Pickleball anyone?

[eroscott]

This YouTube video shows the kinds of spins I was facing today. Are these legal where you play? No one was calling them illegal today.

https://youtu.be/-uTYNnZWPpU

These appear to be 100% legal to me. Most people have only "mastered" spinning the ball in one direction so it consistently "jumps" to one side. Once you realize that then adjust your expectation on where the ball will end up.

Also a recommendation is to catch the ball closer to the ground bounce before it has time to move to the side too much.

 

[Dtail]

This YouTube video shows the kinds of spins I was facing today. Are these legal where you play? No one was calling them illegal today.

https://youtu.be/-uTYNnZWPpU

It is close either way.
One aspect to consider is that if it was truly legal all the time, the pros in tournament play would have mastered it and use it. IMHO.
The serves used in the professional tournaments typically have little to no spin.

 

[eroscott]

... the pros in tournament play would have mastered it and use it. IMHO. The serves used in the professional tournaments typically have little to no spin.

I think the logical explanation is that once people see it they can get use to it in a short timeframe if it is consistently spinning the same way every time. These pros play each other a LOT so it doesn't trick them again and again. Recreational players just need to recognize the pattern and neutralize it then the folks stop doing the serve as it doesn't help ... at least from my observations.

 

[Dtail]

I think the logical explanation is that once people see it they can get use to it in a short timeframe if it is consistently spinning the same way every time. These pros play each other a LOT so it doesn't trick them again and again. Recreational players just need to recognize the pattern and neutralize it then the folks stop doing the serve as it doesn't help ... at least from my observations.

I will admit that is a piece of it for sure, but still also think to legally time the spin in an upward motion whereby the paddle is below the wrist upon impact is not easy, but would be hard to prove without a slo mo video.
Thus to keep the social spirit of the game, folks just let it go.

 

[Ready]

A spin serve is generally only effective when playing against players up to 3.0. Once you begin playing 3.5+ players they will reverse the spin on the return and make it difficult for you to get a third shot drop into the kitchen.

 

[Amethyst]

I don't get it. If everybody is so darned competitive, why not just play tennis?

I love to play games and socialize; but if people are competitive, it's not for me. I have scoliosis; although I'm strong and fit from yoga and working out, and definitely not ready for the shuffleboard court, I can't compete at running and jumping.

 

[Ready]

I don't get it. If everybody is so darned competitive, why not just play tennis?

I've played both, but for me pickleball is far more fun. And most of my former tennis pro friends who now play pickleball exclusively would agree.

The reality is there are plenty of casual players out there who just want to have fun and keep the ball in play. And there are the competitive players that want to play more aggressively. You can find both, you just have to search for the right groups so that you can play at a level you are comfortable with.

 

[Dtail]

I don't get it. If everybody is so darned competitive, why not just play tennis?

I love to play games and socialize; but if people are competitive, it's not for me. I have scoliosis; although I'm strong and fit from yoga and working out, and definitely not ready for the shuffleboard court, I can't compete at running and jumping.

It can be competitive but for us lots of socializing and joking along the way.
Tennis emphasizes power much more. Pickleball allows for men and women to play to the same level in many circumstances. Plus it is a lot less running than tennis and minimal jumping.

 

[Corporateburnout]

I've never played pickle ball. For some reason it's not too popular around here. In our tennis club they have 8 tennis courts and 4 pickle ball courts. The tennis courts are busy most of the times but not the pickle ball courts.

I play competitive tennis twice a week but I can't play singles anymore. Doubles is more suited for my game and doesn't require as much running and though I avoided major injuries a knee strain this past summer sidelined me for a few weeks. Back playing and enjoying the game....

 

[jabbahop]

Yikes! After being introduced to the sport five months ago, I partially tore my left calf muscle (grade 2) while playing (DW said I was playing like a madman running down every ball and hitting overhead smashes with abandon) and was out of commission for a month and a half...after playing again, I then strained my right calf muscle and have been playing sparingly after recovering from that injury.
Rough sport, but DW loves it and she’s hooked.

I’ve played twice. First time I was diving all over the place (like I played all sports) and was sore for a couple of days. Everyone told me to take it easy so the second time I was much more calm but managed to partially tear my Plantar Facia so no more playing for a month. Tough having fun while aging - think I’ll stick to mountain biking until my next crash.

 

[Texas Proud]

I found a “Meetup” event posted for beginners to intermediate (Level 3.0) nearby for this morning. DH and I have only been playing doubles for a week or so, after a summer of whacking the ball back and forth at/to each other, and we are probably somewhere around a level 2.5.

We went to the meetup this morning. The players were friendly enough, but there were no beginners there. Most of the people were putting wicked spin on the serves so it was hard for me to control my returns. Talking to some, I found out that there were quite a few 3.75+ players there. They signed up for the meetup once they saw there were openings and knew they could get some court time.

Good for them, but I do wish I could play someone of near equal ability so I didn’t have to struggle on every.single.serve. It’s tough to learn when the only way to win a rally is to make a perfect shot. [emoji26]

We will play again Wednesday, at the club we joined a couple of weeks ago. Maybe I’ll win a game.

If it were me and I was playing someone that was far below my level I would either.... not play at all as it would not be interesting... OR, do it for fun and play down to their level plus a bit (do not want to lose) so they could learn how to play..


Or, is there some other way to give a handicap? As an example, when I used to play chess we would give up pieces at the beginning of the game... try playing without both rooks and the queen and see how good you are...

 

[Philliefan33]

If it were me and I was playing someone that was far below my level I would either.... not play at all as it would not be interesting... OR, do it for fun and play down to their level plus a bit (do not want to lose) so they could learn how to play..


Or, is there some other way to give a handicap? As an example, when I used to play chess we would give up pieces at the beginning of the game... try playing without both rooks and the queen and see how good you are...

I would’ve appreciated them not spinning on the serve. Without the spin, I could have worked on getting my returns deep and moving into good court position. Having some longer rallies, even if my side eventually lost the point, would have been more enjoyable than having half the serves skid off my paddle to parts unknown.

I guess I’m just venting that a bunch of good competitive players showed up at an event billed as “beginner to intermediate”.

 

[Corporateburnout]

I guess I’m just venting that a bunch of good competitive players showed up at an event billed as “beginner to intermediate”.

I don't understand why high level competitive players would want to play against beginners or intermediates. Where's the fun?
Our tennis league consists of 12 players at 4.0-4.5 level and when a sub is needed the club must replace the player with a similar level substitute otherwise the level of play would drop considerably.

 

[Ready]

We have four courts at our location. We have a variety of players that show up with skill levels from 2.0-4.0. With only four courts it is challenging to segment the players by skill level, so the beginners end up mixing in with us. It makes the game non-competitive, and for that reason you often see the better players playing aggressively, just to make the game go as quickly as possible so they can move on and play with other better players.

It’s frustrating for beginners when this happens. I’ve been there and suffered through it, but I kept coming back, and getting better. It takes time to learn to play pickleball but it can be quite fun, and social, if you stick with it.

 

[doneat54]

Too slow for me. Now in my 42nd year playing racquetball, still play doubles for 2-3 hours twice a week. Any RB players out there?

 

[eroscott]

Too slow for me. Now in my 42nd year playing racquetball, still play doubles for 2-3 hours twice a week. Any RB players out there?

I played singles and doubles racquetball for many years, trained, camps, tournaments, etc. Now I only play pickleball 4+ days per week. It can be plenty fast testing your agility and reflexes if you are playing with the right level of players to meet your own level.

Saw two articles this past month of past professional women racquetball players who switched to pickleball and talk about the speed of pickleball.

 

[doneat54]

I played singles and doubles racquetball for many years, trained, camps, tournaments, etc. Now I only play pickleball 4+ days per week. It can be plenty fast testing your agility and reflexes if you are playing with the right level of players to meet your own level.

Saw two articles this past month of past professional women racquetball players who switched to pickleball and talk about the speed of pickleball.

I have watched some videos of national PB tournaments and I can see that it can be fast, and very technical. But I am a huge back wall player in RB and have so much invested in it that switching to something else is not an option for me. I will play as long as I can. RB has definitely faded out since the 80s and you have to really try hard to find places to play, but there is still a hardcore group of people that play. I can play singles for a bit over an hour, but prefer doubles now as I can play 2+ hours easily and love the technical nature and teamwork.

 

[Ready]

I have played both racquetball and PB. Racquetball is all about power, and keeping the ball low. PB is more about finesse than power, but speed and agility definitely becomes a factor with better PB players. Racquetball burns more calories than PB. PB is more social, and in my opinion more fun. But they are both great sports.

Many racquetball players have a difficult time making the transition to PB because they want to hit the ball really hard and they stay back and try to put shots away from deep in the back court. That doesn’t work when playing against the better PB players, but it can be a hard habit for long time racquetball players to break.

 

[eroscott]

...Racquetball burns more calories than PB....

Back when I was making the transition I did a comparison with my fitbit and shared with my racquetball friends.

My Racquetball

My Pickelball

 

[Spanky]

Pickleball is fun. I played PB about 3 times a week, along with tennis 2 times a week. I still prefer tennis over PB.

 

[deserat]

I play badminton - many older people age out of badminton as it is a faster game and go to pickleball - it uses the badminton court lines and is pretty loud on an indoor court compared to badminton (clickety-clack - clickety - clack....)

I have played pickleball briefly and it is a different game, but the strategy is similar - put the ball where the other person isn't....

 

[GoodWishes]

I used to play tennis and developed tennis elbow. After about a year dealing with tennis elbow, I finally stopped playing tennis and my tennis elbow got much better. I was sad that I had to stop.

A year ago, I heard about pickleball from a couple who moved to an adult community. Pickleball is very popular in the adult community. The husband really got into it and plays everyday.

I watched some youtube videos and started playing. I found several drop in places to play. In one of the gyms, there are 6 courts and 1 of the courts is dedicated for beginners which is nice for beginners.

I have been playing once a week for almost a year and enjoy it a lot. Tennis elbow has not came back but I am being careful not to play too much.

 

[garyt]

I don't understand why high level competitive players would want to play against beginners or intermediates. Where's the fun?
Our tennis league consists of 12 players at 4.0-4.5 level and when a sub is needed the club must replace the player with a similar level substitute otherwise the level of play would drop considerably.

Some people just want to win. In every sport I've ever played there were teams/individuals who would sandbag. Be it softball, bowling. volleyball, basketball or golf, there's always some dufus who gets off on winning even if he has to drop down two levels to do it. I can't understand how they get any satisfaction from that.

 

[Sunny]

I don't get it. If everybody is so darned competitive, why not just play tennis?

I love to play games and socialize; but if people are competitive, it's not for me. I have scoliosis; although I'm strong and fit from yoga and working out, and definitely not ready for the shuffleboard court, I can't compete at running and jumping.

I think as others have said you may be able to find casual players to play with. I think a few years ago the power game started coming to Pickleball when aging tennis players started to move on over. This seems to have changed the game quite a bit.

But don't fret it, and find a more casual game. Where I am the early morning crowd tends to be more serious, more competitive, and the second half of the morning a bit more relaxed. But I do wish there was a low-skill / out of shape
/ beginner only court always open.

 

[Dtail]

Okay so have an ongoing difference of opinion on effectively etiquette in Pickleball.
Do you feel it is okay to hit the ball very hard directly at someone with an underhand shot, if the skill levels are reasonably close, but others have not mastered this type of shot yet and thus it is mostly a one way scenario?