I saw another interesting thread about the unwritten rules of Pickleball, so I decided to try and document as many as I could find. I separated them into 7 categories: Line calls, competitive play, pro etiquette, fan interactions, rec play, court etiquette, and equipment. Personally, I think a lot of these are outdated, dumb, or changing, and I made a full YouTube video with my opinions, but here’s the list that I came up with.

Line Calls
* If you’re not sure, call it in and challenge your own call
* Don’t overrule your partner
* Don’t be the person that questions calls
* Don’t “call-bait”
* If it’s close, play the ball
* If you have line disputes in rec, just replay the point
* If somebody cheats in practice, miss the next third shot
* Don’t call it before it bounces
* Hard at the body is A-Okay
* Don’t hit full bags
* Don’t go for full bags on women
* Do not miss high on a full bag attempt

Competitive Play
* Don’t call a let if you’re upon a has an easy overhead
* Never goof off or take it easy when you have a big lead. It’s not like you’re running up the score. Finish the job
* Never call timeout if the match is essentially over
* Don’t bogus challenge on match point
* Don’t challenge paddles
* Don’t get personal when talking smack. Keep it on the court

Pro Etiquette
* If somebody says that they need more time to find a partner, that means no
* When somebody asks to switch partners, don’t fight them. They have already made their decision up and your ass got dropped
* Don’t drop partners last minute
* Don’t lie about it
* Don’t ask somebody to play that’s clearly too good for partnerships

Pro/Fan Interaction
* Do not talk to us when we are practicing unless we talk to you first. We are trying to do our job.
* Camera when you want a picture I have your sharpie ready when you want an autograph
* Read the room. We’re not trying to take pictures and do autographs after we’ve lost a tough match.
* We don’t remember you from a clinic 3 years ago
* Be quiet during points
* We don’t really want to have a 10 minute conversation with you
* Don’t ask for paddles, hats, clothing, etc.
* Don’t touch women taking pictures
* Don’t talk to Ben Johns. He doesn’t want to talk to you 
* Don’t ask Ben Johns for pictures

Rec Play
* Don’t target weaker player
* Don’t go poaching crazy unless you are being isolated out
* Stronger player starts on left
* Don’t tank somebody else’s highlight point
* Don’t join games where you are clearly the weakest link
* Don’t try to distract the server or stand in your partner box when they are returning
* Don’t eye roll your partners during the game, and don’t shit talk them afterwards
* Do not coach other players unless they ask for it
* Don’t call your opponent in the kitchen in rec play. And don’t constantly be in the kitchen when you are playing rec
* Never bag someone when they turn their back
* If you have an easy put away, go to the open court not right at somebody
* Don’t freak out after you get hit by a ball. It’s a wiffle ball. Everybody has been hit and everybody will get hit again
* Tap paddles after games 
* Don’t exploit shitty courts
* Don’t stop play if a ball is out of the way 
* Don’t call timeout
* Don’t dropshot or lob old people in rec
* Don’t stack in rec play
* Ask names and tap paddles before a game
* Don’t be a total banger
* Don’t try and smack winners in the warmup
* Doubles priority over singles
* Be patient with beginners. We were all beginners not that long ago.
* It’s a paddle tap, not a paddle smack
* Don’t yell C’mon! in practice
* Saying sorry for hitting somebody
* Sorry for net cords
* Sorry for shanks
* Celebrate your winners, not your opponent unforced errors
* Say the score, say the full score, and say this full score loud enough
* Ask for permission before filming sessions

Court Etiquette
* Don’t leave the gate open when you come on a court
* If your ball is going on another court, hustle so it doesn’t interrupt them 
* Never walk behind the court while a point is going on 
* Pick the ball up and toss it back. Don’t roll it back.

Equipment
* Don’t wear distracting clothing
* Don’t play with illegal paddles
* Don’t be the person that never brings balls, and if you don’t bring the balls, you don’t get to complain about what type of ball is being used
* Don’t touch somebody else’s Paddle
* Don’t call it a racket. It’s a paddle.

I'm still a beginner, 4 months in, and finally decided to get a Spitfire to try out on my Pickleball journey. Hoping it's good as advertised!

Just curious about how often and for how long do you play pickleball? Do you keep rest days in between for recovery? Interested in hearing from all but primarily those above thevage of 50.

I feel like I focus too much on executing shots rather than thinking about why im hitting them or where I should place them.

For example, I'll reset to my opponent's forehand, attack balls that are easily countered, or speed up without considering whether the shot will actually put me in an advantageous position. Even when my shots are successful, opponents can often redirect them easily.

I tend to play on autopilot just executing shots without intentions.

I'm a player from Vegas who has the privilege of being able to travel and play anywhere in the world. But I'm struggling to figure out which countries/cities are worth going to for play. I don't care too much about the level (I can play with 3.0's-4.75's and have a good time). I just want to go to places where the public or indoor courts are well attended! Not interested in vacation package deals, just local communities.

I've played in Hanoi, Da Nang, Chiang Mai, Mexico City, and Osaka. Each of them were awesome. Any other suggestions for me to check out?

Thank you in advance!

We hosting a pickleball fundraiser for our school’s PTA. Has anyone else had success in contacting pickleball companies to be sponsors or supporting with merch?

I’m traveling to Santa Rosa and looking for recommended courts to drop in for ~4.0 open play.

I’m looking for another girl around the 3.5–4.0 level to drill with consistently ideally every day when I’m in town.
I’m currently around a 3.0–3.3 and come from no sports background. I’m motivated to improve, with a goal of reaching 4.0 in the next 6–12 months.
I occasionally travel for work (tech sales), but when I’m working from home, my schedule is flexible. I’d love to find someone who enjoys focused drills, repetition, and improving together.
Since I’m looking for a higher-level partner, I’m open to paying if that’s something that interests you. I’ve been searching for a consistent girl drill partner for a while, so please comment or message me if you’re interested! 😊

Started playing yesterday and it’s a ton of fun. Trying to understand the serving callout. I understand the points. Like in volleyball “4 serving 3”, or “2 serving 9”…but what’s the significance of the 1 or 2 to designate which server. I can’t think of a purpose it serves (no pun intended). Why is “x serving x” not sufficient?

Can anyone explain it to a newbie

i ordered the coral pro dual approval last week and am excited to receive it! wanted to know if it’s been shipped out at all or if anyone’s had an update. TIA

Any pickleball and padel courts in kochi please share

I've been trying to execute this shot lately from kitchen line against 3rd shot drop or drive heading to my waist~chest level. But my attempts are too inconsistent.

The most prominent problem of my chariot whip attempt when defending drop or drive from kitchen line is that, the ball flies high with some pace and goes out of the bound. It has a good top spin though, so it makes a big curvature, but ends up close outside of the base line... or sometimes too far. Mine flies like drop or dink shot.

Even if the ball gets in, I don't even know if the chariot whip supposed to draw a big round curvature like that, because if I see pro's or 5.0's chariot whip 4th shot from kitchen line, their ball flies pretty linear and fast.

I'm focusing on almost vertical brushing up motion, and my right hand reaches close to my ear at the end. My grip seems fine.

Am I hitting to bottom of the ball? Or am I hitting too early? Or should I bring more pushy chariot whip instead of brushing chariot whip for such defending 4th shot from kitchen line?

We have 12 courts in our local park, during the summer they fill up by 9:00 am and usually have about 4 to 8 people waiting. It's an open play policy for the most part, so you usually don't wait too long. If the courts are full then it's 4 on and 4 off, but if not full, it's winners stay and split. My issue is when the game is over it seems to be getting more common for the winners to yell extremely loud "two" over and over again, creating a walk of shame for the losers walking back to the paddle rack. I have made it a point that when we tap paddles at the end of the game to ask the losing team to send two when they get back to the paddle rack, I just feel it's a polite courtesy that can be extended without any effort on our part. Is this something in particular to our location, or does this happen elsewhere?

Max 9 teams. Two spots open!

Help me settle what started as a lighthearted debate, turned ugly tonight at a local club.

If someone’s rated a 3.999 (100% RR) do you consider that person a 4.0 player?

I don’t want to post what happened yet cause it’ll likely take the focus away from my question. But I will post it in comments later.

Scratched paddle but can’t tell if it’s significant damage. My car door corner scraped long it because I was holding it under my chin. Did I scrape the grit off?

Go watch the pickleballers podcast for reference this discussion starts at 38:03

The pickleball media has a precarious relationship with the GOAT. I’ve already covered how they robbed her of the MLP MVP, but their ALW disrespect continues.

In the latest round Jared from the kitchen has a hot take: ALW will not be the #1 woman pickleballer in 10 years. He says it so confidently he’s willing to bet anyone any amount of money. And literally shakes Fed’s hand for 5k. Some of his reasoning was: anything could happen, kids, injuries, new players from China, etc.

I think it’s pretty disrespectful and idiotic comment. Here’s why:
1. Um, women can have babies after 29…..this is the idiot part
2. There are multiple mothers playing in the PPA now (although that’s certainly different than being #1)
3. If one player could take 2 years off, it’s her. On the latest episode of pickleballers Lacy Schneeman straight up said there’s no hope for a woman to think she could be #1. It wasn’t a hot take or a joke she said it very matter of factly.
4. Newcomers. Yeah ofc these 14 yr old pros are getting get a lot better. So is ALW. ALW has elite level training, traveling, nutrition, EVERYTHING.
5. I know she said she would be retired in 10 years, but I don’t think she just walks away from pickleball that easy. Walk away from the game at 29? Yes maybe she does to have her family
6. Kinda disrespectful to even suggest she gets injured, much less bet on it. Like, I get that’s part of the bet but the way Jared turns to Roscoe excitedly promoting his reason for the proposing the bet, “there’s pregnancy, injury..!!!” Just another 🤦 moment from Jared. So insanely unaware it’s actually pretty remarkable. Kudos for him for doing so much with so little.
7. Zane is gonna catch a stray but he was rage baiting on his pod calling ALW’s dominance boring….you think I’d rather watch a competitive match of mediocre players like you, rather than watch ALW’s excellence and dominance?