Learn Fine Points of the Rules to Improve Your Game

If you are just getting started in pickleball, and you don't know your dinks from your drops, you don't know what the NVZ is, and you have no intention of competing in a tournament in the near future, this article is not for you. But if you are a tournament player with one or more tournaments under your belt, and you're planning to enter tournaments in the future, I'm talking to you!

Rec play and drills to work on specific skills are great. There is nothing that will improve your game more than focused practice, hitting balls, maybe a lesson or a clinic. However, there is another facet of the game that often gets neglected by many players, and it comes into sharper focus in tournament play; rules. The technical rules of pickleball aren't fun, they aren't sexy, and rules sticklers are sometimes frowned on during rec play. But if you intend to play tournaments at any point in the future, familiarizing yourself with the finer points of tournament rules is well worth the time it takes to learn them. You will avoid losing serves and points due faults or errors you either don't pay attention to in rec play or didn't even know about.

Additionally, recognizing faults committed by your opponents can play to your advantage. Many tournament refs are not aware, who aren't paying close attention, or who just missed something.

Knowing which faults you can call on your opponents and which faults you cannot call, knowing how the timeouts work, knowing all of the service and NVZ rules, etc. This is all knowledge that will improve your game.

"Okay David, I'm convinced there is some value in learning the rules, but where do I start?"

I'm glad you asked! The first step is super easy and takes minimal effort. The USA Pickleball official rulebook is available for free as a PDF file. Here is a link. Download it to your phone. You don't have to read it. It's not a page turner. But the nice thing about the PDF format is that it is searchable. Weird situations happen in rec play and at tournaments. When those situations arise, you can reference the rulebook to figure out how the rules govern that specific circumstance.

Here's an example. The ball crosses over the net, and bounces high. Wind or backspin carries the ball back over the net before your team could hit it? What happens? Who wins the rally?

I searched "wind" in the PDF rulebook and this was the result.

Pretty cool, huh? If your search produces multiple results, you may need to use that previous or next button to find the relevant section. "Net" had 97 instances in the document. That would be much harder to sift through, but you would eventually get there. Hopefully you get the idea. Having a searchable version of the rulebook can also be used to settle disputes on the court during rec play. It's handy, and it puts the power of the rules in your hands in an accessible way.

Another way you can improve your knowledge without trying to memorize the rulebook is to take online tests. There are 3 tests available on USAPickleball.org. Here is a link to those resources.

The referee quizzes take the longest, but they are also the most in depth. Not ready to take the ref quiz? Start with the player quiz. If you have been playing for a while, if you regularly play in tournaments, and especially if you occasionally ref tournament matches, take some time and work through the ref quiz.

That same page on the USA Pickleball website has other resources and materials as well. There are training videos, manuals, and even remote training sessions you can register for and attend. These are free ways you can improve your knowledge of the game.

How long is a player timeout? How long is a medical timeout? What happens if my shoelace or paddle breaks during the match? I saw my opponent step in the NVZ and volley. Can I call the fault? The ref is not calling foot faults on my opponent's serves. What can I do? My opponents called a timeout and when it was time in, they switched the receivers. Is that a fault? What happens if their error wasn't caught for several points? My friends who are spectating at a tournament are calling out tips during my match. Is that allowed?

The answers to questions like those are a small sample of technical rules that many casual players do not know because they don't come up in rec play. Knowing the answers to questions like these helps you avoid errors that cost you points. It can even help you win points off your opponents if you are paying attention.

Being a student of the game is not necessarily fun, but winning is fun.

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No Fun David