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Julie Green, Rebecca Rohrer, Ahmed Velez, and Deion Craig playing pickleball at Woodlake Park Ever wanted to learn how to play pickleball? You’re in luck, because ExploreLKLD has put together a beginners guide for future pickleball aficionados! In this guide, you’ll find the most important rules, the benefits of pickleball, and the best places to play in Lakeland. First thing’s first- playing pickleball feels a lot like a mixture of two other sports: ping pong and tennis. According to Ernie Medina, Jr. DrPH, vice chair of the USA Pickleball Board and a USA Pickleball Ambassador, “people say that pickleball feels like playing ping pong, but as if you were standing on the table.” If you think about it, this makes perfect sense, as the net is lower and requires less body movement cross court than tennis. The game is typically played with either singles or doubles as teams, which means all you need is two people to get started! Photo from USA Pickleball via https://usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/court-diagram/do-it-yourself-guidelines/. Now onto the most important rules of how to play the game. With similar rules to volleyball, you must win by two points. However, serving in pickleball has many other specific regulations: When you serve, you must keep your paddling arm below the waist. You must serve diagonally cross court. The first serve is always from the right side of the court; however the server will switch sides after a point is made. Points can only be scored by the team who served. The score is important to game play! If the score ends in an even number, the serving side must then serve from the ride side. If the score is an odd number, the server serves from the left. Foot placement is important when serving! Your feet cannot touch the court or the sideline area, and at least one foot must remain behind the baseline. The beginning serve can be never ending! In the first serve of the game, players get to serve until a fault is made (don’t worry, we’ll get to this later). After a fault is made and the ball is given to the other team, each player of the second serving team has a chance to serve before making a fault. This essentially means that they get to make one more fault than the original serving team! After the first round of serving, each team only can get one fault before switching possession (the same as most volleying sports such as tennis or volleyball). Julie Green, Rebecca Rohrer, and Rick Stinson discussing techniques for serving the ball. Once you understand serving, you pretty much understand the whole game! It really is that easy. After this, all you need to worry about is getting the ball back to the other side of the net without stepping out of bounds or making a fault. A fault is any action that stops play due to a rule violation. Rule violations that stop play include: A serve not landing in the bounds of the opposing team. The ball is hit into the net. The ball is hit without bouncing once first. The ball is not hit after it bounces more than once. The ball is hit within the no-volley zone (aka the kitchen). Any part of a player touches the net (including clothing and their paddle). One of the above serving rules is violated. Does the word “kitchen” strike you as odd? While no one knows exactly how the kitchen earned its name, a few theories indicate that it was borrowed from shuffleboard. In shuffleboard, 10 points are deducted if the disk lands in the “kitchen.” Similarly, the kitchen in pickleball is a no-volley area. While standing within the first 7 feet on either side of the net, you cannot hit the ball or it is considered a fault. Even if it’s just momentum that pushes you into the kitchen, you cannot step a foot into that area while volleying or it will be a fault. Lastly, your serve will be considered a fault if it lands in the kitchen. Those are the basics! If you’re looking for more advanced play, visit https://usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/official-rules/ for a more detailed rulebook. Rebecca Rohrer jumping to hit the ball to Ahmed Velez and Deion Craig while her teammate, Rick Stinson stands ready to play. There are so many health benefits associated with playing pickleball! This sport is typically considered to be low impact, meaning it’s great for someone recovering from an injury or simply a good form of exercise for someone who may be less active. It also is adaptable to any degree of knowledge, meaning that even if you completely disregard most of these rules, you can still play and have fun! Pickleball has also been proven to have a strengthening effect on the brain, with improved cognition. Whether playing with your family or complete strangers, the sport is great for socialization. Overall, pickleball is the perfect pastime for anyone, no matter your athletic ability, and Lakeland is the place to play! Here in the City of Lakeland, there are several parks and complexes that are home to pickleball courts: Kelly Recreation Complex Simpson Park Community Center Lake Parker Park Woodlake Park Rick Stinson saves the ball from hitting the ground while Ahmed Velez and Deion Craig prepare to hit the ball to score a point. Rebecca Rohrer prepares to support her teamamte with the next hit. To view the full list with more information, visit https://www.lakelandgov.net/tennis! Sources: https://www.lakelandgov.net/tennis https://usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/official-rules/ https://recsports.msu.edu/imsports/activityrules/pickleball.html#:~:text=A%20fault%20occurs%20when%3A,has%20occurred%20on%20each%20side https://thelakelander.com/pickleball-anyone/ https://laltoday.6amcity.com/test-playing-pickleball-lakeland-fl
Julie Green, Rebecca Rohrer, Ahmed Velez, and Deion Craig playing pickleball at Woodlake Park
Ever wanted to learn how to play pickleball? You’re in luck, because ExploreLKLD has put together a beginners guide for future pickleball aficionados! In this guide, you’ll find the most important rules, the benefits of pickleball, and the best places to play in Lakeland.
First thing’s first- playing pickleball feels a lot like a mixture of two other sports: ping pong and tennis. According to Ernie Medina, Jr. DrPH, vice chair of the USA Pickleball Board and a USA Pickleball Ambassador, “people say that pickleball feels like playing ping pong, but as if you were standing on the table.” If you think about it, this makes perfect sense, as the net is lower and requires less body movement cross court than tennis. The game is typically played with either singles or doubles as teams, which means all you need is two people to get started!
Photo from USA Pickleball via https://usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/court-diagram/do-it-yourself-guidelines/.
Now onto the most important rules of how to play the game. With similar rules to volleyball, you must win by two points. However, serving in pickleball has many other specific regulations:
Julie Green, Rebecca Rohrer, and Rick Stinson discussing techniques for serving the ball.
Once you understand serving, you pretty much understand the whole game! It really is that easy. After this, all you need to worry about is getting the ball back to the other side of the net without stepping out of bounds or making a fault. A fault is any action that stops play due to a rule violation. Rule violations that stop play include:
Does the word “kitchen” strike you as odd? While no one knows exactly how the kitchen earned its name, a few theories indicate that it was borrowed from shuffleboard. In shuffleboard, 10 points are deducted if the disk lands in the “kitchen.” Similarly, the kitchen in pickleball is a no-volley area. While standing within the first 7 feet on either side of the net, you cannot hit the ball or it is considered a fault. Even if it’s just momentum that pushes you into the kitchen, you cannot step a foot into that area while volleying or it will be a fault. Lastly, your serve will be considered a fault if it lands in the kitchen.
Those are the basics! If you’re looking for more advanced play, visit https://usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/official-rules/ for a more detailed rulebook.
Rebecca Rohrer jumping to hit the ball to Ahmed Velez and Deion Craig while her teammate, Rick Stinson stands ready to play.
There are so many health benefits associated with playing pickleball! This sport is typically considered to be low impact, meaning it’s great for someone recovering from an injury or simply a good form of exercise for someone who may be less active. It also is adaptable to any degree of knowledge, meaning that even if you completely disregard most of these rules, you can still play and have fun! Pickleball has also been proven to have a strengthening effect on the brain, with improved cognition. Whether playing with your family or complete strangers, the sport is great for socialization. Overall, pickleball is the perfect pastime for anyone, no matter your athletic ability, and Lakeland is the place to play!
Here in the City of Lakeland, there are several parks and complexes that are home to pickleball courts:
Rick Stinson saves the ball from hitting the ground while Ahmed Velez and Deion Craig prepare to hit the ball to score a point. Rebecca Rohrer prepares to support her teamamte with the next hit.
To view the full list with more information, visit https://www.lakelandgov.net/tennis!
Sources:
https://www.lakelandgov.net/tennis
https://usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/official-rules/
https://recsports.msu.edu/imsports/activityrules/pickleball.html#:~:text=A%20fault%20occurs%20when%3A,has%20occurred%20on%20each%20side
https://thelakelander.com/pickleball-anyone/
https://laltoday.6amcity.com/test-playing-pickleball-lakeland-fl