Step 1 YOU MUST READ THIS CURRICULUM IN ORDER TO GET YOUR CERTIFICATION

Introduction/History

Pickleball was invented on a badminton court in the summer of 1965 in Washington state. Joel Pritchard was a state representative at the time and he later became a congressman. He and his neighbors Bill Bell and Barney McCallum were looking for badminton equipment to occupy their time after a round of golf. They started playing with ping-pong paddles and a plastic ball with holes. This is popular reason given for the name of the sport. The Pritchard family dog was named Pickles and would retrieve the ball, adding new holes to it each time. However, the more accepted reason was because Joel's wife, Joan, named it after the pickle boats in crew. This is also known as rowing. It was often a crew that was thrown together at random which coincides with the birth of Pickleball because they used random leftover equipment from other sports. First, they placed the net at a badminton height of 60 inches and they volleyed the ball over the net. Once they found that the ball bounced well on an asphalt surface, the net was lowered to 36 inches. Barney McCallum was introduced to the game the very next week. The three men agreed on more rules using some from badminton.

Pickleball is a racket sport in which two (singles) or four (doubles) players hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball with paddles over a net until one side is unable to return the ball or breaks a rule. 

The net is 34 inches high at center and 36 inches high at each sideline. The court is 44 feet long and 20 feet wide. On each side of the net is a 7-foot area (2.1 m) known as the non-volley zone (or the kitchen), where the ball must bounce before it is struck if the player is standing in that zone. The rules specify that a point can only be scored while serving. The initial serve must go cross-court past the kitchen line and must bounce. If the serve lands on the kitchen line it is out and that is the only time a ball landing on a line will be considered out of play. The return must also bounce before being struck. Doubles play starts with one team serving after calling the score 0-0-2. The first number is the server's score and the second number is the opponent's score. The third number refers to which serve the team is on as each player serves until losing the point. If both serves are lost then a side-out occurs and the other team is awarded the serve. The first team to serve starts on a second serve but afterwards each team member gets the opportunity to serve. The 3rd number in the scoring series is to indicate whether the team is on their first or second serve.

Use acronyms and rhyming words in order to help teach the rules. For example, you might use "Serve and Stay Back" and "Return and Attack" in order to help your clients remember to start at the kitchen line when their partner is returning the serve. When explaining the rules about the kitchen, it will be beneficial to refer to the kitchen as the non-volley zone at first. This name will help new players to remember that they may hit the ball in the non-volley zone but it must be a non-volley. This will also help with the common misconception that they must wait for the ball to bounce before entering the non-volley zone. Make it clear that you cannot hit a volley and step into the non-volley zone or on the line even after the ball has bounced twice. If your momentum carries you into the kitchen after hitting a volley, you commit an infraction and lose the point.

By 2023 pickleball was estimated to have over 4.8 million players. The growing popularity of the sport is mainly due to its short learning curve. It is enjoyed by a wide range of ages and fitness levels. Due to many outdoor public courts being built, it is inexpensive to play.  There are many tournaments held including the U.S. National Championships and the U.S. Open Tournament. There are also two professional tours and one professional league. Pickleball is also growing in popularity in many other countries.

You must become familiar with the rules of the game. If you have not already done so this year, read the rulebook in its entirety. There is a page at the front of the rulebook with the changes and additions to the rules. Read this page each on a yearly basis after the rulebook is updated. Below you can find the web address for the official rulebook.

https://usapickleball.org/docs/USA-Pickleball-Official-Rulebook-2023-v4-1.pdf

Abiding by City Law

You must contact your local parks and recreation office before hosting lessons on public pickleball courts. Some cities will require a fee to be paid.

Insurance/Safety

The Instructors of Pickleball Association does not provide any form of Liability Insurance. You may consider purchasing your own but safety should always be your number one concern when providing lessons to others. Make sure the area is free from anything that may trip and/or harm your clients. Do not allow excess pickleballs to be within a 10-foot radius of any players on the court. They can and have caused many ankle injuries. During drills you will want to have a minimum of 50 pickleballs in order to practice particular shots with clients. Do not hesitate to stop the drill when a ball is anywhere near your client. Avoid moving your feet while feeding balls so that you do not injure yourself. Always clean up all extra balls before playing out points on the court with your clients.

Ethics/Respect for Clients

Your behavior on and off the court will be the primary factor in building your clientele. Your language should be professional in every sense of the word. Avoid swearing and taking the Lord's name in vain (OMG!). Even if the client on the court uses these words and phrases there may be others around who will be offended if you choose to use language that they do not wish to hear. Your dress and appearance should be professional. Never engage in backbiting conversations with clients. Backbiting is saying negative things about others behind their backs that you would not want to say to them in person. Allow clients to vent to you if they so desire, but do not talk negatively about others in the sport. Use techniques such as stating, "They are a very passionate player" with a smile on your face if you feel you need to relate to their frustration of another local player. If you offend other people, negative comments will always spread faster and farther than positive comments. If you do not have the ability to adhere to these guidelines, practice forcing yourself to adhere to them before you start teaching lessons. WARNING: Anyone convicted of a major crime or felony will forfeit their certification.

Special Needs

During your time as an instructor, you will have lessons with clients who have a wide range of developmental disabilities and/or physical limitations that will alter your lessons. Be flexible and adapt to the changes you will need to make to help each client feel a sense of improvement and accomplishment from every lesson. Some people on the Autism spectrum, for example, will be undiagnosed so you will need to be sensitive to any conditions that might make your clients feel uneasy. Be approachable and ask sincerely if there is anything you can do and change in order for their next lesson to be more comfortable for them. Listen intently to their suggestions and promptly write them down. This will show them that you care about them.

Overheads

Be mindful when teaching clients about hitting overheads. If you are going to work on backpedaling to hit the overhead smash make certain there are no extra balls on the court. When a well-placed lob is hit, it may be necessary to backpedal a couple steps and then jump to reach the overhead. For a right-handed player, this is done by leaving the ground off of the right foot, hitting the overhead, and then landing on the left foot. This is also how the majority of players brake their wrists. If they start to fall, tell your clients to drop the paddle to avoid injuring their wrist. Backpedaling can be avoided for clients of advanced age with limited mobility. Safety should be your biggest concern. Consider teaching them to turn sideways and side-shuffle towards the lob, even allowing it to bounce, in order to give them more time.

More Tips/Advice

Sometimes your clients will want to talk for half of the lesson. Allow them to do so and listen intently. Make sure you have something fun incorporated into every lesson. Try to make every client smile and/or laugh in each lesson. Use challenges such as hitting a target in conjunction with prizes even if it is as simple as a piece of candy or a bite-size tiny chocolate candy bar. Allow time for water breaks and make sure your clients know they can request extra water breaks. This is especially important outside in the hot summer. Learn to recognize the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Consider taking a first aid course. At bare minimum, have a simple first aid kit including band-aids and antibacterial ointment readily available. An AED would also be a great life-saving mechanism to consider purchasing. Learn CPR and acquire a mouth-to-mouth breathing barrier device. Learn to wrap a sprained ankle and carry medical tape. Speak the common language. If you have clients within a group who speak different languages, make an effort to avoid side conversations in other languages. They may suspect backbiting even if it is not occurring. 

 

Send us an email at daysonmathison@hotmail.com after reading this curriculum and the rule book and we will send you our open book exam about the rules of pickleball.