From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishin play/out of playin play/out of playDSif a ball is in play or out of play, it is inside or outside the area in which the rules of the game allow you to hit, kick, catch etc the ball He kicked the ball out of play. → play
Examples from the Corpus
in play/out of play• Courier put only 50 percent of his first serves in play. 