Pickleball has emerged as the most sought-after sport worldwide currently. The racquet sport’s growing popularity has been pretty evident and it has gradually become very acceptable through every rank.
Pickleball takes inspiration from tennis, ping-pong and badminton and has been a global phenomenon. Pickleball players use solid paddles and the game is played with a plastic ball.
Pickleball courts are smaller than a tennis court and only the serving side can earn points. Pickleball has been compared with tennis and its growing popularity has seen many tennis players embracing the game with open arms.
Pickleball rules
The simple rules of pickleball have helped many people to develop a passion for the sport. Kids have also picked up the sport pretty quickly and it has become largely acceptable.
Serve: The serve needs to be underhand and the ball must be served below the waist. The service needs to be executed diagonally to the opponent’s service court and the server must stand behind the baseline at the time of serving.
Non Volley Zone: There is a designated “Kitchen” (non volley zone) near the net and players are only allowed to hit the ball if it bounces inside the NVZ. It will be considered a fault if a player stands on the NVZ and hits a volley.
Rules: The scoring rules define that a game, in general, is played to 11 points and the winning side must keep a two-point margin. Both the server and the receiver side need to let the ball bounce once before returning it to the other side. The server also needs to call out the score at the time of the service and upon his failure the game needs to be replayed.
If a player or a side steps into the Non Volley Zone while volleying it will be considered a fault. Hitting the ball outside the court and serving the ball into the wrong court will also be a violation. If a serving team commits a foul the server will be changed and if the serving team commits a second foul the serve will transfer to the opponent team.
History Of Pickleball
Pickleball was founded in 1965 by three men who were searching for a way to entertain their families and went on to invent a new sport. Paddles and plastic balls were being used while the height of the net was lowered to 36 inches.
The first official court was rolled in 1967 and by 1990 it had grabbed many eyeballs. The name pickleball doesn't have any relation with pickles. The sport is named in such a way as one of the founder's wives found it relevant as the sport is a mixture of a number of sports and it reminded her of the pickle boat in a crew.