Aviva Directory » Sports & Recreation » Racquet/Paddle Games » Pickleball

This part of our web guide on ball sports will focus on pickleball, a racket or paddle sport that has seen rapid growth in the 2020s.

Created in the 1960s on Bainbridge Island, Washington, at the summer home of Joel Pritchard, who would later serve in the U.S. Congress and as Washington's lieutenant governor. the game was initially designed to be a children's game.

Seeking a remedy for bored children during a summer holiday in 1965, Joel Pritchard and two of his friends, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, couldn't find the shuttlecock for badminton so they improvised with a wiffle ball and ping pong paddles. Within the next few days, they refined the game.

A goal was to avoid having the game dominated by player size and strength, as can be the case with the serve in tennis.

It soon became a popular game in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, spreading to other areas chiefly through retirement communities, community centers, YMCA facilities, physical education programs, private health clubs, and public parks, in part because it didn't require as much space as a tennis court. By 2020, pickleball had spread throughout the United States and Canada, and is gaining popularity in other regions of the world, such as Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Pickleball, like tennis, table tennis, and badminton, commences with a serve. The server delivers an underhand serve diagonally, starting from the right-hand service square and alternating between the right and left sides of the court as long as the server holds the serve. The team receiving the serve remains in their positions rather than alternating. The server must clear the 7-foot non-volley zone in front of the net and make the ball land in the diagonally opposite service court.

In pickleball, each server gets a single serve attempt, and the initial serving team is permitted one fault per new game, after which the ball is handed over to the opponents. The ball is passed to the opposing team when either member of a doubles team commits a fault. When the team receiving the serve wins it, they always start serving from the right-hand corner of the court. A service fault is called if the served ball hits any area outside the correct service box, or if it goes into the net.

The serving team's score is always an even number when the initial server serves from the right-hand side of the court. Conversely, the team's score is always an odd number when the initial server serves from the left-hand side.

The leading server is chosen by a coin toss or by rallying the ball until a mistake occurs. The winner of the toss or rally can choose to serve first or receive first.

The scoring system in pickleball can be confusing to new players, but it is the same as the scoring system for badminton at the time that pickleball was invented, although badminton has since changed its scoring system.

In pickleball, a team can only score points when serving. Both members of each doubles team serve until they fault, at which time the ball is turned over to the opposing team. This is known as a "side out." Consequently, each team has a first server and a second server.

At the start of each new game, the first serving team is permitted only one fault before giving up the ball to the other side (side out). The game is played to eleven points, but a team must win by two. It is not uncommon for there to be consecutive side outs with no points being scored.

Players on the serving team move positions on the court every time a fault is committed by the receiving team, and a point is scored by the serving team, while the same player serves. When the serving team makes its first error, the players remain in their original court locations, not moving sides, and the second partner serves. When they commit their second fault, they stay in their original positions on the court and give the ball to the other side. So, players switch between the left and right side of the court only when they score.

If the server scores 5-4-1, the serving team has 5 points, the opposing team has 4 points, and server number 1 is serving. At the start of the game, the score is 0-0-2, which means that each team has zero points, and only the second serve remains. In each new game, the first serving team is allowed only one fault before surrendering the ball to the opposition. In that sense, the game starts with the second serve.

When the ball is delivered, the receiving team must allow it to bounce before returning it, and the serving team must allow the return of the serve shot to bounce before returning it. So, with the first two shots of the game, the serve and the return of the serve, the ball must bounce before being hit. This is the double-bounce rule. To avoid fault, the return of the serve shot must clear the net and not go out of bounds.

A more complete set of rules can be found in some of the resources listed below.

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