Pickleball
What is pickleball?
The Basics
Imagine a collision of tennis, badminton and Ping Pong (or table tennis). Imagine a sport that’s apparently named after a dog. Imagine a sport in which a key area of the court is known as 'The Kitchen'. You're thinking of pickleball, which contains elements of all the sports above, with a badminton-sized court, a tennis-style net, and paddles similar to table tennis bats. It's simple to pick up and can be very addictive, which is why pickleball enthusiasts - who call themselves 'picklers' - can't stop 'pickling'. The more you play and improve, you less chance you'll have of being 'pickled', which is losing a game.
What is pickleball
What are the rules of pickleball?
Whether you're playing singles or doubles, every point starts with an underarm serve that is hit diagonally. There's a two bounces rule. That means that the returning player or team must allow the serve to bounce, and the serving player or team must allow the return to bounce. After that, you can play volleys, although not when you're standing in the non-volley zone close to the net, which is known amongst picklers as 'The Kitchen'. You commit a fault if you hit the ball into the net or it lands outside the court, or if you miss the ball completely.
The History of Pickleball
You’ll be wondering why it’s called pickleball. Nothing to do with pickling vegetables. Pickleball was invented by three friends in the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, which is a ferry ride from Seattle, in Washington State in America. The three men, one of whom was Washington State Congressman Joel Pritchard, wanted to create a game that would entertain bored kids, and that the whole family could play together. The story goes that a family dog, Pickle, kept chasing after the ball and taking it into the bushes. That was “Pickle's ball“. The sport then became known as 'pickleball'.
There's an alternative version of pickleball's history which suggests that the name was inspired by a rowing term, 'pickle boat'. That's a boat made up of spare or borrowed oarsmen from other crews. Pritchard’s wife, Joan, who was a competitive rower, thought that 'pickleball' was an appropriate name because the game borrowed from other sports.
The Pickleball Ball
It's hard, hollow and has holes in it. There are different kinds for when you're playing indoor and outdoor.
The Paddle
HEAD offers a selection of paddles to suit a range of abilities, from beginners to advanced players, that will give you the feel, control and power you need to enjoy pickleball.
The Pickleball Court
The court is the same size for singles and doubles. It's rectangular, measuring 44 feet long and 20 feet wide. The net should be 36 inches at either end, and a little lower in the middle, at 34 inches.
The Scoring
The first player or team to 11 points wins, but you have to be ahead by at least two points. You can only score points when you or your team are serving. The first server in a team continues serving until they make a mistake or fault, and then the second server in the team serves until they make a mistake. Then the other team gets to serve. When you’re calling the score, you say the server’s score first, then the receiver’s score and if you’re playing doubles, you then say either one or two depending on which server is starting the point.