How to Play Pickleball

When it comes to outdoor games, nothing beats a good old-fashioned game of Pickleball! This game can be seen as a cross between table tennis, badminton, and tennis, only it provides way more fun and you’ll get a good workout! This game is a great way to stay busy during the holidays and you can use equipment lying around the house.

According to the USAPA website, the Pickleball game originated in 1965 when two friends, Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell started playing around on an abandoned badminton field. Instead of using the original badminton racquets, they used ping pong boards and a plastic ball. Soon another friend joined the duo and they started working on the rules. Just over 10 years later, the first Pickleball tournament was held.

If you haven’t played Pickleball before, don’t worry! It’s really simple to learn and an easy way to compete against your friends or family. All you have to do is follow these super simple Pickleball rules and you’ll be ready to go!

Pickleball Requirements

You will need a racquet of some sort, like a tennis, badminton, or ping pong racquet. You will also need a friend to play and a big space where you can mark the field as well as a ball. This ball has to be tiny, the size of a tennis ball or ping pong ball. Alternatively, you can use a Pickleball set.

How to Play Pickleball

First, you’re going to have to divide the court up into different sections. In the middle of the court will be the net, like in tennis. From the net mark a 7-foot zone on each side – this is called the non-volley zone. You will also have to divide the rest of the court into quarters – 2 blocks on each side.
Decide who goes first by a coin toss, or be a good friend and let your opponent go first.
The player who goes first has to serve the ball to the other side. The first serve must always hit the ground once before it can be hit. The opponent also has to let it bounce on the floor before he hits it back. This is known as the ‘double bounce’ rule.
After that players may ‘volley’ the ball during a serve, which means you have to hit the ball without it bouncing on the ground. You may only volley a serve when your feet are behind the non-volley zone.
The players play until a fault is reported. The ball is then passed to the player who didn’t commit the fault.
According to The Trilogy Pickleball Club, the scoring is a bit confusing. So let’s say that each fault will give 1 point to the other player. The faults are as follows: the ball touches the volley line on the serving side, the ball touches the net, the ball is volleyed from a non-volley zone, and the ball is volleyed before it has bounced during the first serves. A ball that goes out of bounds is also a fault, but if that happens too much, it doesn’t have to count any points.
Decide on a final score, and the first player to reach it is the winner!

Pickleball Game Variations

You can also play Pickleball as teams where the rules stay the same, but the people are more. This is an exciting way to play Pickleball and it makes it more competitive!