By Bailey Borkowski
The Ramspondents
Pickleball is sweeping the nation, with new facilities set to debut in Fort Collins soon, but what is it and how do you play? We’ll break down the rules of pickleball so you can become the next “Pickler.”
The Court
Pickleball is played on a court that is 20 feet wide and 44 feet long. For reference, that is the same size as the badminton doubles court and much smaller than a tennis court. A single tennis court can fit nearly 4 pickleball courts.
The court itself is divided into two halves separated by a net with a seven foot non-volley line on either side of the net, which is also known as the kitchen. The kitchen has a lot of rules regarding it so we will go more in depth in just a second.
There is also the Center line, which runs down the center of the court, the side line which marks the side of the court, and the base line which marks off the back of the court. These lines make up the basic markings of the court
The Kitchen
The kitchen, also known as the non-volley line, is a box on either side of the pickleball net that extends seven feet. In this box, as the name would suggest, players cannot volley while standing in it. This is to prevent players from standing at the net to “smash” the ball onto the opponents court.
The Kitchen can cause a fault multiple ways.
If you are touching the kitchen as you hit the ball that is a fault
If your momentum pushes you into the kitchen after hitting the ball, that is a fault.
Even if the ball is dead and your momentum pushes you into the non volley zone then it is a fault.
The only time that a player can be in the kitchen is while they are not volleying the ball.
What do you need to play?
You only need two other things to play pickleball, a paddle and a wiffle ball. It is a specific type of paddle, neither a tennis, badminton, or ping pong paddle will work. Although they do look similar to a ping pong paddle, they are slightly larger and mostly made from carbon fiber.
Faults
Faults occur when there is a rule violation and it stops the play. If a fault occurs by the serving team then the other team will start serving. If a fault occurs by the receiving team then that results in a point for the serving team.
Here's how you can commit a fault:
A ball lands outside the court
The ball is hit into the net
The ball is volleyed before a bounce occurs on each side
The ball is hit in the kitchen
A ball bounces twice before being hit.
A player hits the net or paddle or post
The ball hits a player
Any violation of service rules
Scoring
Pickleball is played to 11 points, but the team must win by at least 2 points. That may seem low, but only the serving team can earn points, and a point is only scored when the opposing team commits a fault.
How to play
Serving:
You must stand behind the back line of the court before serving. When serving the ball, the server’s hand must be going in an upward motion and the paddle cannot be above the waist of the server. If the server is doing a drop serve, where the ball bounces before a serve, then none of those rules apply. The serve must go diagonal across the court.
Sequence:
During a volley, the ball must bounce once on both sides of each court before the ball is hit. In doubles, if one team is serving multiple times in a row then the serve will switch between the two players.
Those are the rules of Pickleball! If you want to find the full rule book you can go to the USA Pickleball website.
Bailey Borkowski is the station manager at CTV 11 and a journalism student at Colorado State University who focuses on reporting the full and accurate truth and keeping the Fort Collins community informed.