Q&A – Stray Pickleball: “Ball On” Hinder, Distraction, or Referee Responsibility?

By Mark Peifer, USA Pickleball Certified Referee; Past Chairman, USA Pickleball Rules Committee

QUESTION: My partner and I played a rally against our opponents at the NVZ during a tournament. We were lucky to have a referee present. Suddenly, a stray pickleball rolled into the NVZ on our opponent’s side of the net. My partner and I noticed the ball and paused for a moment. The referee also saw the ball and immediately halted play. This was clearly a safety concern, so no one questioned the stoppage. Confused about the ball’s origin, the referee asked all four of us, “Where did that ball come from?” One of our opponents shyly admitted that it had fallen out of their pocket. At that point, the referee declared a referee correction and stated it was their mistake, allowing a replay. Is that right? Why wasn’t this a distraction fault on our opponents under Rule 7.N? 

ANSWER: This was the correct action by the referee.  Here’s why: One of the referee’s responsibilities in a refereed match is to remove all extra balls from the playing surface before starting play.  That is outlined in the Officiating Handbook, Section 4.A.3. By not doing so, the referee did not do their job. There is no direct rule reference directing this, but, if asked I would expect the referee to cite one of two rules.  The first is rule 13.C.  But there is possibly a better rule reference in this case. The referee should treat it just like any other ‘ball on’ hinder.  Rule purists might argue that the ball falling out of the pocket doesn’t satisfy the definition of a hinder, i.e., “Any transient element or occurrence not caused by a player that adversely impacts play, not including permanent objects.” However, a reasonable argument can be made that since the referee did not make sure all extra balls were removed, the transient element and root cause of the ball falling out of the pocket was not caused by the player but by the referee not doing their required job.  So, the Rule reference would be 8.C.