What is Pickleball?

A brief history and introduction to the game we all love

Intro to Pickleball

Pickleball is a paddle sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. It is played on a badminton-sized court with a modified tennis net. Players use paddles to hit a perforated plastic ball over the net. The goal is to score points by grounding the ball on the opponent's side.

Pickleball quickly became popular on Bainbridge Island, and soon spread to other parts of Washington state, then to other parts of the United States. Today, the sport has gained popularity worldwide and is enjoyed by people of all ages and skill levels.

History of Pickleball

Pickleball was invented on Bainbridge Island, Washington in 1965 by three fathers looking to entertain their children. They used ping pong paddles, a wiffle ball, and a lowered tennis net. The game was named "pickleball" after the "pickle boat" in crew races, where the crew is made up of leftover oarsmen (though the origin of the name has been in dispute, with the alternate story claiming it was named after one of the inventors’ dog, Pickles)

Pickleball quickly became popular on Bainbridge Island, and soon spread to other parts of Washington state, then to other parts of the United States. Today, there are pickleball courts all over the world, and the sport is played by people of all ages and abilities.

photo of pickleball inventor preparing to play

How to Play Pickleball

Pickleball is simple to learn. Players use solid paddles to hit a perforated plastic ball over the net. The goal of the game is to score points by grounding the ball on the opponent's side of the court. The first player or team to reach 11 points and win by 2 wins the game.

Pickleball 101 Slide
Each rally has a serving team and a returning team. You can only score on your serve.
The server must serve underhand from behind the service box
The return must travel over the net and bounce on the opponents end of the court.
After the initial serve and return, all shots can be hit out of the air, or they can be hit after the bounce. With one exception...
Exception: No player can ever hit the ball out of the air (aka ‘volley’) while in the ‘No Volley Zone’ aka ‘The Kitchen’
Each teammate serves until they fail to score. If the server scores they switch sides with their partner and serve again.
After both teammates fail to score, it’s a sideout meaning it’s now the other teams chance to serve.