POST C-19 VIRUS, NON-TRADITIONAL PICKLEBALL PLAYING OPTION WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING

POST "C-19 VIRUS" NON-TRADITIONAL OPTION FOR PLAYING PICKLEBALL & SOCIAL DISTANCING

HOW:  Maybe it's time we added a little spice to our Open Play Pickleball Format.  "Variety is the Spice of Life."

Foursome play has been the hear & soul of traditional pickleball.  Now it's time to think outside the "4 player game to 11 box," if social distancing become the norm. 

This is a game I first saw played when I visited Sun City Retirement Community Pickleball Assn in Arizona.

Since most of us are in dire need of improving our skills, why not have a skills improvement competition.

The average traditional pickleball game lasts around 15 minutes and offers little social distancing.  The Arizona model is a "skills competition contest" to consume the same amount of time, and help players practice specific skill sets while they compete.

POST "C-19 VIRUS" NON-TRADITIONAL PICKLEBALL PLAYING OPTIONS WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING This is also an option to use during periods of overcrowding  & player waiting time is extensive.

Instead of having just 4 players, the skills completion would involve 8 players, 4 on either side of the net.  In the same time as it takes a foursome to play one game, we are now entertaining 8 players in the same time frame.

How it works:

Specific shots are selected beforehand, i.e. serve, return of serve, drop shot and forehand drive aimed at a target on the opposite court. 

4 players line up across the baseline at one end & 4 players line up across the base line at the other end.

Each end has a one person ball feeder and a bucket filled with 50 balls. Plus one score keeper per side.

The ball feeder hand throws the balls to each player to hit, usually from a close distance, to avoid delays in the contest.

For example, the first shot selected would be the serve. Player #1, first in line at the base line at deuce court would be handed 10 balls, one at a time, to serve diagonally and hit a 36" hula hoop size target on the opposite court. Each hit would count as 1 point and each miss would count as "0" points.

The players on the other side of the court are shagging loose balls.

After all 4 players have completed the serve on one side, then the other four players repeat the process on the other side. There are no second chances or do overs.

The next skill to be executed is the Return of Serve.  Again all from the baseline.  Same feeding except the ball will be hand thrown to each player to hit a return of serve to a hula-hoop target on the opposite side of the court. Same point system will be used by scorekeeper.

Normally it will take approximately 15 minutes to complete 2 skills, 10 each for 8 participants. The 4 person team with the most points wins the game.

This Skills Competition keeps 4 players at each baseline approximately 6 1/2 feet apart, all through  the contest.

All skill levels can compete within the players of like skills, and the shot performance can be modified to suit the skills of the participants.