Have a "standing" character who responds to a hit like a ragdoll but never falls down

Hello everyone,

I have a character, where the user will hit balls/objects towards the character.. depending the object the character will respond, like a small ball might shake the character while a hunge one will make him fall.

objects include (boxing, sticks ... ) consider a game like Beat the Boss. Where the user can choose the tool to beat, and each tool has a power/effect.

I made a character made of primatives and connected the joints with character joints(this must be a ragdoll, correct me if I am wrong).. but never used the ragdoll tool inside unity.

I was able to make the character stand by making it kinematic and when the ball hits my character i am converting to non-kinematic (including child rigidbodies as well).

But again can't have my character shake according to the ball's mass.. It will fall in any case.. I know that Ragdolls are "used as a replacement for traditional static death animations" but can someone help me of an idea of how to have a character responding to a hit realistically but never fall like a dead body.

Thanks, moghes