This guide outlines how to play pickleball, with clear guides to equipment, serving, playing and scoring.
How to play pickleball: overview
You have probably already heard about pickleball? This popular ball sport is a mix of badminton, tennis and table tennis. However, the net is flatter and the speed of the ball is more moderate — so everyone can learn how to play pickleball quickly and easily. Perfect for fun with friends or physical education lessons at school.
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The court on which the sport is practiced is similar to a tennis court, but about the size of a badminton court. The net is similar to tennis, but shorter. You can play singles or doubles, but the most popular is the doubles with two players on each side of the court.
Today we’ll show you the most important key information for how to play pickleball so that you can start playing straight away in the gym, on the playground or as an activity with friends — contactless and with the necessary minimum safe covid distance!
How to play pickleball
In pickleball you play a ball over a net — just like in tennis, badminton and table tennis. But pickleball differs from the three other sports in the more moderate speed of the ball, the height of the net and the dynamic gameplay.
Players
Pickleball is played in singles or doubles — i.e. with 2 or 4 players. Since there are few rules, it is very easy to learn how to play pickleball. Even elementary school students are enthusiastic about this team sport, as soon as their eye-hand coordination is sufficiently mature.
Pickleball court
You play pickleball on a field measuring 6.10×13.41 m – similar to the size of a badminton court. It is marked like a tennis court. A flat net is stretched in the middle of the playing field: 91 cm high at the edge and 86 cm in the middle.
Pickleball racket
While the first pickelball rackets were made exclusively of wood, they are now also available in graphite, with a carbon fiber surface or an aluminum core. But no matter whether you choose pure wood or a metal core, when buying pickleball rackets, pay attention to robust plastic edges — this makes the rackets particularly durable.
Pickleball ball
The game is played with a pickleball ball made of plastic . The approximately 40 machine-drilled holes guarantee an excellent trajectory.
How to play pickleball: the game play
The serve must be made from the air. The ball must not hit the ground beforehand. When serving from below, contact with the ball occurs at hip height. The ball may only be returned after hitting the ground once.
Important: Only the serving side can score points. Count until 11. Then the game is considered won. Assuming the difference is 2 points. Otherwise, the game continues until a difference of 2 points is reached.
How to play pickleball: The serve
As in tennis, the game begins with a serve. However, the serve must be made with the underhand, and the ball must bounce both on serve and when hitting the serve back. This is known as the two-bounce rule. The game continues until an error occurs, such as:
- Someone gets hit by the ball.
- The ball bounces more than twice.
- The ball flies into the net.
- The ball is knocked out of the field.
How to play pickleball: Non-volley zone or ‘kitchen’
An intriguing aspect of pickleball is the so-called non-volley zone. This zone includes the seven-foot-long area on the side of the net, also known as the ‘kitchen’.
As the name suggests, players are not allowed to hit the pickleball out of the air if their feet are in that area or if they get there due to the momentum of hitting the ball.
How to play pickleball: Scoring points
The points are scored by the team that serves. The server calls out numbers.
- The first number is the score of the serving team.
- The second number is the score of the receiving team.
- The third number is the number of the service round you are in when you play doubles. In a single game, this number is not called.
One way to score a point is to ‘dip’ the ball. You hit the ball in such a way that it hardly jumps over the net. The opponent then has to hit the ball up to get it back over the net so that you can hit it back (and usually score).
The game ends when a player or team scores 11 points and wins by at least two points. Scoring may seem confusing at first, but you’ll quickly get the hang of it. And even if you don’t, still play!
Conclusion
Pickleball is a fun game for everybody. Now you know how to play pickleball, get out there and have a game!
Photo by Mason Tuttle
