Pickleball Handout

History ofPickleball:

The game started during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, at the home of then State Representative Joel Pritchard who, in 1970, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the State of Washington. He and two of his friends, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, returned fromgolf 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 Wiffle ball, lowered the badminton net, and fabricated paddles of plywood from a nearby shed.

Pickleball is a combination of Badminton, Tennis, and Table Tennis. Officially, it’s played with wooden paddles and a perforated plastic ball.

Paddles:

Official PickleballPaddles are made of plywood. The head of an official paddle is 8” wide.

In PE we use rackets that are similar to the official racket. Most paddles have a short cord attached to the butt of the handle for safety purposes and should be wrapped around your wrist during play. Please wear the cord around your wrist at all times.

Balls:

Seamless, plastic “whiffleball” type. If the ball happens to crack during play, simply bring it over and I’ll replace it.

Scoring:

Games are played to 11 points and you must win by 2 points.

  • Points can only be scored when you are serving.

The Volley:

  • To volley a ball means to hit it in the air without first letting it bounce. All volleying must be done with the player’s feet behind the non-volley zone line. The non-volley zone is also referred to “the kitchen” when playing Pickleball.

The Serve:

  • The serve is made underhand.
  • The paddle must be below the waist.
  • Both feet must be behind the serving line.
  • The ball must be hit in the air (the ball cannot bounce off the floor).
  • The serve is made diagonally (cross court) and must clear the non-volley zone.
  • Serve always starts in the right hand court and alternates from right hand side of court to left hand side of the court as long as the server holds the serve.
  • Only one serve attempt is allowed.

Double Bounce Rule: Each team must play their first shot off the bounce. That means the receiving team must let the serve bounce before returning it and the serving team must let the return bounce before hitting it back. After that, all balls can be volleyed(watch out for the non-volley zone!) or returned off the bounce.

Faults:

  • Hitting the ball out of bounds (if a ball lands on a line it is in)
  • Not clearing the net
  • Stepping into the non-volley zone and volleying the ball
  • The ball bounces twice before it is hit
  • Hitting the ball twice before it goes over the net
  • If someone touches the net
  • Violating the “double bounce” rule.

Courts: Official court is 20’ x 44’. Singles and doubles are played on the same size court. (see diagram). The non-volley zone is 7’ officially. You will notice we modified that in class due to space.