yankel explained that he enjoyed playing ball and was not willing to give it up. The next day, the balls came raining down from the window, and Yankel remained in the yeshiva.”

(As heard from R’ Leibel Posner)