After the spread of padel, another sport is establishing itself among racket lovers. It’s about the pickleball, a practice that combines elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis. The rules are simple and the dynamics of the game and shots are less physically demanding than other sports such as tennis. Furthermore, it is an inclusive sport as it is suitable for everyone, regardless of age or physical condition.
What is Pickleball: The History
Pickleball is a racket sport, created in 1965 by William Bell Jr., Barney McCallum and ex-politician Joel Pritchard in the United States of America. Their goal was to entertain children on holiday with easy-to-find equipment. It is no coincidence that today this discipline is very widespread in American schools. It is almost always played in doubles, but singles is also very popular and fun, especially for those looking for a more complex challenge or who want to consume more calories.
Since 2014, an average of 200 pickleball courts have opened per month in the United States. This sport arrived in Italy only in 2018 when the Italian Pickleball Association (AIP) was founded with headquarters in Tocco da Casauria, in the province of Pescara. The AIP is an official member of the International Pickleball Federation and, in the summer of 2018, organized the second edition of the Bainbridge Cup, an intercontinental team competition linked to the first edition of the Italian Open International Championships, an event held in Montesilvano from 18th to July 22, 2018.
How to play
The court has the same dimensions as a badminton court, measuring 6.10 x 13.41 metres. In this area you can play alone (one against one) or in pairs. The net dividing the two halves of the pitch must be at least 86.36 centimeters high at the center and 91.44 at the ends. Each half court contains two equal parts, called the service area on the right and left; and also an area of 2.13 meters close to the net, called “kitchen”, which in practice is a “no volley zone”, i.e. an area of the court in which it is forbidden to hit the ball on the fly.
It is played with rackets with a solid plate, without holes, which can be made of wood, metal or graphite. The ball is as large as a tennis ball but is lighter (weighs between 21 and 29 grams), about half compared to tennis balls. Made of plastic, its peculiarity is that it is perforated and hollow (to avoid being a “victim” of the wind) and is different depending on whether you play indoors or outdoors.
As in tennis, the serve must be performed diagonally, from behind the serving area (starting from the right) and alternating each serve; with both feet behind the baseline, dropping the ball with one hand and hitting it with the racket from below and above all executing the shot no higher than waist height (as in padel).
For it to be valid, the serve must land in the playing area diagonally opposite the serving area but not in the “kitchen” or on the line that delimits it. Only one service attempt is allowed and there is no ‘let’. In a pairs game, after the first wrong serve, the partner will have the opportunity to try again. Only in the event of a double error will the opportunity to serve pass to the opposing pair. The one who serves, the server, will continue the serve, alternating one from the right and one from the left, until he loses the point.
Every time you miss the serve, your opponent gets the point and the right to serve. In the case of a valid serve, i.e. when the ball enters the right playing area, you must return it and whoever does so must bounce the ball no more than once and send the ball back over the net by hitting it only once (as in tennis).
There is the “third shot” rule: after the serve, you must bounce the ball before shooting it to the other side of the court. That is, the person who has to return the serve can hit the ball only after letting it touch the court. The same goes for the server, who must let the ball bounce before hitting it again. After this it is possible to perform volleys.
The point ends when the ball bounces twice in the opponent’s court, goes into the net, ends up outside the limits of the court or if the opponent hits the ball on the volley into the “no volley zone”. You only score a point if you have the serve (as happened once in volleyball before the introduction of the rally point system). If you make a mistake while serving, your opponent gets the right to serve but doesn’t score a point. The player who reaches 11 points first wins the game, while in the event of a tie at 10 you must distance your opponent by at least two points (only in some cases is the killer point used). The game is won by the best of 3 games to 11. The tournament director can choose that some or all games reach 15 or 21, always winning by a margin of 2 points. The correct sequence in telling the score is: first say the score of the server, then the score of the receiver and finally whether it is server 1 or 2.
2024-06-24 08:25:03
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