Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
A shy retired Olympic athlete falls for his university’s basketball star but struggles to act on his feelings, scared of the consequences if it became public knowledge in K-drama ‘Ball Boy Tactics‘.
Directed by Kim Eun Hye (Why R U?, Jun & Jun), the eight-episode show is adapted from the web novel Ball Boy Tactics (볼보이 택틱스) by Ji Seung Hyeon. It stars Yeom Min Hyeok as popular gymnast Han Ji-won, who quits at the height of his career to join a photography major, where he meets and falls for Kwon Jung-woo (Choi Jae Hyeok), the campus heartthrob. As if surviving campus life as a celebrity athlete wasn’t tough enough, Ji-won has a harder time navigating his feelings for Jung-woo, who seems cold and aloof at first, but surprisingly starts to reciprocate his romantic interest.
Actor Choi Jae Hyeok resembles a shiny, handsome manhwa prince, tall, striking, with sharp features, while Yeom Min Hyeok is short, cute, and petite as Ji-won. Due to the public scrutiny he constantly faces, Ji-won overthinks everything, has low self-esteem, and often projects his own insecurities onto others. Jung-woo, meanwhile, is the more confident, straightforward, assertive character in ‘Ball Boy Tactics’, with a promising basketball career.
The lead pair’s onscreen dynamic is reminiscent of the couple from the Korean romance ‘Cherry Blossoms After Winter’. While the stories are completely different, the protagonists share similar personalities. ‘Ball Boy Tactics‘ is almost as fluffy, largely remaining a not-too-serious campus romance, where most of the drama and heartache stems from Ji-won’s lack of social skills and romantic experience.
Comic relief in the series is provided by Jung-woo’s close basketball BFFs Seung Jin (Choi Rak Yeong) and Eun-oh (Kwak Gun‑hee). Choi Rak Yeong is the most animated character, a big fanboy of Ji-won, he is loud, mischievous, and super chatty. It’s hinted that Eun-oh has more than platonic interest in Seung Jin, however, this sub-plot isn’t fully explored, leaving plenty scope for a ‘Ball Boy Tactics’ season two, even though it’s rare to see shows in this genre get another installment. But then if ‘Color Rush’ could get a part 2, so can this.
With only eight episodes that are about 30 minutes long, ‘Ball Boy Tactics’ isn’t able to explore Ji-won’s social paranoia properly either, so his character feels quite overbearingly slow at points. It’s hard to tell if the creators specifically directed Yeom Min Hyeok to portray Ji-won this way, because his performance is almost sloth-like: the character is slow to react to everything, as if his brain is loading a page on Internet Explorer in 1999. His personality therefore fluctuates between endearing and annoying.
The cinematography is bright, with a breezy palette, although the background music is used quite sparingly, so a few scenes feel awkward without the usual K-drama tonal flourishes dictating the mood in the back. On the other hand, the minimal use of music also enhances some of the natural ‘first love’ awkwardness between the lead pair.
‘Ball Boy Tactics’ steers clear of overused BL tropes, there’s no clumsy stumbling into each other or exaggerated fanservice. Ji-won and Jung-woo’s connection feels deliberate, with their romance unfolding through mutual, conscious choices. There’s no dramatic villain here either; the real challenge lies in balancing public athletic careers with the desire for privacy. The series ends on a wholesome note, with just enough left open for a spinoff to explore more.
Overall, ‘Ball Boy Tactics’ is a cutesy campus romance, that could’ve benefited from tighter pacing and perhaps two more episodes to develop the lead pair’s love-story without rushing through it.
Watch ‘Ball Boy Tactics’ on iQIYI.
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