Setting the Basics Straight – Must Read for All Players

With the exploding growth of our wonderful game, it’s time to get a few basic things straight for all the new players (and some seasoned players as well). It is time to set the basics straight – a Must Read for all players. Please read and share with others.

• Pickleball is played with a PADDLE! Not a racket … A racket has strings, paddles do not.
• In doubles, there are three numbers used to indicate the score. No words, just numbers.
• The Non-Volley Zone (NVZ) is the box by the net. It’s also called “the kitchen”.  No one knows where that nickname came from, but no matter what you call it, you can be in that area any time you want – unless you hit a volley.
• A point is earned when the server’s side wins the rally. So, every exchange is a rally, which may or may not result in a point.  But it’s very common for the rally to be referred to as a point, whether a point was actually scored or not.  We know – it’s confusing!
• For tennis players, there is no “ad” or “deuce” side of the court; a pickleball court has left and right sides. There also is no “set” played – only a game.
• Please learn to spell our sport correctly! It is not capitalized (unless at the beginning of a sentence of course), it is not two words, does not have a hyphen – it is spelled “pickleball”. Got it? Please make sure all your written communications and social media accounts spell it correctly; the spelling gods thank you.
• The plastic ball you play with is not the trademarked “WIFFLE ball”, it may look similar but it’s not. We only use pickleballs. It’s simply a plastic ball with holes in it.
• Can you wear your running shoes to play? No! Running shoes are designed for only forward movement. Do yourself a favor and buy “court shoes” which are designed for movement in all four directions (left, right, forward and backwards) to get the support and balance you need.
• Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the world – true! And it’s the most fun as well.

Welcome aboard!

♥ Alex Hamner and I had fun creating this list, in fact, we could probably go on and on and on.