If you’ve never played pickleball, toss your preconceived notions about this hot racket sport to the wind. That’s right, it’s hot right now — so hot that teenagers are playing it.
The eight pickleball courts at Ridge/Jenkinsville Park filled with new players taking lessons with the Adirondack Pickleball Club on May 12 • Photo: Alex Kochon
Teenagers? Yes, along with families of all ages and people right up into their 90s. While its condensed tennis-court layout emphasizes the short game, pickleball is designed to keep you on your toes and wanting to master the art of slamming a Wiffle ball at your opponent.
First things first, the pickleball isn’t actually a Wiffle ball; it is plastic but it’s a little heavier, bigger and has more holes. That makes it more susceptible to wind than a tennis ball, and it’s not as bouncy. A pickleball racket is actually a paddle, but bigger than a ping-pong paddle (and comparable to a tennis racket in price).
Pickleball paddle and ball • Photo: Alex Kochon
You can play singles or doubles, although doubles is most popular.
After a serve, which has to be done underhand (with contact below the waist) from behind the baseline, the ball must bounce twice — once on the opponents’ side (in the rectangle diagonal from the server) and once on your side, before you can move up to the volley line. This is where you should spend the rest of the volley, trying to hit ball in the air without it bouncing on your side. (Since the ball doesn’t bounce very high, it’s preferable to volley rather than try to play it on the bounce.)
Instructor Julie Carrow demonstrates a legal serve (underhand, contact below the waist, paddle head below the break of wrist) while aiming for a deep serve diagonally across the court • Photo: Alex Kochon
Double-Bounce Rule: The ball must bounce once on each side before either team may start volleying in the air.
Like tennis, the ball must make it over the net and land in-bounds on the opponents’ side (not beyond the sidelines or the baseline) to stay alive. If the ball bounces twice on one side, is hit into the net, or hit out of bounds (all of these things are known as “faults”), the rally ends and a new player gets to serve.
The biggest catch is that no player can enter the “kitchen”, the non-volley zone between the net and the volley line.
The Kitchen: The non-volley zone. Players may not stand in this area within 7 feet of the net unless the ball has already bounced on their side. After hitting it and clearing the net, players must get out of the kitchen to prepare for the next volley.
A new player practices “ready position” near the non-volley line, or kitchen line, during a lesson on May 12 at Jenkinsville Park in Queensbury • Photo: Alex Kochon
Scoring: Points are only scored on the serve. The receiving side can’t score.
At the start of the game, the serve always starts on the right side (also known as the even court). In doubles, the person calling the score calls out three numbers: their team’s score, the opponents’ score, and which server on the team is serving. For more on scoring, watch this video.
If the serving team wins the rally and scores a point, the server moves to the left side (odd court) and serves diagonally to the opposite court.
If the serving team faults, their second player gets to serve (unless it’s the first serve of the game, in which case the receiving team gets to serve next). If the serving team commits another fault, it’s a sideout: the other team gets to serve. Games are usually played to 11 points and must be won by two points.
Instructor Paul Campbell (r) talks pickleball mechanics during a lesson with the Adirondack Pickleball Club on May 12 at Jenkinsville Park in Queensbury • Photo: Alex Kochon
It’s not tennis!
While it might look like it at first glance, pickleball is not tennis. It’s not badminton, ping pong, racquetball, or squash, either, although it shares similarities with all of those racket sports.
“What we do not encourage people to do is to play tennis on a pickleball court,” said Paul Campbell, a volunteer coach and member of the Adirondack Pickleball Club. “You don’t want to do that because whoever you’re playing, if they know how to play the game, you’re going to lose easy.
“The idea is to start back [behind the baseline] on the serve and get up to the front as soon as you can,” he added. “People at the front have the advantage. There are a few strokes that are similar, but the way you play up front is totally different than tennis.”
Where to Play
The town of Queensbury has 11 pickleball courts (eight at Ridge/Jenkinsville Park and three at Hudson River Park) and Glens Falls has four new pickleball courts at Crandall Park, thanks to the Crandall Park Beautification Committee.
All are open to the public on a first-come-first-serve basis, although courts can be reserved for special events (like tournaments), and Jenkinsville’s courts are closed for lessons on Wednesdays from 9-11 a.m. in May and June.
According to Amy Collins, Glens Falls’ director of tourism and business development, a Glens Falls-based pickleball league could evolve as the sport keeps growing in this area.
“The city unveiling these courts was really important to make sure city residents were exposed and had access to those courts,” Collins said of Crandall Park’s renovated courts, which also includes two tennis courts and two basketball courts. “Pickleball really was a saving grace for a lot of people, just like golf, during the pandemic. I think pickleball became an outlet that people utilized.”
Twenty players learn on eight pickleball courts at Ridge/Jenkinsville Park during lessons with the Adirondack Pickleball Club on May 12 • Photo: Alex Kochon
Take a Lesson
Glens Falls Living had a chance to practice “dinking” (an actual pickleball term which means hitting the ball from around the kitchen line) with Cindy Allen, who leads the four-week lesson series with Campbell at Jenkinsville. Taught by volunteers with the Adirondack Pickleball Club and hosted by the Queensbury Parks & Recreation Department, these lessons meet weekly in May and June and are completely booked with a waiting list.
“It’s grown phenomenally from the start,” Lori O’Shaughnessy, assistant director of Queensbury Parks & Rec, said of the local pickleball scene and Queensbury’s lesson program, which began in 2016. “So many people are eager to learn.”
In 2017, the Town of Queensbury decided to convert Jenkinsville’s two tennis courts into eight pickleball courts. The courts were completed in September of 2018.
“The minute we opened them in September of that year, they were just busy all the time,” Queensbury Parks & Rec Director Steve Lovering said.
He credited the sport’s popularity with its easier learning curve and quicker points than tennis.
“The skill set is easier, the points are faster, but you’re not getting into really long rallies,” Lovering said. “Generally speaking, when you’re playing doubles … you’re not covering as much ground; it’s not quite as strenuous.”
“But as you become more proficient, it’s a fast-paced game,” O’Shaughnessy added. “Think of ping pong, you have to have quick reactions. … The ball’s at a shorter distance, and as you see with advanced play, it’s fun to watch.”
When asked if pickleball is more about finesse than strength, Allen whipped the ball at this reporter so fast she didn’t have time to react. So the answer to that was, no. Singles play also proved to be a real workout.
Cindy Allen, a volunteer instructor with the Adirondack Pickleball Club, stands next to a poster for the Chuck Allen Memorial Pickleball Tournament in memory of her husband • Photo: Alex Kochon
For Allen, who actually has a gentle demeanor and teaching manner, pickleball is much more than a hobby; it’s a community.
“Pickleball is not only a sport that keeps you healthy and active, it’s also a sport where the pickleball group becomes your family,” Allen said.
When her husband, Chuck, passed away in December, the Adirondack Pickleball Club rallied around them.
“He suffered from cancer for his last two years especially, but still would wander out on the court,” she said of Chuck, who, at age 72, earned a silver medal in singles pickleball at the Huntsman World Senior Games. “When he couldn’t make it through a game, they’d take his place or back him up. The week before he died, about 30 of them sang Christmas carols in our house.”
Lovering explained that the Allens were instrumental in bringing pickleball to Queensbury. The rec department dedicated Jenkinsville’s Court 1 to Chuck, and the club dedicated a bench to him outside the courts.
“They’ve been the proponents and enthusiasts as far as building that really wonderful community of pickleball players,” O’Shaughnessy said of the Allens and other club volunteers. “That sense of community in that club is so strong, and I think they’re a big piece of that because they’re genuine, they’re welcoming, and they’re passionate about the sport.”
Since 2016, the Adirondack Pickleball Club has grown from 20 to more than 250 members. New players can drop in for “free play” on Monday nights from 5-7 p.m. at Jenkinsville to get lessons and tips from club members.
The club is simply an email list, which shares information on “mixers" (pre-COVID), upcoming tournaments, or announcements from Queensbury Rec. There is no cost to join. Email adkpickleballclub@gmail.com to join their mailing list.
The Chuck Allen Memorial Pickleball Tournament is scheduled for July 24-25, with men’s and women’s intermediate and advanced play on Saturday, and mixed doubles on Sunday. For more information, email adkpickleballclub@gmail.com.
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