How to play pickleball.

What it is

Pickleball is a paddle sport that mixes the best of tennis, badminton, and table tennis. It's played on a smaller court — half the size of a tennis court — with a perforated plastic ball and solid-faced paddles. It's quick, social, and surprisingly subtle once you get past the first session.

The game can be singles or doubles, but doubles is where most of the AU community plays.

The court

A pickleball court is 20 feet wide × 44 feet long — half a tennis court. The net is 36 inches at the posts and dips slightly to 34 inches at the centre.

The most important feature is the non-volley zone — the seven-foot box on either side of the net, called the "kitchen". You can't volley (hit the ball out of the air) while standing in the kitchen. That single rule is the heart of the game's strategy.

The serve

You serve underhand, with the paddle below your wrist on contact. The ball must land in the diagonal service box on the other side. The serving team continues serving until they lose a rally — only the serving team scores points.

The two-bounce rule

After the serve, the ball must bounce once on each side before either team can volley. So:

1. Server hits a serve.
2. Receiver lets it bounce, returns.
3. Server's team lets it bounce, returns.
4. From here, anyone can volley (except inside the kitchen).

This rule pulls both teams forward to the kitchen line — that's where most rallies are won.

Scoring

Games are usually played to 11 points, win by 2. You can only score on your own serve. In doubles, both players on a team get a chance to serve before the serve passes to the other team — except on the very first service of the game.

The score is called as three numbers: server's score, receiver's score, server number (1 or 2 — which player on the team is serving).

Getting started

You need:

• —A paddle. Anything in our S1 Play range will get you started — gritted face, predictable feel, no overwhelming spec overload.
• —A ball. Outdoor balls (like our S40 Play) are slightly heavier with smaller holes for wind resistance. Indoor balls have larger holes.
• —A court. Most local councils now have lined courts, and existing tennis courts are easy to play on with a portable net.

That's it. Show up, find a session, ask anyone with a paddle for a game — pickleball communities are famously welcoming.

What changes after the first hour

Three things, in this order:

1. You stop fighting the ball and start placing it.
2. You learn to dink — soft shots into the kitchen that draw your opponent forward.
3. You start poaching, resetting, and reading the rally before it lands.

That's when the game gets addictive. See you on the court.