Pickleball has brought together those young and old to share the court in a game full of fun.
Even though pickleball was invented quite some time ago, it really picked up in popularity over the last few years.
If you have been thinking about getting into the growing sport, here is everything you need to know about its history, how to play and where you can get involved.
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Pickleball is a game that is somewhat of a mashup between tennis, badminton and ping-pong. The game was invented in 1965 by three dads looking for something to do.
Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum were looking for something to do on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, Washington, and started searching the house for supplies.
They ended up with some random equipment, which ended up being the birth of pickleball.
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Over the past few years, pickleball has become the “fastest growing sport.” There are a lot of elements of pickleball that have allowed it to become increasingly popular. One of the main things is the wide age group of people that it brings in. It is a popular game among seniors, but kids, teens and young adults have also shown interest and have become more involved over the years.
The concept of the game itself is pretty easy to pick up on, and even though it is fast-paced, exciting and provides good exercise, it is not as difficult or as much of a strain on the body as tennis, making it appealing to more people.
Playing pickleball is a very social event that brings together communities, and it is an addictive game to play. Once people start, they often come back for more.
Another reason pickleball is popular is because of how affordable it is to play. Getting involved in sports is often an extremely expensive feat with all the equipment that is needed to play. All you need to play pickleball is a paddle, a ball and a court to play on.
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Overall, pickleball is an easy sport to pick up for kids and adults. The game can be played inside or outside and as singles or doubles.
To start the game, the two teams need to decide who is going to serve first. A classic method for this is flipping a coin or playing rock, paper, scissors.
After the serving team is decided, the player on the right side of the court will serve the ball. The ball can be served underhand or off a bounce. Either way, the ball must be served cross-court. Another serving rule is that the ball must be hit over the kitchen line, (the first horizontal line on the opposite side of the court), which is also known as the non-volley zone.
When the rally begins, there is a two-bounce rule. This means that off the serve and on the return, the ball must bounce on the court one time before it is hit by a player. After this, for the rest of the rally, the ball can be hit off a bounce or in the air.
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The rally continues until there’s a double bounce, the ball is hit out of bounds or the ball is hit into the net. If the ball is out on your side of the net, make sure to yell “out” loudly.
One other rule to keep in mind during a rally is that you cannot hit the ball while your feet are in the kitchen, the zones on each side of the net. Make sure to keep your feet out of the kitchen when you are hitting the ball and also don’t let your momentum from hitting the ball carry you into the kitchen. You can, however, hit the ball in the kitchen as long as your feet remain outside the line.
The only slightly confusing element of pickleball for some is the scoring of the game. The biggest thing to remember when it comes to scoring is that you can only score a point when you win a rally and are the serving team. If you win a rally, but you are not the serving team, you do not win a point.
When the serving team gets a point, the two servers will switch sides and serve across the other diagonal. If you lose a rally as the serving team, everyone will stay where they are and the serve goes to the next player. If the serve moves to the other side of the court, the player on the right side has the first serve.
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This is how doubles works anyway, which is the more popular way to play. In singles, the serve depends on the score. For even scores, you serve from the right side, and for odd scores, you serve on the left side.
When you are about to serve, make sure you clearly yell out the score of the game first. For doubles, the score is going to contain three numbers. The first number is the serving team’s score, the second number is the receiving team’s score and the third number is the service turn. For singles, you’ll just say the serving and receiving team’s scores.
The game of pickleball is played to 11 points, but the winning team must win by two.
After a game as concluded, make sure to show good sportsmanship by paddle tapping the players of the other team.
Luckily, since there is such a high interest level in pickleball, courts are being built in a lot more locations.
If you’re looking for a casual place to play with family or friends, a local community center may be a good place to start.
If you are looking for a more competitive atmosphere to play in, look for tournaments and leagues available to join near you.