Pickleball at HLTC - start date to be confirmed
If you’re looking to start playing pickleball or just want to find out more information about this rapidly growing sport – here’s a handy guide with everything you need to know about the game.
How to play pickleball (YouTube)
Pickleball paddles and balls. Book court #4, collect the pickleball bags from the clubhouse and start playing. Please return all equipment to the clubhouse once you've finished playing.
What is pickleball?
Fast becoming one of the most popular racket sports in the world, pickleball combines elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong. Players can play both singles and doubles, using paddles and a plastic ball.
Who can play pickleball?
Pickleball is a sport for all ages, backgrounds and abilities. It’s easy to pick up for beginners and is a great way to exercise, keep active with friends and meet new people.
Best of all, it’s a low-impact sport, that’s easy on the joints and it can help you build your fitness while playing a fun and challenging game.
What are the rules of Pickleball? How to play pickleball
The pickleball rules are easy to grasp and the scoring system is simple. There are many similarities with tennis and some key differences. For example, the ball has to bounce once on each side before you can volley, and you can’t play volleys from inside the kitchen (a marked out area close to the net).
Pickleball shots
Pickleball shots are very similar to tennis or padel – you have the volley (shots without bouncing), drop shots (light shots falling just on your opponent’s side of the net) and smashes (an overhead volley).
In pickleball you also have a shot called a ‘dink’, which can only be used near the net, or in the kitchen area of the court. A dink is a very soft shot that just about reaches over the net, making it difficult to return – much like a drop shot in tennis.
The ‘third shot drop’ is effective because a lot of rallies are often lost on the third point of a rally. A third shot drop is a soft, arcing shot that drops into the kitchen – often forcing your opponent to hit a dink return.