A Look Behind the Rules of Pickleball
The founders of Pickleball over 50 years ago established the basic rules of the game with much foresight. They realized that due to the fact that the court was both much smaller and had a lower net than tennis it would be possible that a tall player could dominate the game by standing at the net and engaging in overhand smashes ending many rallies prematurely. To mitigate this possibility they included the concept of the No Volley Zone (AKA the Kitchen) and the two bounce rule. A detailed discussion of the Kitchen rules is discussed in a separate Article. The two-bounce rule does not mean the ball can bounce twice on either side of the court but rather that both the receiving team and the serving team have to let the ball bounce once before they first make their return shot. This give players time to get up to the Kitchen line to start a dink strategy which they hope will lead to an opportunity to make a winning shot when volleying becomes “legal” under the rules.