What do you think of when you hear of pickleball? Personally, I thought pickleball had something to do with literal pickles, which surprisingly is not the case. If pickleball has nothing to do with pickles, what is it then?

Pickleball is a growing sport. It’s easy to learn, and once you get the hang of it, you too, like Mrs. Lambert, will grow to love the sport. You can sign up to play pickleball during Patriot Path. You can also play pickleball at various courts locally. There are both indoor and outdoor courts. The closest is probably Dublin Park, but you can see a full list HERE.

How do you play the game? The rules are simple. In this sport, you can choose to play in a team of doubles or compete individually. You must also ensure that each team has the same amount of playing field to make it fair. After you have considered these factors, you may begin the real game of pickleball. 

Serving

First, decide who is serving and then consider the following:

• The server’s arm must move upward when they strike the ball in order for it to count.
• You cannot make contact with the ball with a paddle anywhere below the waist. 
• The top of the paddle must not be above the highest part of the wrist when you strike the ball.
• “Drop serves” are only allowed in the cases where none of these apply.
• When the ball is struck, the server’s feet may not touch the court or outside the imaginary boundaries. At least one foot must be behind the baseline.
• A serve can be made diagonally across the court and must land within the boundaries of the opposite side of the court.
• Only one serve is given to each server.

Serving Sequence

• Both servers have the chance to score until they mess up.
• The first serve is made on the right/even court.
• When a point is scored, the server switches sides and initiates a new serve on the left/odd court.
• This keeps repeating switching sides until the server messes up and it is passed to the other team.
• In singles the server serves from right/even when his or her score is even, and the opposite for odd.

Scoring

• Points are only scored by the serving team.
• Games usually are played to 11 points. You must win two times in order to win.
• When the serving team has an even score, the player who served first in the game for that team will be in right/even court when serving or receiving. The opposite is true for odd.