"I am hitting the ball."

Translation: Je frappe la balle.

[STRADS1551]

"Je donne un coup dans le ballon" not accepted?

[JanetBerry2]

Is there shades of difference between balle ballon boule

[CommeuneTexane]

Balle: tennis ball, baseball, golf ball, ping pong balls, and musket balls...

Ballon: rugby ball, football, basketball, soccer ball, volleyball...

Boule: billard ball, pétanque ball, ornament ball for a Christmas tree...

"Ballon" is typically for the largest balls played in sports. The distinction between "boule" and "balle" is much murkier.

[AmineHadji1]

Ballon: A large ball filled with air and that can easily bounce.
Boule: A heavy and dense ball
Balle: A ball in general.

Note that ballon and boule are both considered balle (making it a generic noun). However, we know for instance that in rugby we use un ballon, so nobody will say balle de rugby, even though technically it is une balle.

[akozhevnikov]

Why not "coup"?

[GrahamNdP]

I agree! "frappe" wasn't even given as a hint?!

[CommeuneTexane]

Now added. Thank you.