The Rules of Pickle Ball

"Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America!"
And the Murray City Parks and Recreation office is trying to get it started here in Murray. I've done my fair share of research about pickleball for my supervisor, Wayne, and I'll tell you all about it.

My first exposure to pickleball was in junior high, when we played it in the back gym for a week or two during PE. But I don't really remember that. My first exposure as an adult and intern was when Wayne sent me over to the Park Center (Murray's recreation center) to talk to some of the leaders in the pickleball group. The main objective was to learn how to set up and take down the nets so that I could pick them up and have them up and ready at Germania park the following week during a volleyball tournament that rendered the gym unavailable. I spent an hour and a half learning to play the game with the resident pickleball fans.

Pickleball is widely popular amongst seniors--look online at RV camps and resorts, they all advertise having courts and senior leagues!--and Murray's following is a group of maybe 20 seniors. Don't let their age fool you, however, some of those old guys can put a wicked spin on the ball! It was interesting to play with them because my mom is the director of the Heritage Center, the local senior center where pretty much all of them go for lunch a few times a week, participate in classes, volunteer, and, especially, participate in the golf tournaments that the center organizes. They all knew my mom and I was able to get the inside scoop on their thoughts about the Heritage Center.

The rules of pickleball are very simple. It's like table tennis supersized. Most people describe it as a cross between tennis and badminton, because the rules and methods are very similar. As a lover of recreational badminton, I took to it very quickly.

The court is 44'x20' as pictured, with a net in the center. The net itself is 36" high and resembles a really short badminton net. For convenience, if you want both a badminton and pickleball net, there are those available for purchase that can be used as both (just add or subtract the extra poles for the desired height during setup). The "non-volley zone" is called "the kitchen," and your feet have to stay out of it. During a serve, the ball has to cross over the net to the opposing player and land in the square diagonally across. If it's in the square directly across or in the kitchen, it's out-of-bounds. While serving, the player stands behind the back line and the receiver stands back as well. If playing doubles, the receiver's partner moves up closer to the kitchen for the serve. Each game is played until one team gets 11 points--but!--winning must be by more than one point, so some games will have a winner with more than 11 points. A point can only be earned for each side if they are serving. I found serving to be a bit odd, because in doubles each partner serves before the opposing team gets the ball.
The ball itself is a whiffle ball--and the size of the holes differ depending on whether it's an indoor ball or an outdoor ball. Outdoors on the concrete is much more difficult than inside on the wood floor of a gym! Some of the specialized courts have flooring that is similar to that of a tennis court, however. The paddles differ widely. The cheapest are made of wood and not very good. The others are made of plastic and are much more efficient. Some of the guys that play here in Murray have really nice paddles. I distinctly remember a conversation taking place where one man was very impressed with a paddle he had borrowed, and the other talking about how his grandson had found it online somewhere. The paddle makes a big difference with power and accuracy in ball placement, I can tell you, because I've had to use all different types.

How are we getting pickleball started here in Murray? For starters, we have an open gym for pickleball on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays in the morning and the evening where anyone can drop in and play with nets, paddles, and balls provided--plus the seniors will lend you their nicer paddles so you don't have to use the Park Center's wooden ones. I listed the Park Center online as one of the "places to play!" in Utah on two different pickleball websites (the USAPA and one other). There aren't very many places listed in the Salt Lake area, so hopefully that will get us some participants. Also, Select Health here in Murray is looking for an event to sponsor, and they've chosen a family pickleball night. We're looking into setups for introductory classes and workshops, spreading the word via the Facebook page I set up, and hanging flyers around the city. Word of mouth is the biggest helper here. It's rare to get a person who just up and decides they want to try. Most of the new participants are friends of the regulars or people that happened to be hanging around the gym when there was a person that needed a partner for doubles. We're also thinking about building pickleball courts in a couple different areas, but the budget is tight and we'll need more participants before we can make a good pitch. We've just barely started the ball rolling, so we'll see how it goes!

First day of track and first assignment!

10 June 2013, Monday:
    My first Monday as a returning resident on the mainland! It was hot and "windy" (these people don't know what "windy" is until they've lived with the brunt of the Trade Winds hitting Windward Oahu) but otherwise a very beautiful day. I spent most of it asleep, waking up at 9:30am Hawaiian Standard Time. I took a bath. Oh, glorious, bug-free bathtubs. And I hardly had to wait for the hot water, too. Clean bathrooms, how I've missed you.
    At 3pm I had a meeting with Wayne and Cory over at the Parks Department Office. We talked about the track programs and some of the other programs that I may be getting involved with. Now that they have an idea for how many hours I need and what I'm interested in, they're looking for places that I can pitch in. I went to the Credit Union and changed my address, with a little tear :'( and got my payroll set up for coaching.
    Rebecca picked me up at 5:20 and we went out to the Taylorsville track for practice. I helped Rebecca out until Miranda needed to work with the relay teams, at which point I took over the sprinters. They love running bleachers, but after running lots of them in the heat, they were dead! Miranda and Rebecca had previously talked about how hard it is to communicate with them, as they just stare blankly at you when given instructions, so I decided I wouldn't put up with that. I made sure they yelled "yeah!" loud and enthusiastically when I asked if they were ready and had them yell "Aloooohaa" to get their attention. It worked. I've never worked with sprinters before, but I think I did alright for that last bit of practice. Something else I think we should work on is making sure everyone knows the boundaries before we start playing a game (only half remember out of the ones that were actually listening), which we can do by questioning them, I think. Also, when stretching, we're supposed to clap after "Spartans touch your toes" and not everyone is following. I think it's important that we keep them doing that so that they stay on task with stretching and pay attention. Something I really like that we do is during the butterfly stretch, ask what the kids are reading on their feet. I like that we encourage them to read, especially now that school is out. One last good thing--the sprinkler that the football team uses. The drinking fountain at the bathroom doesn't really work and not everyone remembers water bottles. Plus, they can get their heads wet or whatever to cool down.


11 June 2013, Tuesday:
    I got my first assignment from Wayne today! Because the summer camps and a volleyball tournament have started, the pickle ball players are going to be playing outside next week. I'm going in to the Rec Center on Thursday morning to see how the courts are set up and learn a little about the game so that next week I can pick up the nets and set them up at Germania Park. I'm pretty stoked.