UNSCRIPTED: PICKLEBALL “CRAZE” is Sweeping Our City!!
Unscripted
By Keith Edmonds
FWIS Contributing Writer
The attached picture was taken here in our city (Hamilton Park) of people playing the newest “get yourself in shape” game called Pickleball! Pickleball was invented on a badminton court by a gentleman named Joel Pritchard, and his neighbors Bill Bell and Barney McCallum who were looking for badminton equipment to occupy their families' time. It is said that Pritchard's wife, Joan, named it after the pickle boats in crew, (also known as rowing). That boat would often be the least competitive boat in the race, with a crew that was thrown together at random. With that being said, the question is: Why do so many folks like Pickleball and why is it the FASTEST GROWING SPORT IN AMERICA? That’s easy to answer, because it’s EASY to play and doesn’t beat you up as much as other racket sports (like tennis)!
Pickleball has long been a favorite in places like tennis and community centers, but the court is only a quarter of the size of a tennis court, making it easy to re-create at home in a driveway. Other than a net, a few balls, and pickleball paddles, you don't need any other equipment! Also, everyone from kids to grandparents can play the sport, making it ideal for families, especially seniors! For those of you that have never seen this game played, I’ll try to explain briefly how it’s played in the space allotted to write this column.
Pickleball is a mashup of tennis, ping pong and badminton that can be played indoors or outdoors, by single players or in pairs, it’s played on a court with a low net (34 inches high at its center). A pickleball court is 20 by 44 feet – (the same size as a doubles badminton court). Players use a whiffleball and wooden or composite paddles that are about twice the size of ping pong paddles. Like other racquet sports, the goal is to hit the ball over the net – but within the boundaries of the court – and prevent your opponent from hitting it back. You can play the game in singles or doubles where teams take turns hitting the ball over the net. If the receiving side misses the serving side volley, the serving side receives a point. The game is played to 11 points, but a team must win by two points. Now, I’ve seen this game played and have even tried to teach it when I was a physical education teacher back at old Elmhurst High School (it still sounds sad to mention Elmhurst as a bygone...) but the kids didn’t bite on it like they do today! Now schools are teaching it as a part of their curriculum, and in our city alone we have indoor and outdoor courts popping up all over town! Picklers (what the players are called) have an enjoyable time participating in pickleball games and the sport is easy on the body while helping you work up a sweat—(ideal for those cross-training days). Seasoned athletes who haven't lost their love of competition but are finding traditionally aggressive sports, like basketball, harder to play, often gravitate towards pickleball. That being said, you don't need to be an athlete or belong to a certain age group to play or benefit from pickleball because it benefits everyone and all ages! Pickleball is extremely easy to get into but one of the other reasons it’s so popular is because it’s also VERY CHALLENGING and if anyone tells you otherwise they’re just not being honest!
You can become an intermediate player pretty quickly, but it’s a lot more difficult to become an expert — meaning there is always room to grow. Now you uber competitive people out there reading this please listen... If you want to get better at this game the best way to do that is to play....regularly! Try it, what do you have to lose?!
PICKLEBALL RULES:
• The first pair (Team) to score 11 points wins the game. Teams must win by 2 clear points, or the game continues until one team has the winning margin.
• Players can only score points on their own service.
• Service must be made diagonally (as in tennis) and must bounce. The return of service must also bounce.
• The serving team continues to serve if they win a point. If the serving team loses a rally, then the service switches to the second player, who then continues to serve until they lose a rally.
• Once both players on a team lose their serve, the opposing team then gains the serve and can attempt to score points.
• Players can play the ball after the first bounce or on the volley – with several exceptions.
• A player cannot volley a return of serve, the serve must bounce.
• The return of serve must also bounce, the serving side must not volley the return.
• No player may play a volley within the “non-volley” zone, which is the area from the net which is 7 feet long. Players will also fault if they volley from outside the non-volley zone but then end up in the non-volley zone after the shot is played.