Pickleball

Although pickleball is similar to tennis, there are important differences that make pickleball more accessible, especially for children and seniors. The most important of these differences is the speed of the ball. This has one third of the average speed of a tennis ball. Equally important, however, is the size of the court: just under a third of the total surface area of a tennis court. This smaller surface area combined with the slower moving ball and an underhand serve makes pickleball much easier to play than tennis.



The pickleball court is similar to a doubles badminton court. The actual size of the court is 13.4 x 6.1 meters (44 by 20 ft) for both doubles and singles. The net height is 91.4 cm (36 inches) at the ends, and 86.4 cm (34 inches) in the center. The area between the service line and the net is called the non-volley zone and you are only allowed to enter here if the ball has bounced first. According to the official measurements, the kitchen line should be slightly further from the net than on a badminton court (2.13 meters from the net instead of 1.98 m).

You can play pickleball on any paved field with not too many irregularities. Artificial grass, clay and French courts are not suitable.

History

Pickleball is a fairly new sport (for the Netherlands). On Friday afternoon, March 1, 2013, the first match on Dutch soil was played on Java Island in Amsterdam! Meanwhile, there is an active pickleball group in Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Almere, Oosthem, Melick, Eefde and Haarlem. New initiatives are actively supported by the pickleball association. Every year there is the National Championship and every 2 years there is a major international tournament.

In the USA, the number of pickleball players has grown explosively in recent years to millions of players and there are now clubs and courts everywhere. The pickleball virus is now increasingly spreading across the Netherlands. As a sport for all ages to play fanatically and at a high level or recreationally until old age. Pickleball is a sport for everyone, all ages and all levels! The responses from participants are unequivocally enthusiastic! It is easy to learn and above all you have a lot of fun.

What do you need for Pickleball?

You use a different racket for pickleball than for tennis and padel. The pickleball racket does not have strings like the tennis racket and does not have holes like the padel racket, but, like a padel racket, it is usually made of plastic. The racket is /- 40 centimeters long and /- 21 centimeters wide. The ball is a perforated hard plastic ball.

What are the rules of Pickleball?

The ball is served underhand, starting on the right side of the court and played diagonally to the opposite service court. The receiving team must let the ball bounce before returning it. And then the serving side must also let the ball bounce first. Only the third ball may also be hit in one go, by means of a volley. With a bounce is also allowed.

Points can only be scored by the serving side. You have a point if the opponent fails to return a ball, hits the ball out of bounds, does not let the served ball bounce first, volleys from the non-volley zone or is hit by the ball himself. The game ends when one of the sides has achieved eleven points with a two-point difference.

When a side scores a point, the same person continues to serve, but from the other side. When a player loses the point, his opponent serves from the side where he is currently standing. If he also loses his serve, he moves to the other side, where the player on the right starts. Only 1 player serves at the beginning of the match, after which he switches to the other side.

In singles, a player starts serving on the left if he has an odd number of points and on the right if he has an even number.

The score works as follows: 1-0-1 means the serving side has 1 point, the other side has none and it is the first server.

More information about pickleball? Click on the link below!

https://www.playpickleball.com