I am so glad my husband and I discovered the game of Pickleball--it is great exercise and a lot of fun! I enjoyed teaching others to play so that they could teach kids to play at our Focus Sports Camp in June at Parma Heights Baptist Church. I had the privilege of being the Pickleball director in June when we added the sport for the first time this year.
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| Practicing dinking (ball bouncing in kitchen close to net) |
It is an easy game to learn but one that has lots of aspects to practice and improve. It is a game of patience, ball control and strategy that all ages can enjoy! It was fun seeing how fast the kids at sports camp caught on and were playing some close exciting games by the third day!
Pickleball is played with paddles slightly bigger than ping pong paddles and with a whiffle ball. It is played on court the same size as is used for badminton, much smaller than a tennis court so involves less running. It is very similar to tennis in strategy but the serve must be underhand and the service box is positioned in the back of the court as opposed to the service box in tennis at the front of the court. Pickleball has a couple quirky rules such as the double-bounce rule and not volleying the ball in the kitchen area or the "non-volley zone (the area 7' from the net). The double-bounce rule is simply that you must let the ball bounce once before hitting it on the serve and the return of serve. A game is to 11 points but you only score when your side is serving and must win by 2.
The game can be played indoors or outdoors. Outdoors is harder due to the wind and sun, but it just makes it a bit more challenging. To view some actual games or to learn to play, just do a search for pickleball on YouTube. There are tons of short video clips describing how to execute specific shots as well as actual tournament games.
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America! Have you played yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Join the fun!
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