We can define Pickleball as a racket sport that is very close to the rules of pop tennis, but is also based heavily on the principles of badminton and ping pong.
The first to create it was William Bell JR, together with Barney McCallum and Joel Pritchard, in the town of Barney Island in the USA. The name of this sport comes from a boat, called Pickle Boat.
Its association is the AIP, which over time has become a member of the Pickleball Federation and the World Pickleball Federation, and in 2017 the first 3 dedicated fields were born, with the consequent organization of the first tournaments.
Why is Pickleball so special?
We can define this sport as ping pong on a human level, it can be played in pairs but also simply one on one.
The peculiarity that distinguishes it from other similar ones is an area near the net that is called the " kitchen ", a sort of volleyball zone, of about 2.13 meters, in which you cannot hit the ball on the fly.
- MEASURES AND MATERIAL
Its field has a very precise size:
- length: 13.41m
- width: 6.10m
- net height: 91.44cm (at the ends); 86.36cm (in the center)
The racket is made up of a solid plate with a shape similar to an ellipse; the ball used has a very light weight, about half that of padel, which varies from 21 to 29 grams and a diameter that goes from 7.3cm to 7.62cm.
- JOKE
The service has the standard rules of all similar sports, so the serve is made diagonally, with the server positioned with his feet outside the playing field, dropping the ball and after the bounce, hitting it with the racket, from below, executing the shot no higher than the height of the waist. To be playable, the service must not fall in the " kitchen " area or on the line that delimits it or on the court perpendicular to the serve; therefore it will be valid only if it falls inside the court diagonal to the service court.
- RULES
Points are awarded in the following ways:
- the ball must bounce twice in the opponent's court;
- the response goes into the net or out of bounds;
- the opponent hits the ball on the fly in the " non volley zone ".
The peculiarity that differentiates this sport from similar ones is that you can only score a point if you have the service, so in case of an error the opponent will have the right to serve, and then try to score a point. The match is won by the first one to reach 11 points, while in case of a tie of 10 it will go to advantages.
This sport is widely used in American schools as a physical activity for students and is slowly expanding in Italy. If you want to learn more or buy material related to Pickleball, look at the dedicated section on our website. You will fall in love with our products.