The Pickleball Guide

A paddle, a plastic ball with holes in it, and a court about a third the size of a tennis court with a net slightly lower than tennis. It was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, by three dads trying to entertain bored kids. That is still the best description of it: a game simple enough for a ten-year-old and sneaky enough that a seventy-year-old will beat you with it.

Most people play doubles. The rallies are short at first and long once you learn to be patient. It is social, cheap, easy on the body compared with most racket sports, and people who try it tend to come back the next morning at seven with coffee and a second paddle for a friend.

1. 1.Serve underhand, diagonally. Contact below your waist, paddle moving upward, from behind the baseline, into the service box across the court. It must clear the kitchen, including the kitchen line.
2. 2.The two-bounce rule. The serve must bounce before it is returned, and the return must bounce before the serving team hits it. After those two bounces, anyone can volley (hit it in the air).
3. 3.Stay out of the kitchen to volley. You cannot hit a ball out of the air while standing in the kitchen or touching its line. Your momentum cannot carry you in after a volley either. You CAN step in to play a ball that has bounced.
4. 4.One bounce max. The ball can bounce once on your side, or not at all (after the first two bounces). Two bounces and you lose the rally.
5. 5.Lines are in, except on the serve. A ball touching any line is in, except a serve that lands on the kitchen line, which is a fault.
6. 6.Faults end the rally. Into the net, out of bounds, a volley from the kitchen, a double bounce, or hitting the ball before the two-bounce rule allows.
7. 7.Only the serving side scores. Win a rally on the other team’s serve and you get the serve, not a point. More on that below.

Doubles scoring sounds like a phone number. Before every serve the server calls three numbers: the serving team’s score, the receiving team’s score, and whether they are the first or second server. So “4-2-1” means the servers have 4, the receivers have 2, and this is the first server on that team.

• Games go to 11, and you must win by 2. Tournaments sometimes play to 15 or 21.
• The serving team wins the rally: they score a point, and the same server switches sides with their partner and serves again.
• The serving team loses the rally: the partner serves next (server 2). Lose again and it is a side out: the other team serves.
• The one exception: the first team to serve in a game only gets one server, so the game starts at “0-0-2”.
• Where to stand: when your team’s score is even, the player who started the game on the right serves from the right. Odd, from the left. If you are ever unsure, that is how you check.

Practice it here. Tap who won each rally and it tells you exactly what to call.

Some leagues and pro events now use rally scoring, where every rally scores a point. Ask before you start. Rec courts almost everywhere still play the side-out way above.

1. 1.Show up at an open play or beginner session. Say “First time, be gentle,” and watch how fast people adopt you.
2. 2.Put your paddle in the rack or line (every court has its own system for who plays next). Ask once, then follow it.
3. 3.Warm up by dinking softly back and forth across the net with the person opposite you for two minutes.
4. 4.Somebody will spin a paddle or pick a side. The first server stands on the right, behind the baseline.
5. 5.If you are receiving, stand deep, behind the baseline. Let the serve bounce. Hit it back deep, then walk up to the kitchen line.
6. 6.If you are serving, stay back after the serve. The return has to bounce, so you need room. Then work your way forward.
7. 7.Once you are at the kitchen line, stay there. Soft shots into the other kitchen (dinks) win more points than hard ones.
8. 8.Call the score before every serve. Say it loudly enough for all four players. Get it wrong; everybody does.
9. 9.At the end: tap paddles at the net, say “good game”, and rotate off so the next group can play.

Rough starting cost: about $50 if you already own court shoes, about $120 if you do not. Compare that with a golf habit.

• Follow the paddle rotation. Do not jump the queue, even if the court is “basically empty”.
• Call lines on your side only, honestly. If you are not sure, it was in.
• Say the score loudly before every serve.
• Do not walk behind a court during a rally. Wait for the point to end.
• If your ball rolls onto another court, call “ball on court” so nobody steps on it, and wait for it to be sent back.
• Play with beginners sometimes. Somebody played with you.
• Do not smash the ball at a beginner’s body. It is not a win, it is a way to be talked about in the parking lot.
• Mixed doubles with your spouse: agree before the game who takes the middle balls. This saves marriages.
• No coaching your partner mid-game unless they ask. “Nice try” is always allowed.
• Tap paddles at the end, win or lose.

• Public parks and recreation centers are the first place to look. Many tennis courts have pickleball lines painted on.
• YMCAs, community centers and schools with gyms often run indoor open play in winter.
• Look for “open play” times: drop in, rotate in, meet people. Beginner sessions are usually weekday mornings or early evenings.
• Local clubs run clinics and ladders, and they are usually delighted to see a new face.

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With your spouse

• Pick your roles before the game: who takes the middle, who calls the lines.
• Play recreational games together before you ever play a competitive one.
• Praise out loud, correct never. If a shot needs discussing, discuss it at dinner, maybe next year.
• Make it a standing date: Saturday morning pickleball, then breakfast.

With kids

• Ages 6 and up can play with a lighter paddle and a foam or indoor ball.
• Start with a driveway “kitchen”: chalk a line, put a low net or a rope across, and dink.
• Make games out of it: how many dinks in a row, hit the cone, first to five.
• Let them serve from closer. Nobody learns to love a game by losing 11-0.

With grandkids

• Pickleball is one of the very few sports where a grandparent and a teenager are a fair match. Enjoy that.
• Make it a tradition: the same court on the same holiday every year, with a trophy that goes home with the winner.
• Teach them the etiquette as well as the game. It will be the part they remember you for.

Pickleball is gentle compared with most sports, but emergency rooms have noticed it anyway: sprained ankles, wrist fractures from falls, Achilles and calf strains, and sore shoulders. Nearly all of it is avoidable.

• Warm up for five minutes. Walk, leg swings, arm circles, a few gentle lunges, then dinks before anything fast.
• Never backpedal for a lob. Turn sideways and shuffle, or let it go. Backpedaling is how people fall and break wrists.
• Wear court shoes. Replace them when the tread is worn.
• Strengthen calves and ankles. Calf raises and balance work (stand on one foot while brushing your teeth) twice a week.
• Wear eye protection. A ball at close range can do real damage.
• Hydrate, and stop when you are tired. The last game of the morning is where injuries happen.
• Check with your doctor before starting if you have heart, balance or joint issues. Then go play.

A ladder is a ranked list of players who challenge the people just above them. It is the easiest way to turn a few neighbors into a weekly thing that lasts for years.

1. 1.Find 8 to 16 players. A flyer at the park, a note in the neighborhood group, and asking the people already playing.
2. 2.Pick a regular slot: same court, same morning or evening, every week.
3. 3.Start with a round robin so everybody plays everybody. Rank people by games won.
4. 4.After that, each week players can challenge anyone up to two spots above them. Winner takes the higher spot.
5. 5.Keep the ladder on a shared sheet or a whiteboard in someone’s garage. Update it the same day.
6. 6.Rotate partners in doubles so the ladder rewards individual play, not a lucky pairing.
7. 7.Add a season: eight weeks, then a cookout and a trophy. A spray-painted paddle is traditional.
8. 8.Keep a beginner division so new people are never scared off.