The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch Pickleball 101

By:
Joe De Luna, Director of Tennis and Pickleball

Valentine’s Pickleball Mixer

Thank you to everyone who came out to our Valentine’s Pickleball Mixer! We had a great time playing pickleball, tasting rosé and shopping at the Lou Apparel pop-up sale.

A huge thank you to everyone as well for the Pro Appreciation cake and cards!

What is Pickleball?

Pickleball is a sport that is referred to as a mix of tennis, badminton and ping pong. It is a paddle/racket sport that is played with a paddle and a whiffle ball. It can be played on an indoor or outdoor court. The dimension of the court is the same as a badminton court. The strategies and positioning are similar to tennis, and shots hit closer to the net resemble a ping pong swing.

How do I start a game?

One doubles team will serve. The serve must be diagonal/crosscourt and beyond the no volley zone, which is in front of the net. The serve is underhand, and the serve and return must bounce. This is called the two-bounce rule. After this, either team can then volley the ball out of the air or hit it off the bounce. No volleys are allowed when in contact with the no volley zone, also known as the kitchen. 

The first side to serve in doubles only gets one service turn. That team will continue serving until they lose a rally then each side will have two service turns after that. Each player serves until the serving team loses a rally, then this creates a side out and the other team will get two service turns. Points can only be won when serving, and every time a point is won, the server and their partner will switch sides of the court and the server will serve diagonally/crosscourt in the other direction. The first serve of each side will always start on the right side of the court.

Most pickleball games are played to 11, winning by two.

Scoring

You must keep track of three numbers to follow the scoring in doubles pickleball. The first number is the server’s score, the second number is the returner’s score and the third number is what number server it is for the serving team.

There are many other aspects of pickleball to explore like basic skills, court positioning, movement and shot types, but this gives you a basic overview of the sport.

Joe De Luna is the Director of Tennis and Pickleball at The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch. He can be reached at 830.336.9004 and jdeluna@cordilleraranch.com.

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