Mastering the Art of Pickleball: Tips and Tricks for Beginners

Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports, as it incorporates a blend of ping pong, badminton and tennis all in one. This may sound daunting to start with, however, it can actually be a lot of fun for those looking for some exercise, that is a bit less than tennis but a bit more than ping pong. The art of pickleball comes in knowing how to play the game, which steps to take and which to avoid and ultimately understanding the general going-on during the time on the court. Understanding the strict details around the point system is not really the most important thing, especially not when it comes to only understanding the basics, which is what this article aims to highlight. 

The Players and the Court

Good, so the first thing you need to understand is how many players are allowed to be on the court. Typically, pickleball is played with four players, with two players working together to beat the other two players. Think of it as tennis, where they have singles and doubles, although you are probably thinking of world-class players and the last time you placed a bet on them through Bonusfinder but bring your mind back to the rules of tennis, as these can form a solid bedrock for understanding pickleball. 

Pickleball is like the doubles version of tennis, only on a small court. A tennis court is rather large and usually spans 78ft in length and 27ft in width. This is a huge space for one or even two players to try to run around. With pickleball, you can expect a little less running, as the size of the court is much smaller. A typical pickball court averages around 44ft in length and 20ft in width. This is almost half as long and about 60% of the tennis court's width. Making it much smaller. You might be wondering why knowing the size of the court is so important and that is because the size makes a big difference in how much you are doing to run around. If you need to run the length of 78ft a few times over, versus the length of 44ft, well then you need to be a lot fitter. This is why pickleball is ideal for both young and more advanced players, as the impact of the sport is not as large. 

Moving Around

The next thing that you need to concern yourself with when hopping onto a pickleball court is how you should move. You must take great care when hitting the ball around, as you do not want to injure yourself or the people you are playing with. The ball itself is pretty hard and is usually made out of plastic or resin, so if you accidentally hit someone with this, it could be painful, so be extra careful. The ball itself has little holes to make it more aerodynamic which makes hitting it a little easier. Each player usually gets a small paddle, about half the size of a tennis racket and it resembles a beach bat. The players then try to pass the ball over the net as many times as possible and you are only allowed to let the ball hit the floor once. So you can either hit it from midair, which is known as a volley or you can hit it after one bounce, which is known as a ground stroke. Both of these options are fine, but you cannot let the ball hit the floor more than once. If that happens, the other team is automatically awarded the point. 

When moving around, it is important to keep your fellow players in mind. The best way to go about this is to designate certain parts of your side to one another. This can either be through dividing each side or dividing the half between the front and the back section. This is the best way to ensure that you do not run into each other and lose points unnecessarily. 

Conclusion

Playing pickleball can be a lot of fun and it is a great source of exercise. If you are starting as a beginner, do not worry too much about the point system. Rather get used to the flow of the game first and then you can start keeping points.