History

The mini-tennis game called Pickleball was created during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island - a short ferry ride from Seattle, WA. The original purpose of the game was to provide a sport for the entire family, according to co-inventors U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard, William Bell, and Barney McCallum.

How did Pickle-Ball get it's name?

Pickles was the family dog that would chase after the errant balls and then hide in the bushes, thus Pickle's ball which was later shortened to the namesake of Pickleball. Initially, families played Pickleball in their backyards on a hard surface, on driveways, and on residential dead-end streets. Since the mid-1970's, Pickleball has grown and expanded from a family activity game to a paddle court sport with formalized rules. Now, over 20 years later Pickleball is played in thousands of school P.E. programs, parks and recreation centers, correctional facilities, camps, YMCA's and retirement communities. This sport is becoming very popular among active senior adults at community centers.

Basic Rules of Pickleball

The lines: The baseline is the end of the court. Any balls bouncing past this line are considered out. Serves must be made while standing behind this line. Sidelines and the baseline should be positioned so that any ball bouncing on the line is good. On the serve, a ball striking the non-volley zone line is considered a fault.

The non-volley zone: Seven feet from the net, there is a line marking the non- volley zone. You are not allowed to hit the ball without letting it bounce first if your foot is between this line and the net, or if you stumble into this zone after hitting the ball.

Scoring and winning: A team gets a point when they win a rally that they served. When a point is won, the players of the winning team switch sides. The first team to 11 points wins, but you have to win by two points.

The serve: The player on the right always serves first. The ball must contact the paddle below the waist and must land in the diagonally opposite court, past the non-volley line. The player must hit the ball without bouncing it first. Both players on a team will serve before the service passes to the other team. To keep the first service of a game fair, only the first player serves during the first service of the game.

Keeping track of scoring: Because players switch sides with each point, a simple scoring system was devised to keep track of who is serving. Before each serve, the server calls out their team’s score, the other team’s score, and then, whether they are the first or second server for their team. For example, if my team has 5 points, the other team has 3, and my partner has already served and lost the point, I would call out, “5, 3, Server 2.”

The return: The receiving team must let the ball bounce before returning the serve. Also, the serving team MUST let the returned ball bounce once more before hitting it back. This means that there will be two bounces in the first two hits of the rally.

Singles play: The server serves from the right side of the court when his or her score is even and the left side when odd.

The Court