Pickleball!
(This is a picture of me and my friend about to play a game of pickleball in my backyard!)
Welcome to my final blog post! I’m going to switch it up today and talk about a different type of game… an outdoor game! While my focus has generally been on board games, for my last blog I wanted to talk about one of my favorite games to play outside, Pickleball! I know it’s a weird sounding game but promise me it is so much fun. Enjoy!
I had played pickleball in middle school gym but never really played it after that until my family went to Florida on spring break. We went to a retirement park and stayed with my grandparents, where we participated in many activities within the park. My grandma brought us to the pickleball courts where we started playing against other elderly folks. Now you may be thinking that playing with older people but let me tell you, they are some of the most competitive people I have ever met. After that summer my family invested in a pickleball net and we have been playing in our backyard every chance we get.
Pickleball is a paddle-ball sport that combines elements of badminton, table tennis, and tennis. The overall goal of the game is to score more points than the opposing team. While the game play is very similar to tennis the scoring is significantly different. The game is generally played to 11 points and points are only scored during your team’s serve. Before each serves you announce three things: Your points, the opposing team’s points, and which server you are. Each team is allowed two serves, the first player serves until they lose the point, and the second player serves after. So when you announce which server you are, you either say 1 or 2. For example, let’s say your team has 5 points and the opposing team has 3. If your partner just served and lost the point then you are server number 2 and announce 5-3-2. It may seem a little confusing at first but once you get the hang of it becomes easier.
The Kitchen: There is a part of the pickleball court that is referred to as the kitchen. Is this a place to grab a snack before a game? No, but I wish. The kitchen is the area on the court from the net to 7 feet back. The rules for this area are that you cannot step into the kitchen before the ball bounces on your side. This mainly helps restrict the action of slamming the ball towards the opponents. This rule comes in handy when playing against my brother who really likes to smack the pickle ball.
I think Pickleball deserves a 10/10 for replayability because I could play for hours. The game can get competitive which motivates players to want rematches and play multiple times. Because each game is only played until 11 points, it's easy to get a few games in. The only aspect of outdoor pickleball that would limit the replayability is mother nature. When it's windy outside it can cause many difficulties with the way the pickleball moves. But to avoid this you can always find a place that has indoor pickleball, so you never have to stop playing!
Thanks for taking time to read my blog! If after reading today's post you decide you want to purchase a pickleball net you can find one here!