This photo is of four people playing pickleball at the Addison Athletic Club. I took it while walking around the upstairs track that looks down on the gym. I played pickleball with some of the people in the photo a few years ago before I had issues with my shoulder and then surgery. I need to go back to playing because it really is a fun game. That is, as long as you play with people who just want to have a fun social activity that provides some exercise and are not intent on being the next national pickleball champion. There actually is a national governing body called USA Pickleball where tournaments and other competitions are arranged. Many seniors play this game because it supposedly does not require as much physical stamina as other sports like tennis or racquetball. I really doubt that assertion because I have known plenty of people who have been injured playing pickleball. It can take a physical toll on your body. But for many the thrill of the game itself is enough to keep them playing regularly. Let’s find out more about it.
According to Wikipedia, pickleball is a paddleball sport —similar to a racket sport — that combines elements of badminton, table tennis and tennis. Two or four players use solid paddles made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball, much like a wiffle ball, with 26-40 round holes, over a net. The sport shares features of other racket sports: the dimensions and layout of a badminton court, along with a net and rules somewhat similar to tennis, with several modifications.
Pickleball was invented in the mid-1960s as a children's backyard game. The spread of the sport is attributed to its popularity within community centers, physical education classes, public parks, private health clubs, YMCA facilities and retirement communities. There are multiple tournaments played each year both within the United States — the U.S Pickleball National Championships and U.S Open Pickleball Championships, as well as numerous international championships.
History
The game started during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, at the home of Joel Pritchard, who later served in Congress and as lieutenant governor. He and two of his friends, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, returned from golf and found their families bored one Saturday afternoon. They attempted to set up badminton, but no one could find the shuttlecock. They improvised with a perforated plastic ball, lowered the badminton net and fabricated paddles of plywood from a nearby shed.
McCallum made the first paddles that were specifically for pickleball on his basement bandsaw. He tried several alternative paddles, but one he called “M2” became the paddle of choice for most players. In 1972, McCallum incorporated Pickle-Ball Inc. and manufactured wooden paddles to help grow the sport. His son David McCallum now runs the business, which is headquartered in Kent, Washington.
Some sources claim that the name "pickleball" was derived from that of the Pritchard's family dog, Pickles or from the term "pickle boat." According to Joan Pritchard, Joel Pritchard's wife, “The name of the game became pickleball after I said it reminded me of the pickle boat in crew where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of other boats. Somehow the idea the name came from our dog Pickles was attached to the naming of the game, but Pickles wasn’t on the scene for two more years. The dog was named for the game, but stories about the name’s origin were funnier thinking the game was named for the dog."
According to the article “The Pickle Boat” at hailtopurple.com, in sailing usage, the pickle boat is the last boat to finish in a race. The term is said to have come from a practice of the fishing fleets, when the last boat of a flotilla to return to port was the boat that stayed at sea while the crew “pickled” the catch with brine.
Other sources provide that the name is derived from a custom of allowing only male seamen to participate in the original games, with the name "pickle" serving as a crude or inappropriate reference. The pickleball game was exclusively played on courts near the Iwo Jima memorial in Washington, D.C.
Pickleball grew from the early 1970s kits circulated by Pickle-Ball Inc. in the Pacific Northwest into warmer areas as "snowbirds" from the area migrated south to Arizona, California, Hawaii and Florida. Early sponsorship also came from "Thousand Trails," a Seattle company which installed courts along the West Coast. The U.S Pickleball National Championships are held near Palm Springs, California and are co-hosted by Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corp. and owner of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden where they have been played since 2018. They had been previously played in Arizona from 2009 to 2017. The tournament has the oversight of the U.S.A Pickleball Association, itself reincorporated with an updated rule book in 2005 after its foundation in 1984. The U.S Open Pickleball Championships are played in another hub of pickleball — Naples, Florida — and started in 2016. Estimates for active players has grown to 3.3 million in 2019 up 10% from 2016.
In 2002 Glendolyn Sanchez-Vicario III brought pickleball to the international stage when he represented the kingdom of Spain in the Special Olympics. As of 2021, there are 45 international associations for pickleball in addition to the USAPA overseen by the International Federation of Pickleball.
According to a March 2021 BBC News article, the number of Americans who have started this sport increased by 21.3% in 2020. Stu Upson, chief executive of USA Pickleball, said, "There are 37 countries that are part of the International Pickleball Federation. That's more than double where it was 18 months ago."
Court
The pickleball court is similar to a doubles badminton court. The actual size of the court is 20 by 44 feet for both doubles and singles. The net is hung at 36 inches on the ends and 34 inches at center. The court is striped like a badminton court, but the serving line is seven inches further from the net than the badminton service line. The non-volley zone extends seven feet from the net on either side.
Play
The ball is served with an underarm stroke so that contact with the ball is made below waist level — waist is defined as the navel level — in an upward arc. The server hits from behind the baseline on one side of the center line and aims diagonally to the opponent's service court.
Only the serving side may score a point. Play ends for a point when one side commits a fault. Faults include:
- Not hitting the serve into the opponent's diagonal service court.
- Not hitting the ball beyond the net.
- Not hitting the ball before the second bounce on one side of the net.
- Hitting the ball out of bounds.
- Volleying the ball on the service return.
- Volleying the ball on the first return by the serving side.
- Stepping into the non-volley zone — the first seven feet from the net, also known as the
“kitchen” — in the act of volleying the ball.
- Touching the net with any body part, paddle or assistance device — includes walkers,
canes or portable oxygen concentrators.
A player may enter the non-volley zone to play a ball that bounces and may stay there to play balls that bounce. The player must exit the non-volley zone before playing a volley.
The first side scoring 11 points leading by at least two points wins the game. If the two sides are tied at 10 points apiece, the side that goes ahead by two points wins the game.
Tournament games may be played to 11, 15 or 21 points with players rotating sides at 6, 8 or 11 total points, respectively.
The server, or server and partner, usually stay at the baseline until the first return has been hit back and has bounced once.
At the beginning of a doubles game, before any serving, the score is 0–0. Then the side serving first gets only one fault before their side is out, meaning that their opponents serve next. After the first fault, each side gets two faults — one for each team member serving — before their side is "out."
In singles play, each side gets only one fault before a side is out and the opponent then serves. The server's score will always be even (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10...) when serving from the right side, and odd (1, 3, 5, 7, 9...) when serving from the left side.
Para-Pickleball
Para-Pickleball, sometimes called adaptive or wheelchair pickleball, was officially recognized as a competitive branch of pickleball by the United States of America Pickleball Association in 2016. Rules for those in wheelchairs are similar to the standard rules with minor alternatives. The player's wheelchair is considered to be part of the player's body and all applicable rules that usually apply to the body will also apply to the player's wheelchair. A pickleball player in a wheelchair is allowed two bounces instead of the one a standup player would receive. When a player in a wheelchair is serving the ball, they must be in a stationary position. They are then allowed one push before striking the ball for service. When the player strikes the ball, the wheels of the wheelchair must not touch any baselines, sidelines, center lines or the extended center or sidelines. When there is a mixed game of those in wheelchairs and those standing, the applicable rules apply for those players respectively. Standing players will adhere to the standing pickleball rules and the wheelchair players will adhere to the wheelchair pickleball rules.
Terminology
Around-the-post, ATP
A shot that travels outside the net posts, allowing its trajectory to stay below the height of the net.
Baseline
The line at the back of the pickleball court, 22 feet from the net.
Bash
A hard shot that hits the top of the net i.e., the tape and then lands in play on the opponent's side of the court. A bash is typically unintentional and very difficult to return as the ball changes speed and/or direction due to contact with the net.
Carry
Hitting the ball in such a way that it does not bounce away from the paddle but tends to be carried along on the face of the paddle. This is a fault.
Centerline
The line bisecting the service courts that extends from the non-volley line to the baseline.
Crosscourt
The opponent's court diagonally opposite a player.
Dink
A dink is a soft shot, made with the paddle face open, and hit so that it just clears the net and drops into the non-volley zone.
Erne
A volley hit near the net by a player positioned outside the court or in the process of leaping outside the court. A legally executed erne shot allows a player to hit the ball closer to the net without stepping in the non-volley zone.
Fault
An infringement of the rules that ends the rally.
Foot fault
Stepping on or into the non-volley zone while volleying a ball, or, while serving, failure to keep both feet behind the baseline with at least one foot in contact with the ground or floor when the paddle contacts the ball.
Half-volley
A type of hit where the player hits the ball immediately after it has bounced in an almost scoop-like fashion.
Kitchen
The non-volley zone which is seven feet from the net on both sides is commonly referred to as "the kitchen." Players may not enter the kitchen to return a ball unless the ball first bounces.
Lob
Hitting the ball in a high arc to the back of the opponent's court. Ideally designed to clear an opponent who has advanced toward the net.
Nasty Nelson
A serve that intentionally hits the non-receiving opposing player closest to the net, rewarding the point to the server.
Non-volley zone
A seven-foot area adjacent to the net within which one may not volley the ball. The non-volley zone includes all lines around it. Also called the "kitchen."
Poach
In doubles, to cross over into one's partner's area to make a play on the ball.
Rally
Hitting the ball back and forth between opposite teams.
Serve, service
An underarm lob or drive stroke used to put a ball into play at the beginning of a point.
Server number
When playing doubles, either "1" or "2," depending on whether one is the first or second server for one's side. This number is appended to the score when it is called, as in "the score is now 4–2, second server."
Sideline
The line at the side of the court denoting in- and out-of-bounds.
Side-out
When the serve moves to the opponent's side.
Volley
To hit the ball before it touches the ground and bounces.
Rule Change 2021: Net serve: A serve that touches the top of the net and lands in the proper service court is NO LONGER replayed.
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