I kept hearing this game be mentioned, then I seen some folks on a court, so I did research. Here is what I found and I share with you. I left links to all the referrenced articles and posts, but the real story is here. Forget what you’ve heard about a dog—here’s the real story about the origins of the name.
From its humble origins on Washington state’s Bainbridge Island in 1965, pickleball has become one of the 2020s’ fastest growing sports. The number of participating players around the globe has reportedly increased more than 300 percent in recent years, and almost 20 million people now play regularly in the United States alone. The IOC is even apparently interested in making it a future Olympic event. Start now and you might find yourself competing in the Olympics. Wowza.
There’s a chance you’ve heard of pickleball, or even played a round or two, which may have made you wonder: Where did that weird name come from? Yeah, me too, that was my first thought. I think I said something like, “what did you call it?” or “what am I about to Play”.
- The Invention of Pickleball, boredom leads to amazing sport.
- Dog vs. Boat. The real Story from the Dogs Mom
- Off the Pickle Boat. This was a losers title, not winner
- Who invented pickleball? Representative Joel Pritchard and his neighbor, how about that.
- Was pickleball named after a dog? read the story and find out.,
- What equipment do you need to play pickleball? just 3 things.
- When is the pickleball season? depends on where you live. In Florida it seems to be almost all year.
The Invention of Pickleball
According to the official story, pickleball was invented by Washington state Representative Joel Pritchard and his neighbors in July 1965. The friends were looking for an outdoor game that they and their families could play together, using the random assortment of kit and other few bits and pieces of sporting paraphernalia that they had at their disposal.
But to hear Frank Pritchard tell it, that’s not quite accurate: Pickleball was created, he says, to keep him from complaining while they were vacationing on Bainbridge Island. “I was whining. I told dad there was nothing to do,” Frank, who was 13 that summer, told Mental Floss in 2021. “He said, ‘When we were kids and we would come over here, we would make games up.’ And I said, ‘Oh really? Why don’t you go make a game up!’” Here is Franks full and real story
Pritchard and a couple of neighbors decided to do just that. Using an old badminton court as a playing area, the group found a whiffle ball (a kind of perforated plastic baseball) to play with, and a set of ping-pong paddles to hit it with. Then they drew up a makeshift set of the rules, and their new game was officially invented—but it didn’t yet have a name.
Dog vs. Boat
Another oft-told story about the origin of the name pickleball is that it came from a dog named Pickles that belonged either to the Pritchards or one of their neighbors. But that’s not true: The Pritchards did have a dog named Pickles, but they didn’t get him until a couple of years after the game had been invented (and in fact, he was named after the game).
A Pritchard family member, however, did come up with the moniker: Joel’s wife, Joan. “I said it reminded me of the Pickle Boat in crew where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of other boats,” she recalled in 2008.
“My mom grew up in a small town in Ohio called Marietta, but it’s a college and had a big crew program,” Frank explained in 2021. “She liked crew and when my father met her and they moved out to Seattle, UW had a big crew program. They had a term for a pickle boat, which is a boat filled with all the leftover rowers.” Apparently, since the game “was a little bit of this and a little of that,” Frank says, she thought “pickleball would be a good name.”
Off the Pickle Boat
There is, at least, a theory that these pickle boat races date back to mid-19th-century England, where a jar of pickles was supposedly awarded to the team that came in last. Because the pickle boat team had never rowed together before, they rarely fared well in the competition and ultimately came to be named after the prize they so frequently took home. An alternative theory suggests the name comes from the fishing industry, where the last boat to get back to port was made to stay out at sea to pickle the fish in brine.
As ingenious as these ideas are, though, there appears to be very little contemporary evidence to back them up. Instead, most of the early recorded references to a pickle boat in English refer not to a vessel for rowing, but to a container for actual pickle (in the same way that a gravy boat is a container for gravy). From there, the term appears to have become used as a jocular name for any poor-quality ship in turn-of-the-last-century slang, and in doing so inspired a longer expression—Chauncy or Willie off the pickle boat—that came to be used of anyone who appeared lost, disheveled, or (allying pickle boat to turnip truck) hopelessly naïve.
A Guy named Greg in New York said: “that when he looked a bit disheveled, his mother would say You look like Willie off the pickle boat”. The phrase goes at least as far back as the 1890s, and the proper name has varied
From there, it’s easy to see how a byword for a crude boat of unsophisticated people might in turn have become a word for a similarly crude crew of rowers—and, finally, a hastily assembled (but still fun!) game. Did they just say Pickleball players are unsophisticated People? I think not, keep reading.
What equipment do you need to play pickleball?
Pickleball is played on a badminton-sized court with a hollow, perforated ball and paddles. The net should be 36 inches high on the sides and 34 inches high in the middle. It can be played in a singles or doubles format.
When is the pickleball season?
The season lasts from May to early November, but since it can be played outdoors and indoors, you can technically enjoy a round of pickleball all year long.
Follow these simple rules and you’ll be out playing in no time.
To get started, all you need is a quality pickleball paddle, pickleball balls to play with, and a pickleball court near you. The best way to learn the basics is with a private lesson or beginner’s clinic. They often provide equipment if you’re not ready to invest in gear yet.
How to play pickleball
Pickleball is played on a badminton-sized court (20′ x 44′) with a net height of 36″ at the sidelines and 34″ at the center. Each end of the court has a 7’ area called the non-volley zone (or ‘kitchen’) where players aren’t allowed to hit volleys (a shot hit out of the air).
The sport is most often played in “doubles” (two players on each team). I’ll mostly be covering the rules for doubles, so check out my guide on how to play singles pickleball if you want to learn more.
Let’s get into the 7 main rules for pickleball. These are just a brief overview, so check below for a deep dive into each rule.
Rule #1: each rally begins with a serve
The pickleball game (and each rally) starts with a serve. The player on the right side of their court always starts the serve. You serve diagonally to your opponent:
The person serving can either hit the ball after it bounces or out of the air (a “volley serve”) and their serve must clear the kitchen (including the line).
When hitting a volley serve, it must be hit with an underhand forehand or backhand stroke with contact below the waist. Your paddle must also move in an upward arc when you strike the ball.
Rule #2: the ball must bounce once on each side before either team can volley
Before any player can hit a shot out of the air (called a volley), the ball must bounce once on each side (known as the “two-bounce rule”).
So, if your partner is serving and you start up at the kitchen, you’re in a dangerous position. Why? This is because the returning team can hit a shot right at you. If you react with a volley, it’s considered a fault and you’ll lose the point because you didn’t let the ball bounce first on your side.
Without this rule, the serving team can easily rush the net and gain an unfair advantage every time.
Rule #3: each point continues until a fault
After the serve, play continues until a rally is won either by someone hitting a winning shot or a “fault” is committed. A fault ends the rally. In pickleball, there are four basic fault types:
- The serve lands outside of the required service area or beyond the kitchen (including the line).
- The ball lands out of bounds (behind the baseline or outside the sideline).
- The ball hits the net and falls on your side.
- The ball bounces twice on one side before the player can return it.
Rule #4: you can’t volley in the kitchen
The 7’ zone on each side of the net marks the non-volley zone, or ‘kitchen’. As the name suggests, you can never hit a volley while any part of your body is in the kitchen (or even on the kitchen line). You can’t let your momentum carry you into the kitchen after a volley either.
That said, you can hit the ball if it bounces in the kitchen—just not out of the air. If your opponent hits a short shot landing in the kitchen, you can enter and play it from the kitchen.
Rule #5: you only win points on your serve
In traditional pickleball scoring, you only win points on your serve and you continue serving until you lose a rally. After winning each point on your serve, you switch sides (left and right) with your partner and serve to the other opponent.
When your team loses a point, your teammate begins serving following the sequence described above until another point is lost by your team (the serving team). Once that happens, the serve “sides out” (switches) to the other team.
Rule #6: the correct score must be called before serving
In pickleball scoring, you’ll hear players announce three numbers, like “0-0-2”. Here’s what each number means:
Let’s say the game is tied at 3-3. If you start the serve, you’ll announce “3-3-1”, so everyone knows you are the first player in rotation serving.
If you lose the rally, the ball doesn’t go to your opponents. It goes to your teammate who will announce “3-3-2”.
If your partner loses their serve, a “side out” occurs. This means that they’ve lost their two serves and it’s now their opponent’s turn to serve. Their opponents then call out “3-3-1” before starting their serve.
There is one exception to this rule: the first player to serve at the beginning of a new game calls out “0-0-2”. This is because the starting team only gets one serve since they have the advantage of being able to score points first to start the match.
Rule #7: first team to 11 points wins—but you must win by 2
Following all the rules above, the game continues until one team gets 11 points. However, they must win by 2.
So, if a game is tied 10-10, the next score doesn’t end the game. Play continues past 11-10 until one team can win by 2 points. As a result, some games can continue for a very long time. You might see final scores of 12-10, 15-13, or even 21-19. These are often the most fun games.
Underhand serves from the waist, cross corner serves, and keeping the kitchen simple, keeps this game open to everyone. Though there are some very serious competitors out there.